Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Welsh: Harri Potter a maen yr Athronydd (Welsh) (Welsh Edition)

I am enjoying using Harri Potter as a text for improving my Welsh, in particular with respect to the syntax of simple narrative and to Northern Welsh usage, with which I was unfamiliar previously. I wish I could listen to readings from the Welsh text! I am, by the way, no schoolchild, but rather a retiree with an interest in Wales and Welsh language. I had not read any Harry Potter previously, and find it a dandy read, at least for my present purposes!

Harry/Harri Potter in Welsh/Cymraeg. This makes an excellent academic exercise as well as a keepsake for the collector. And hardback is nice too.

excellent book for language learning

As a foreign language learning hobbyist I find that one of the best ways to practise reading and acquire vocabulary, without having to reach for the dictionary every other minute, is to read translations of well known English language works in tandem with the original. To this end, whenever I am abroad, I always scour the bookshops for target language versions of works by authors I recognise, and the first one I always search for is H P and the P S. I would not recommend it to the complete beginner, as it uses complicated sentence structure and the full range of tenses from the outset (it was not written for language learners), but once you are past the complete beginners' stage and approaching foundation level you can launch into it, and use the level of difficulty you are experiencing as a measure of the progress you are making. I started a bit too early,and it was taking me about an hour to struggle through just one page, but by the time I finished I was reading about a page every ten minutes (if you are doing it properly, identifying all the vocabulary, structures, tenses etc from the original). Sometimes you find that a translator has used a little too much artistic licence in order to create a naturally flowing rendition into their own language, even to the point, sometimes, of omitting text or altering the original content to facilitate the translation, but this is not the case here. Emily Huwes the translator keeps close to the original without sacrificing the naturalness and spontaneity of the Welsh (as far as I can tell). I wish she had kept to the original names of characters and school houses though. It may be necessary in other languages to produce their own versions in order to preserve the spirit of the original, but let's face it - nobody will be reading this in Welsh who doesn't also speak fluent English, so the feel of the original names will not be lost in any case. It amazes me that you can get the full range of Harry Potter in some of the most obscure languages imaginable, but in Welsh the only one available is the Philosopher's Stone. Come on Bloomsbury, let's have the rest! PS I am currently reading Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr Fox" (Mr Cadno Campus in Welsh) and this is a much easier read. I wish I had done it the other way round!

Dydwi ddim yn credu mod i yr cyntaf yma!The story is likely familiar to most readers, so I will not comment on that or Rowling's writing here.But I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to read a book in Welsh! As a non-native Welsh speaker, this was a welcome chance to practice and expand my vocabulary (how many different words are there for look/glance/peer/etc?!) and my grammar.I read this book with a pair of Welsh dictionaries and the English translation ready at hand. It was a *great* help to know what the line was supposed to say (either from my knowledge of the story or from the English.) I could have read it without the dictionary, I suppose, but I wanted to actually learn the new verbs, and annotate things in the text.The idiosyncracies of literary Welsh took a bit of getting used to (since I learned conversational Welsh, as most learners do), but after a few days I figured it out. The translator seemed to not be using the South Wales spoken dialect for verbs, pronouns and so on, which was difficult at first also since that is what I learned.Hagrid's dialect, and various other terms (the 4 houses--Hwfftipwff, Crafangfran, Lleuerol, Slafennog; and Quidditch terms) were great fun to read, but would be confusing to some readers (since they would not be in a dictionary, but can be puzzled out, thanks to the translator's careful work in keeping the sense and meaning of the original English). If you are just learning the language, this book is too complex--I would rate this for medium to advanced learners. (Os dychi'n Cymru Cymraeg, basai'r lyfr yma ddim yn anodd, ond hwyl iawn.)Pryd dyn ni'n medru darllen y llyfr nesaf?

Like the other reviewer, I'm learning Welsh and find it very helpful to read something and then be able to compare it directly to the English translation. I also appreciated just having a break from things written specifically for students, which I often find really tedious - Harri at least is fun.The translator uses northern Welsh, which I really appreciated because that's what I'm learning - may not be so great for those learning southern, which I think is more common.I wouldn't, however, recommend that Welsh-speaking kids read this instead of the English - so much of what makes these books good is the wordplay, which doesn't quite translate.

英語の学習にと、人気のハリポタの英語版を購入したつもりが、ウェールズ語？版でした。そんな違いがあったことも知らず、商品が届いてみて、唖然でしたが、一つ勉強させていただきました。

A great way to help learn Welsh! I'm enjoying reading this.

イギリス版英語と同じ表紙で違う言語はないでしょう〜。アメリカ英語との比較で、苦労して探したイギリス英語版のCDと合わせて買ったつもりだったのに、ウェールズ語って何語⁈ちなみに同じ表紙でラテン語もありますね。よく見ると。アマゾン、変なもの入荷するなー‼︎と叫びたいです。娘の誕生日プレゼントがだいなし。英語版の解説も一緒に買っているのに、「言語が違いますが、よろしいですか？」とかの確認がほしいです。それに、言語の表示が見難い。本当に腹がたちます。

高校生の娘のヒヤリングの勉強に役立つかと思い、朗読ＣＤとともに購入しました。他に、ちゃんと英語版があって、そちらを選んだつもりでしたが、何をどうまちがったか、ウェールズ語版を購入してしまいました。朗読ＣＤを聞きながら、字を追う、と思って中を開けると・・・・絶対私の知ってる英語じゃない！何語コレ？というものでした。間違った私が悪いので星1つは申し訳ないのですが、私のような間違いをする人がいないよう、あえて１つにさせていただきます。ウェールズ語がわかる方は、ぜひどうぞ・・・

Purchased this for my niece. She hasn't complained, so I suppose she's happy!