Customer Reviews

Harry Potter et le Prisonnier d'Azkaban (French Language Edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Learning French and knowing of the books easy reading, I gave this book a try, if I say so myself this translation is much better than the first one, very few spelling mistakes and great plots.

These are children's books with a lot of action and dialogue-- perfect, easy reading for the non-native speaker, well and carefully translated...

I found it great! I'm taking French currently and although I had to ask my dad for a lot of the words, I found it funny! Great translation, and as usual, the best book. Read the English version before you read others to get the real J.K. Rowling. But still a great substitution for non-English speakers.

On a whim I decided to read through this book, and it proved to be a very fun and effective way to improve my french, while enjoying a great story. The translation reads very well, and the plot will keep you on the edge of your seat (and your nose in the book) until you're done with it.

For those learning French, this is a wonderful addition to your language library. Like the English versions, the trials and tribulations of young people at school are the center of the story. It's a tale about learning new roles, new relationships, and about the world at large--however disguised by magic and fantasy--and has a unique charm. I found the vocabularly and sentence structure a little more challenging, but I noticed a similar development in the English versions. It's almost as though the author was writing for a specific child or children whose reading skills and maturity had progressed beyond that reflected in book one. Alternatively she herself might be just reaching her full stride as an author. Whatever the case, in French it translates to a marvelous progression of learning materials from the basics of book one to the more advanced level of this one.

I wanted to improve my French and figured there was no better way to do so than read some books in French. So, after reading Le Petit Prince, I decided I'd much rather read something that I knew I would enjoy so I decided on the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series.

I bought Le Prisonnaire d'Azkaban not only because it was, at the time, the cheapest of the series, but also because it has a great storyline with Harry meeting Sirius for the first time. I think this is one of the best books in the series and I think this French translation kept to the original version very well. The only thing that took a bit of getting used to was that there were, of course, several name changes in this version (such as the House names). Overall, I think this was an excellent book and is great for helping to improve or retain one's French.

For anyone who has already read the Harry Potter books in English, reading them in a foreign language is a great way to pick up some new vocabulary.

Le prisonnier d'Azkaban is my favorite of the Harry Potter books. Harry has settled comfortably into the world of Hogwarts, yet faces more dangers as he returns. Ron and Hermione continue to bicker as Harry stands between them. The entire cast is back, plus some new faces that are sure to become favorites. If you've seen the movie, but you haven't read the book, you're missing out tremendously.

I purchased this book along with all the other Potter books in French as part of my attempt to learn French some 40 years after high school. I had read the English and Spanish versions previously and found this and the other French volumes to be delighful although it took a little getting used to name changes for places and characters that probably made sense for francophiles but seemed unnecessary -- unless the french language versions of the movies also had the changes.

That said, the books have been a great aid in language learning. The translations seem pretty capably done insofar as keeping the story line anchored to the original. I have seen many book translations (such as the Fernch version of The DaVinci Code) that are not faithful to the original in many respects such as cutting out dialogue and scene descriptions.

This book is a perfect way to re-experience the world of Harry Potter as well as a way to improve your French grammar and reading ability if you are a non-native speaker. I was a big fan of the series in English, of course, so I wanted to see what the differences were between the two languages. The translation is masterful; the biggest changes for me were the names, which I viewed as a positive change. The names in French seemed to connect with me to describe new aspects of the characters just as J.K.'s English names did (with their Latin roots).

All in all. This is a masterful translation of one of the best books in the series! Do not hesitate to buy!

the product was exactly what i ordered, came in a relatively timely manner -- i ordered it the day after christmas, i think, and it came somewhere between january 8th and january 15th [i was out of town]. thanks