4 min Harry Potter is a remarkable phenomenon that is well rooted in contemporary pop culture. All thanks to a series of best-selling books about the adventures of a teenage wizard and his friends, as well as blockbuster movies adapting the events presented in the novels.
It all started in 1995, when a young mother and her daughter were waiting for a delayed train… It was exactly at that moment when the first outlines of the core characters of Harry, Ron and Hermione were created, as well as the main plots of the first book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Later, J. K. Rowling liked to hang out at The Elephant House in Edinburgh, where she divided her time between postgraduate studies and writing the next chapters of Harry Potter’s adventures. In total, between 1997 – 2007, seven volumes of the novel were published, and in the years 2001 – 2011, 8 film adaptations were produced by Warner Bros. Pictures.
The saga has been translated into 80 different languages, and “pottermania” has reached millions of children, teenagers and adults around the world. The Harry Potter books and movies have become a worldwide phenomenon and one of the largest and most lucrative brands ever created.
The question is, what is the impact of the teenage wizard book series on learning English? It’s huge! The world of Harry Potter and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will engage you in no time! Just read the first few pages or watch the first minutes of the film to get caught up in the addictive action full of adventures, dangers, important life truths and above all… magic!
The author – J.K. Rowling uses very vibrant and well-thought British English, full of humor and words that she has invented herself to fit into the wizarding world she has created.
Some examples include: Muggles – the non-magic people; Quidditch – the magic sport of wizards and many names of magic spells such as: Leviosa, Lumos, Expecto Patronum, etc. The English used in the Harry Potter books takes the reader deeper and deeper into the fantasy world created by the author and makes it difficult to get out of it even for a minute.
An engaging book or movie is the perfect way to learn English for both children and adults. The Harry Potter books and movies are the perfect material for learning a foreign language in a fun and stress-free way.
By reading Harry Potter books in English, you can forget about the existence of time, get carried away by the plot, and learn new words in English, all at the same time.
The films about the adventures of Harry Potter will also be good for learning English, because the actors appearing in them, including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, have a nice and correct British accent that is well worth listening to in order to learn good pronunciation in English.
All Harry Potter books in English
The Harry Potter series of books was published in 7 volumes.
The first part of the adventures of a little wizard named Harry Potter begins with a chapter entitled “The Boy Who Lived”. From the very beginning, we get to know the story, which will be gradually expanded with subsequent books, and the reader will be presented with a more and more complete picture of the events. It is entitled “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was released in 1997.
Fans waited for the last part of the adventures of the teenage wizard until 2007, when the book “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” had its premiere. In the last volume, we tie all the loose ends, and all the facts merge into one coherent whole.
The reader learns the final fate of the Dark Lord and gets to experience the final glory of their favorite heroic wizards. The adventures of Harry Potter end in the final book with words that beautifully sum up the entire series: “The scar had not pained Harry for 19 years. All was well.”
Full list of the Harry Potter book titles in English (1997-2007):
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
English-language books from the Harry Potter series can be easily ordered from well-known online bookstores or borrowed from local libraries. But, if you are planning a trip to England in the near future, the original book published by the British publishing house Bloomsbury Publishing, will be a great souvenir from your trip!
Harry Potter – learn language with movies
In total, 8 blockbusters were released from the Warner Bros. Pictures Studios:
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
- Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix (2007)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
Harry Potter vocabulary
There is plenty of interesting Harry Potter vocabulary in English, ready to be explored in all seven books and eight movies about the adventures of the teenage wizards. Some of the Harry Potter terms and phrases are derived from Old English, some refer to words of Latin origin, and some have a surprising double meaning. It’s good to understand the secrets behind Harry Potter vocabulary in order to understand the entire universe created by J.K. Rowling.
Before reading the next part of the Harry Potter book series or watching the next Harry Potter movie in English, prepare a short word-list for your child with key vocabulary to remember. Thanks to this, at the next English lesson at school, your child will surprise everyone with the knowledge of new and advanced vocabulary, plenty of synonyms and phrasal verbs. Minerva McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore would be proud, for sure!*
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:
- sorcerer: a person who practices magic; a wizard
- dumbledore: in addition to the name of the Hogwarts headmaster, this is also a British word for a bumblebee
- Draco: a constellation which is also known as the Dragon
- Minerva: Like Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall’s name also doubles as a word – minerva can also mean a wise woman
- potter: a person who makes pottery
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- chamber: a room
- basilisk: a mythical serpent-like creature, said to kill by its breath or look
- muggle: a non-magical person
- petrified: paralyzed with horror, astonishment or other strong emotions
- riddle: a puzzling question, thing or person
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Sirius: in astronomy, Sirius is known as the Dog Star, the brightest-appearing star in the sky
- expecto patronum: “I await a patron”; a patron is defined as a protector
- hippogriff: a fictitious creature that is half horse, half griffin
- quidditch: a game in which players fly on broomsticks
- divination: the practice of foretelling the future
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- goblet: a drinking glass with a base and stem
- Hufflepuff: one of the four houses of Hogwarts; Hufflepuffs are patient, hard-working and fair
- granger: a farmer
- crouch: to bend one’s knees and get close to the ground
- avada kedavra: origin of abracadabra, means let the things be destroyed
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- phoenix: a mythical bird that rises from its own ashes
- apparition: a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, especially a ghost
- luna: a goddess personifying the moon
- pansy: a violet
- Lucius: from a Latin word meaning “light”
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- hagrid: afflicted with worry or dread; tormented
- horcrux: an object created by dark magic
- marauder: someone who roams around in quest of plunder
- felix: from a Latin word meaning “happy, lucky”
- gaunt: extremely thin and bony
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Bellatrix: a blue-white star in the Orion constellation
- skeeter: a mosquito
- diadem: a crown
- bard: a poet
- resurrection: the act of rising from the dead
Why learning from movies like Harry Potter can boost language skills
Teaching English to your child with an element of fun and games is the best thing you can do!
Pre-school children often get bored with sitting at a desk, doing exercises or learning new vocabulary by heart. Youngest students’ process of remembering works best when they are stimulated by playing movement games, reading fairy tales and singing songs. Older students perfectly absorb new vocabulary, phrases and even grammar from books and films they are interested in. Using classics of literature in the process of teaching English to school children can really boost it.
There is a huge variety of English videos for learning English for beginners. The most important thing is to know what your child likes and which heroes are their favorite. When choosing a movie for the purposes of learning English from it, it is worth paying attention to the aspect of fast-paced, addictive action, likable main characters and a pleasant and correct English accent.
A series of books and films about the magical adventures of the wizards of Hogwarts clearly is a great choice for children over 7 years of age.
Furthermore, if your child needs more attention during the process of reading in English and watching English movies, you can try learning English online with native-speaking teachers at Novakid. Because all lessons at Novakid are taught 1:1, your child gets maximum attention from their teacher and can freely discuss their thoughts and ideas.
We hope you and your kids will try out the magical methods to learn English with Harry Potter. Let us know in the comments section below if your children already know the adventures of Harry Potter and if they have already received their precious letter from Hogwarts … 🙂
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*Source: https://www.dictionary.com/e/harry-potter-learning-activity/
