“Harry Potter” for German-Learners

Harry Potter in German

How to use the German versions of the
popular Harry Potter series for learning German

The release of the latest (and last) Harry Potter book (The Deathly Hallows, July 2007) reminds us of the entire series of Harry Potter books and how they can be used to improve your German.

With the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in the summer of 2005, it was déjà vu all over again. The German edition of book six (Harry Potter und der Halbblutprinz) did not appear until October 2005. With the other Harry Potter books also, German readers had to wait long, extra months for the German translations.

Scottish author Joanne K. Rowling’s previous books about the wizard Harry Potter have already made her one of the richest women in the United Kingdom. As with any popular literary craze, her novels have encountered some reactionary criticism. The usual misguided zealots tried to get her books banned from school libraries in the US and Britain. But I think millions of readers, young and old, in over 100 countries can’t be wrong. Rowling’s books have long dominated the bestseller lists in the US, the UK, Germany, and many other countries around the world.

Readers in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland have enjoyed the German translations of the Harry Potter series (translated by Klaus Fritz). After the very first book, Harry Potter fan clubs sprang up like mushrooms across Germany. One of the best, Der Harry-Potter-Fanclub, was founded by two girls in Berlin and has its own Web site. The official German Harry Potter Web site is run by Rowling’s German publisher, the Carlsen Verlag in Hamburg. (See our book and fan club links later in this article.)

Also see
How’s J.K. Rowling’s German?
Translation goofs?

But I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll talk about the extras later. Right now we need to talk about why Harry Potter is such a boon to German-learners. We’ll also tell you how to get the German versions of the Harry Potter books.

Although I had been planning to do a Harry Potter article for some time, the real impetus for this feature came from a reader in upstate New York. She wrote me about how much she enjoyed reading Harry Potter auf Deutsch and how it helped her with her German studies. I asked if she could tell me more about her Harry Potter experience, and she was kind enough to respond.

Q: Where did you get "Harry Potter" in German?
A: I live in upstate New York not far from Roswitha Mueller's bookshop, the Buch-Brücke. Roswitha's shop supplies individuals and German language schools with textbooks, tapes, software and videos. There is a large selection of fiction and non-fiction in stock and she will gladly order and mail to you anything not in stock in 1-2 weeks." (In addition to the Buch-Brücke, we offer links to other sources where you can obtain the German HP books and audiobooks. See the link pages later in this article.)

Q: How did you go about using "Harry Potter" for German?
A: Roswitha ordered Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen in both book and audiobook form for me. I've read it over and over again without a dictionary. I'm halfway through the book, pinning down the exact meanings of unfamiliar words and phrases with a dictionary.

The audiotapes [or CDs] can teach pronunciation and rhythm. They reinforce all those new phrases you've looked up in the dictionary. After reading the book I tried listening to the tape. The German rushed by in a torrential blur. After a few times the words became distinct and soon the story emerged. I began to follow the tape along with the book. Then I began reading the page aloud right after hearing it. After you've heard and read aloud a new phrase a few times you own the phrase.

Although our reader didn't mention it, I would also recommend having the English edition of the German Harry Potter title you're reading, for comparison. On some German fan club Web sites you can find pages comparing the differences (and outright translation mistakes!) in the English and German versions. Even the book titles are sometimes different, for whatever reason. Book two, "The Chamber of Secrets," becomes "The Chamber of Terror" in German ("Die Kammer des Schreckens"). Book one, "The Sorcerer's Stone" was rendered as "The Stone of the Wise Men" or "The Sages' Stone" (Der Stein der Weisen - a sorcerer is a Zauberer in German). But that can be chalked up to the original British title of the first book. For some reason (marketing?), the English title changed from the "Philosopher's Stone" to the "Sorcerer's Stone" when it crossed the Atlantic to America.

It's fascinating to see how translators decide to handle certain terms and phrases in their translations, but for German-learners it can also be instructive to observe this process. (See Harry Potter Revisited for more on translation issues.)

How can "Harry" help your German? Listening is one way! More on the next page...

NEXT > Audiobooks

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