As I reached for the control to change the channel they started to sing a song dear to my heart. As an Australian, I grew up with the song Waltzing Matilda. Even though the words are a bit nonsensey, I still managed (in school I think, I don't actually remember) to work out what they represented and enjoyed singing/hearing this legendary Australian folk song. But what happened on this educational program is that they took the words and changed them:
ORIGINAL:
Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong,
under the shade of a coolabah tree,
as he sang and he watched and waited for the billy-to-boil,
who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda,
who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?
as he sang and he watched and he waited for the billy-to-boil,
who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me?
THEIR VERSION:
Once a happy farmer camped by the river,
under the shade of a big old tree,
and he sang as he watched and waited for the kettle-to-boil,
who will come and dance with Matilda and me?Dancing Matilda, dancing Matilda,
will you come and dance with Matilda and me?
as he sang and he watched and he waited for the kettle-to-boil,
who will come and dance with Matilda and me?
Take for example, Harry Potter, the much loved British magician. Did you know that there are 2 versions of each book in the Harry Potter series? The original, and the American version in which they change common english spellings and words to make it more readable to... well... Americans.
And what of my husband, while attending a conference of translators here in Israel, was priviledged enough to hear a lecture by the woman who translated Harry P. from English to Hebrew. In which she admitted that she had changed certain things in the book to make them more understandable to Israeli culture and children. For example she changed Dumbledore's love of "lemon sherberts" to his love of "crembo" (for those that do not know - a Crembo is a marshmallow covered chocolate thing, which you would have to pay me to eat!).
I liken these changes to the travesty of taking Shakespeare and changing it to modern English so that people can better understand it. I learnt Shakespeare just the way it was written and I think it would not hurt non-British kids to learn about England, just as it is. Tell them what a lemon sherbert is, explain why it's called football in England and not soccer. For goodness sake they have never heard the word Quidditch before and they have no problem grasping its meaning, when explained properly.
