Credit: Fiuxy via Bing Free Images

Hi everyone,

Lots of you guys know Harry Potter, right? It’s full of amazing magical and made-up things. Lots of people like Harry Potter because of the world surrounding it. After all, who doesn’t want to own an owl that can deliver your mail for free? Anyways, Harry Potter has been translated into 60 languages. Pretty impressive, huh? But not a lot of people know the struggle that the translators went through to make the book available for their respective language. In this blog post, I’m going to share the story of how hard Harry Potter is to translate.

So, like I said up there, Harry Potter is full of imaginary things. And also puns. You can’t forget the puns. However, that mostly makes Harry Potter super hard to translate. Like Diagon Alley. It’s a play on of “diagonally”. Most translators dropped the pun/wordplay and went for literal translations.

There are also the made up items too, like the three balls in Quidditch: The Quaffle, Bludger, and the Snitch. Some translators kept the words and italicized it. In some languages, like in Dutch, the translator translated it into “Zwerkbal” and in Norwegian, “Rumpeldunk”.

The translators also had a hard time for the names of the characters too. Harry, Ron, and Hermoine stayed the same for the most part, but some names the translators were a bit tricky. The names and lots of the made-up words have meaning, which was hard to keep when translating them. For example, Severus Snape. It sounds like “snake” and its supposed to carry severity (I see you there J.K. Rowling). The Italian translator went for “Severus Piton”, like a python. The French translator said “Severus Rogue” for “arrogance”. The name kept some of Snape’s character in a sense but it tossed the alliteration completely.

The famous wizarding school, aka Hogwarts, got some interesting translations. The name was coined by combining “hog” and “warts”, obviously. Some translators kept the word, but since they’re English words the combination was lost. Some translators attempted to create their own Hogwarts versions. The French translator turned Hogwarts into Poudlard. “Pou du lard” means lice of bacon or fat.

There are even more bizarre changes in some versions. In Harry Potter, Hagrid has a west country accent. In the Japanese Harry Potter, Hagrid speaks using the Tōhoku dialect. In other Harry Potter versions, it’s not as extreme and the translators chose to just have Hagrid speak informally.

Even with all these examples and compromises, some things just didn’t work out. The Chinese versions added footnotes to explain the made-up words, and the Spanish versions italicized them.

In the end, Harry Potter is a beloved piece of children’s literature that touched the hearts of kids and adults alike, and it will always amaze new readers with the tale of “the boy who lived”.

–

Thanks for reading! Goodbai!

– A Koi named Skoi ♪┏(・o･)┛♪

CREDIT: Vox – Harry Potter and the Translator’s Nightmare

Hi everyone,

Winning the lottery seems amazing, right? It’s almost every American’s dream: Find a ticket left on the ground or buy one, scratch it off, and win thousands or millions. Think of all the stuff you could buy with a million dollars: expensive cars, modern mansions, a wing full of maids and butlers, and more. This would surely make you happy, right? Well, maybe for a little bit, but for the most part: Not really. This is the result of a study where researchers surveyed former lottery winners and their current happiness.

A study of 22 lottery winners were asked about their current happiness. Surprisingly, most of them reported average levels of happiness. Some even reported lower levels of happiness. Their family members and friends started asking for more and more money, and they eventually shut them out. This might seem like the end of the story, but there’s more to it. This is called “Hedonic Adaptation”.

This explains our inclination to adapt to new circumstances so we can sustain a stable rate of emotions. Sure, if you win the lottery, you’ll get luxury that will feel like you’re on top of the moon, but eventually, you’ll get used to it and resume your normal state of emotions. This may seem horrible, but it actually helps us get used to emotional situations, even negative ones.

The researchers also surveyed victims of accidents that left them paralyzed. After several months they reported their happiness approaching their regular state.

Since we adapt to materialistic things, studies show that if we spend money on experiences, we’ll be happier. There’s an even better way as well: spending money on others.

Researchers gave participants some money and asked some of them to spend it on themselves and some on other people. At night, they called the participants, and the happiness levels of the ones who spend money on others felt happier than the ones that spent it on themselves.

So, what do you think? Would you be happy winning the lottery? And how long would this last? Thanks for reading!

– A Koi named Skoi ♪┏(・o･)┛♪

CREDIT: Would winning the lottery make you happier? – Raj Raghunathan

Hi!

For SBC Week 7, we can do a free post. Today I’m going to do a Choose your Adventure game!

Choose your Adventure is a game where (obviously) you choose where to go, what to do, and more!

How to play:

• Go to the section of the answer you chose. For example:

Test Choice 1

a. Choice 1 (if you choose this go to section 1)

b. Choice 2 (if you choose this go to section 2)

Section 1

Section 2

 

• Don’t cheat and/or read to get the best ending!
• If you don’t have a choice, just go downwards.

Let’s start!

The Weirdest Camp

You’re at Camp Lake! Camp Lake is a camp where you can have fun with your friends with cool activities like crafts, swimming, and more!

You just arrived at Camp Lake. You have your “fashionable” pink backpack (please don’t be mad at me if you like pink ;-;) and a pamphlet with Camp Lake’s information.

Choice 1

a. Go to your cabin (1)

b. Explore the camp (2)

Section 1

You find your cabin. It has a fireplace, two bunk beds, and two normal beds. You place your backpack on it. Go to section 2.

Section 2

You find your camp counselor. Your first activity is macaroni necklace making. Not what you were expecting, but you suppose that more exciting activities will come.

Choice 2

a. Get macaroni and make basic necklaces (3)

b. Get lots of supplies to make unique necklaces (4)

Section 3

You string together uncooked macaroni to make a plain necklace. Your neighbor made a made a macaroni necklace painted with purple glittery paint. Your camp counselor picks your neighbor’s necklace and says it’s the best necklace she’s ever seen in a few years. She gives them a bag of Skittles as a reward, your favorite candy. (Psst… if you don’t like Skittles, just pretend you like Skittles. ;D) Go to Section 5. 

Section 4

You paint your macaroni necklace with rainbow glittery paint and attach sequins on each macaroni piece. It takes a long time, but you feel proud of it. Your camp counselor picks your necklace and says it’s the best necklace she’s ever seen in a few years. She gives you a bag of Skittles as a reward, your favorite candy. (Psst! if you don’t like Skittles, just pretend you like Skittles. ;P) Go to choice 3.

Choice 3

As a reward for having the best necklace, your counselor says, you get to pick the next activity.

a. Swimming (6)

b. Birdwatching (7)

Section 5

Your neighbor gets to choose the next activity for having the next necklace. She chooses Swimming.

Section 6

You slip on your swimsuit and start swimming. A group of kids is playing Marco Polo in the distance. You start swimming to join them, but then you hear a noise…

a. Investigate (8)

b. Play Marco Polo (9)

Section 7

You watch the birds under a beautiful sunset and have a great time. Days pass by and before you know it, Camp Lake is over. You look out the bus window and you want to come back to Camp Lake again!

Ending: A Fly-Away Opportunity

Watching the birds was great, but it seems like something else is hiding underneath the surface… Play again to find more endings!

Choice 8

You excuse yourself by telling your counselor that you need to use the restroom. You hurry off to where you think you heard the noise. You find the camp forest. It has a sign that says “DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT A COUNSELOR!”

a. Go in any way (10)

b. Go back to the pool (11)

Section 9

You play Marco Polo and have a great time. Days pass by and before you know it, Camp Lake is over. You look out the bus window and you want to come back to Camp Lake again!

Ending: Ignorant

You had a great time at Camp Lake, but there’s something else hiding underneath the surface… Play again to find more endings!

Choice 10

After a while, you reach a clearing. There’s a fork in the path.

a. Left (12)

b. Right (13)

Section 11

You go back to the pool. Your counselor is suspicious about how you were able to use the you-know-what so quickly, but she disregards it. You play Marco Polo with the kids. Days pass by and before you know it, Camp Lake is over. You look out the bus window and you want to come back to Camp Lake again!

Ending: Rule-Abider

It’s always right to follow rules, but in a story, maybe you should mix things up again? It seems like something’s hiding in Camp Lake… Play again to find more endings!

Choice 12

You reach a leafy forest clearing. You hear growling… a bear pops out of the bushes!

a. Grab a stick to fend it off (14)

b. Scream for help (15)

Section 13

After a long time of wandering, you hear a siren. There’s a helicopter in the sky! Your counselor got worried after you didn’t come back. You get shipped back home and your mother is disappointed in you.

Ending: Rules Broken, Angry Mother

You broke a rule but it ended up getting worse! You feel like you still need to investigate it though… Play again to find more endings!

Section 15

You scream for help. The bear opens its mouth and shows its shiny teeth…

Ending: How Did You Even Get Here?

The bear might’ve bit you… on the bright side, no more school work! (Awkward laughing in the distance) Play again to find more endings!

Choice 14

You grab a stick and wave it in front of you. The bear isn’t swayed.

a. Poke it (16)

b. Say something intimidating (17)

Choice 16

The bear roars.

a. Grab some berries and coax the bear (18)

b. Poke it again (17)

Section 18

You quickly grab the berries and offer it to the bear. Almost instantly, the bear turns into a sweet cub and starts eating the berries out of your mouth. When you return, your counselor is angry at you, but at least you made a new (albeit interesting) friend!

Ending: Fuzzy Friends Forever

FFFs! Fuzzy Friends Forever! You made friends with a bear! Congrats. Your time at Camp Lake was interesting. Maybe next year you can visit the bear again. Play again for more endings!

Section 17

The bear runs away into the forest, leaving you dumbfounded.

Ending: The Best Ending?

You’re safe and you figured out what the noise was, but it seems like this wasn’t the best end to this story… Play again for more endings!

The End of: The Weirdest Camp!

Thank you for playing The Weirdest Camp! This probably wasn’t the weirdest camp ever, but I poured a lot of effort and time into making this game! I hope you enjoyed! Bai!

-A Koi named Skoi

Credit: Recovering Engineer via Bing Free Images