Quote:
Originally Posted by Istvan diVega
There are certainly books which have been "translated" from UK to US English. I can't remember which books I've encountered (as my memory is seriously defective), but I know I've bought US editions of books originally published in the UK a few times by mistake and had to re-buy them in the correct version.
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The Harry Potter books are, as the most prominent example. They even changed the title of the first book, obviously thinking that "Philosopher's Stone" was too complex for American kids.
Edit: Oops, sorry, I hadn't realized that was mentioned before (skipped a page, I think ...).
Anyway, I also find these "translations" silly. Even as a non-English speaker I like it, when the language reflects the regional and cultural differences. Th setting of Harry Potter is very British, so why shouldn't the language be? Changing the words changes the feeling of a book.
I'm sure, even kids can cope with the differences. We had it with different shades of German all the time and never minded. On the contrary, it enriches the experience and the language skills.