Customer Reviews

Harry Potter y la cámara secreta

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...The translators chose idiomatic expressions particular to certain regions of Spanish-speaking countries, when common words would have been satisfactory. As if that was not bad enough, they also chopped up the narrative. This is not an abridged version, but a truncated one, as if they were in a hurry to finish the book or save pages. If Spanish is your second language, be aware that you may not understand some terms. Just skip them and memorize the names of the translators, so you won't buy another book ruined by them.

Yet. . . the story is fascinating and the suspense in the plot is captivating. Even if the Spanish rendition of loses flavor due to poor translation, I was amazed, surprised, thrilled and fascinated all over again, and I was especially overjoyed to share with my daughter the excitement of the conspiracies and the joy of reading.

I just hope that when the fourth and fifth books are translated to Spanish, the Spanish-speaking people will get an un-butchered version.

Ahora Harry Potter se encuentra en segundo año de la escuela de Magos. Este es un libro que una vez lo comienzes a leer no podras parar como si realmente tuviera un hechizo. Ya he comenzado a leer el Prisionero de Azkaban que es el tercero de la serie y espero ansiosa que el cuarto libro salga en español. Definitivamente la narrativa es increible,la forma en que JK Rowling describe a los personajes es impresionante. Te los puedes inmaginar tal y como son y a la misma vez te transportas a la camara secreta con Harry. Es una serie de libros completamente fascinante, tanto para adultos como para niños.

Esta novela me esta gustando aun mejor que la primera. !Que divertida es!

The translators and publisher are Spanish. There is much vocabulary from Spain, just as the English version has much British vocabulary. I really enjoy learning about regional vocabulary differences, whether in English or Spanish, so this was a big plus.

A friend claims the American editions have been Americanized, although I don't know if it's true. (The American editions still have many British words, but do use some American words, like "sweater" instead of "jumper".) It's funny how the Brits understand us from seeing our movies/television, but we don't understand their vocab or accent as well. It's great to be exposed to different forms of languages we already know.

The translation seems very good, but some things seem wrong, such as "?QUE TE TENGO DICHO?" on the second page of text. I think this should be "?QUE TE HE DICHO?" Maybe this is a form with which I'm not familiar, because I can't imagine a native speaker and translator would make such a gringo ("guiri" en Espana) mistake.

Aconsejo no prestar demasiada atención a las críticas que se quejan del vocabulario castizo en contraposición al vocabulario americano. No hay prácticamente nada que un lector castellanohablante educado no pueda entender, y el castellano utilizado en el libro es adecuado para la trama.
La traducción en sí, exceptuando algún resbalón con el subjuntivo, es gramaticalmente correcta. No conozco el original en inglés.

El argumento abunda en lo descriptivo, con un ritmo de la acción lento durante casi toda la obra, concentrando la mayor parte del desenlace en los últimos 3 o 4 capítulos. La sensación de desasosiego que algunas críticas mencionan en este sentido es legítima.

En general, la obra es medianamente entretenida y contribuye a adquirir vocabulario.

I read the first Harry Potter book in Spanish, and while it wasn't a perfect translation, I really enjoyed it. I was fluent enough that I averaged having about 1 or 2 (and often none) words that I had to look up per page, so I was excited when I finished and quickly ordered the second book. Well, it arrived, and with a shock I realized I could barely get through this one. The reading is extremely slow due to the fact I have to look up so many words per page (and many of them aren't even in my (very good) Spanish-English dictionary), and because even when the words are ones I know, the whole way the sentences are structured is different and much more difficult from the traditional Spanish I know (I've studied in school and lived in Mexico in order to become fluent). I checked and sure enough, the books were translated by different people. The translators of this book (and the third and fourth, unfortunately) are from Spain, and as such, use a lot of very Spain-specific vocabulary, idioms, and sentence structures (and the vosotros verb form), that, while still being readable, make the book much more difficult and less enjoyable. I got bored and quit somewhere in chapter five, because instead of reading and enjoying a story, I was laboriously and constantly switching back and forth between my dictionary and the actual book.

If you are from Spain or have learned your Spanish in a Spain context, versus in Latin America, I'm sure this book will be a great translation and very fun to read. However, for the rest of the Spanish speaking world, this book is slightly more of a chore.

I just LOVE this book, and all the harry potter books. I wanted to say to Eric J Justice, who wrote a review above, that your review was incorrect. It DIDNT have a mistake; saying QUE TE TENGO DICHO es right. In fact, im pretty sure what you said was right too. But anyway, anyone who hasn't read this should, but read the SORCERER'S STONE first, because it's really best to read them in order.

I'm a high school student taking Spanish as my foreign language. I decided one day to buy Harry Pooter y la Cámara Secreta to help with my Spanish. Though some of the words aren't what I'm use to I still understood it and it helped my Spanish greatly. Many of the higher level Spanish classes are reading this also. For students taking Spanish this is a great way to help with your Spanish. It puts your knowledge to use and it helps you to remember things better. They're just as great as the English version!

If you read Harry Potter in English and speak Spanish (very very well) you will be greatly disappointed. The translation is soooo Castillian. By the way, for the translators: bacon is tocino, tocineta... elf is duende, elfo.. well only used in Spain.
I understand that Harry lives in Europe, but there are more Spanish speakers in America, it will be great if the translation will be more "continental".

ME SIENTO MUY FELIZ DE HABER LEIDO JUNTO A MI HIJO DE 9 AÑOS ESTE LIBRO ,FUE MUY ENTRETENIDO Y UN DESAFIO MARAVILLOSO PARA LA IMAGINACION ,DESPIERTA LA FANTASIA Y ACERCA A LOS CHICOS A LA LECTURA ,TAN OLVIDADA LAMENTABLEMENTE .ESPERAMOS ANCIOSOS EL LIBRO Nº 4

me ha gustado mucho el libro definitivamente supera con creces a la pelicula, que bueno que vi primero las peliculas antes de leer los libros, porque seria decepcionante ver los cambios que hacen para adaptar el libro al cine, mientras que asi es mas facil asimilar los cambios ya que conocer los detalles directos de la fuente original le da mas sabor a las peliculas :)

Lo unico que critico del libro es que editorial salamandra lo hizo demasiado españolizado, le hubiese dado un 5 si esta version del libro tuviera un espanol mas neutro.

muy recomendado