Harry Potter and the use of Latin for spells. Does educational background effect how you enjoy the books?

Question

In her Harry Potter book series J. K. Rowling uses Latin words and phrases for most of the spells.
Does learning Latin in school (British children often do. US children usually do not) effect how you enjoy the books?
Does it make them seem less or more magical?
Make Harry’s school seem less or more exotic?

Answer 1

Knowing Latin makes the spells even better, in my opinion. It is not just some foreign word with an unknown meaning that makes magic happen - you can actually see and understand how the word relates to the concept behind the spell.

It is hard to say for sure if it enhances your experience of the books or not - those who do know Latin say that it does, and those who don't are saying that they prefer not knowing. Me, I think they just do not know any better!

Answer 2

I think it's really cool how J.K. Rowling uses these Latin phrases for spells. I read an article on her and her books and not only does she use Latin phrases, but a lot of the things she uses in the book came from things in history. I was also studying stars in Science class and a lot of the names of stars were the names of characters in Harry Potter. (ex. sirius, bellatrix) It amazes me how much research she puts into the books and they end up being great. So, while I'm not reading the book, I am amazed at all the work put into it, while I am reading it, I forget about that and it is just as "magical."

Answer 3

I enjoyed not knowing what all of the Latin meant. I only know the stuff that English and French have roots in ( some spells are easily translatable if you know one of the two languages, predictably) but I thought that it was great to read about the meanings of Latin words and realize "Hey! SO THAT's what that spell comes from!" That made the books more magical for me, but i didn't really think of the books as "exotic" at all, just foreign, so anything would have reinforced that. After all, what they ATE reinforced that!

Answer 4

I don't know any Latin whatsoever because here in the US, we really don't stress foreign language, except Spanish in some states. But I think that if I knew what the spells were literally meaning, I think it would take away from the magical illumination it gives. It seems more magical if you have to learn a spell and what it means, because if you used just normal words for spells, it'd be too easy to figure out alone. I don't know if that made any sense, but in short, I would rather not know what the spells mean.

Answer 5

well... actually... what rowling uses for her spells is what little latin she remembers from her own school which is not much... * grins*
but seriously... no it doesnt affect the joy of reading it in any way... although it is always nice to see (for me at any rate) that four years of dogged memorizing was not completely useless.

not that i ever felt that way. a sound foundation in latin gives you a big advantage in learning most european languages, AND understanding all those latin based phrases in science and medicine.

Answer 6

Well for the younger readers who do not know that it is Latin, is seems magical, because they don't think about it, they just thing its a spell, so it seems cool.

Answer 7

sure does! not only do they sound mystical and powerful, they sound believable because they are real, even if we dont know what they mean. not only does she do this with language, but with charactrs in her books too, and things, objects. the philosophers stone, historic meaning, the wizard who created it, i cannot remember his name, was a real person in history. it works, it weaves a story so intricately in reality, yet not, that we are consumed by the story with pleasure. i love them!!!

Answer 8

Not at all. Do not take it seriously. It is just for fun, right?