Harry Potter UK Edition W00T! I got a copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince from the UK yesterday! It is cool. Anyone else get it from there that doesnt live in the UK? P.S. If you want one, Order from www.amazon.co.uk.
I've always collected children's literature. I bought the first Harry Potter before it was available in the U.S. Many people collect Harry Potter in different language versions. The primary differences in the British and U.S. versions are spelling and illustrations. Occasionally they will change words that have an entirely different meaning here...like sweater for jumper. My son went through a huge train stage. I found Thomas the Tank Engine in England long before it was popular here. We read all these books to him when he was 2 to 5. We would have nice discussions about words and different parts of the world. He delighted in lorry vs truck, torch vs flashlight, lift vs elevator, etc. He tested over a 12th grade reading level at age 6. He loves words. I've often thought it a shame they change the wording for Americans. It would provide a wonderful opportunity to expose children to global English.
Well, yes, and they're not consistent anyway, so why bother? I swear publishers think we're all a bunch of idiots. Like not calling it a Philosopher's stone in the first book. Like we couldn't figure it out. Examples of non-consistency: they call athletic shoes "trainers" in the American version, and use "snogging" for kissing, two words Americans never use. But the thing is, so what? Zy's right. More exposure to different ways of speaking is a good thing. Argh. Makes me want to tear out my hair. And yikes, Zy. 12th grade at age 6? I thought my daughter was a genius and she's reading at the 6th grade level at age 7. That's one smart kid you've got there.
Both of my children have wonderful language skills. Unfortunately math is their downfall. The problem with reading at this level early is finding appropriate reading material. While they might understand the words they don't have the life experience or emotional maturity to comprehend many things in the context presented. I had to stay on top of teachers. In private schools they push many pieces of literature that they aren't ready for. It's why so many kids get burned out on reading and school in general. I will never forgive my daughter's 4th grade teacher making To Kill A Mockingbird required reading. It will always be one of my favorite books but the issues raised in the book are perhaps beyond a 9 year old. All the teacher managed to do was make it a book that was a chore to read. This could have been an amazingly profound experience, particularly for a southern child, if read at an appropriate age. In public schools they don't set the bar high enough. I chose Chaim Potok's, The Promise, for my son to read for a 5th or 6th grade oral book report. My son really enjoyed this book. It exposed him to a world outside of his experience. The teacher called me in. She was stunned he'd picked this. Apparently the rest of the class had read 3rd grade level books. The class had found the ethnic neighborhoods of 1940's New York fascinating. They'd never heard of Hasidic Jews. It created a lot of discussion. The teacher ramped up the level of reading material after that. One of the new catch phrases is "helicopter parenting". Schools are upset with parents hovering and stepping in for every little thing. I don't do that for most things. If my child misbehaves...I support the school's punishment. (This seems to amaze them so it must be uncommon now.) But I am appalled at the vast majority of teachers today. I've had both of my children humiliated in class for using uncommon words. I've had to send in dictionaries and a demand for a public apology on at least three occasions. I've made it a habit to meet each of my kids' teachers and explain my expectations! I set the bar high for teachers.
You don't sound like someone I'd like to mess with. I've had a similar problem finding reading materials for my child as well. She CAN read all the Harry Potter books right now, for example, but at 7 years of age I don't think she's ready for the violence and death in the later books. She's really good at self-monitoring, though. I tell her what the scary parts are, at her request, and then she decides if she's ready for them. She's into Roald Dahl now. Just finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and loved it, though Mathilda is her favorite. She's good at math, and science, as well. She's a very well-rounded kid who also seems to be popular. She gets along with other kids without toadying to them, and I'm very proud of her for that. I could put her ahead a grade but I don't want to ... socially, she's very much a seven year old. We need to be involved with our schools, but I agree we also need to support the teacher when discipline is involved. Not that *my* child will ever need it LOL.
I was interested to read peoples' comments here concerning language variation and the seeming reluctance of US publishers to risk more exposure to 'foreign' dialects of what is essentially a common language. As a Brit I tend to leave out the u in words like color when publishing to a largely US audience ... but I only do that cos I am lazy (on a Brit based forum I would expect to be criticised for Americanising the language; indeed I have been!) However I'm going off topic. What I really wanted to say is that you guys are a clear cut above the average parent/student (on both sides of the pond!) The world would have fewer problems if more parents took as much responsibility for their kids education and welfare as the folks who hang out here at World Sims.
Well, please spread the word that not all Yanks are idiots. I'm afraid we've got a reputation for being so "across the pond." Brit away! I think it's totally Brill. And smashing. And all that rot, wot? I think I just scuttled my argument for not being an idiot.
Someone posted this link on pescado's site yesterday. I thought it amusing. For all I know, it may be Mirelly! http://www.wittywoman.com/yoos.html
That was very funny Zy, thanks for bringing it to my attention. As an Australian, I would have gotten the same copy and spelling of Harry Potter as the UK edition, so it actually came as a suprise to me that they would edit it in any form to comply with the American way of speach, I mean, why bother? I'm sure you guys can figure out what a jumper is. You watch movies from the UK and Australia, and while I'm sure Crocadile Dundee and Steve Erwin can be a battle sometimes (even I can have trouble trying to figure out what they are on about) The idea comes across eventually, are they going to use voice overs to change the words so that they are more easily understandable for Americans? I don't think so... As for the different spelling, I am not going to alter the way that I spell words to comply with any spell checker, I'm going to stick to the way that I was taught, it's small differences like these that make us unique, plus I like mum being mum, colour and neighbours the way I spell them.
I have no idea if the later books have been altered. I know they did it with the first few. Since the first three books were geared for children they might have felt it necessary. I suspect it was done to build and broaden the market. Some words you can infer their meaning but a jumper is a dress here. A child's visual picture of Harry might be of him wearing a dress over his shirt. I caught a program on National Public Radio about the food items in Harry Potter. They were inundated with callers. Someone explained and gave recipies for foods that sound strange to us. It was very entertaining. One of the first forums I ever participated on was a Harry Potter for Grownups egroup. There was a young man about 19 years of age that fell in love with this book. One had the impression it was the only book he'd ever read. He lived in London and would take pictures of places in the book that Americans couldn't quite picture and post them. I can't read a Harry Potter book now without some picture of him popping up in my mind. I particularly loved his demonstration of Platform 9 3/4. He's definitely a muggle. Sylla, you shouldn't alter your spelling. Neither should Mirelly. I learn something new every day! Your reference to mum reminded me of the time my daughter was in a Montessori preschool and her teacher was from England. My child started calling me "mum". It sounded pretentious out of a southern child's mouth...besides the fact that she managed to make it have at least four syllables. I'm delighted for you to be mum if I can be mama.
LOL I agree totally but I don't alter the way I spell for any reason other than convenience to me. I've never been a really good speller and have never been against the simplification of spelling. English spelling and usage and spelling has always changed ... the language is as dead as Latin if we stop allow it to change.
