English for Wizards Heading for Hogwarts By John Moore	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
「ハリー・ポッター」のサイトで遊ぶ 今回は映画「ハリー・ポッター」シリーズの公式ウエブサイトをご紹介します。日本語と英語の2つのサイトを比較しながら、ゲームを楽しんでみてください。

数あるゲームの中からお気に入りを見つけられるはず

My hand was holding the mikan, of course. The amazing thing was that I understood right away: my son was pretending to be a wizard from Hogwarts, and he had just finished reading "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," where Harry used that special "accio" word to get things by magic.

Computer knowhow can give a person wonderful powers, too. The computer screen is like a window into a different universe, full of beauty and magic, danger and evil. Learning about computers is a bit like studying wizardry at Hogwarts. Or it's like Jedi training in Star Wars, or digging around in Doraemon's pocket. Let's combine computers with English into a magic potion!

Take a look at the official Harry Potter Web site. Try opening two browser windows at once: one for the English version (harrypotter.warnerbros.com) and another showing the Japanese version (harrypotter.warnerbros.co.jp). Compare.

Technical note: You may need to download the free Macromedia Flash Player. Just read the on-screen messages and follow the instructions. Also, in case you don't know, you can open a second browser window just by doing "File-New-Window" in Internet Explorer. Netscape and other browsers are very similar.

Can you see the Harry Potter Web site now? After the intro video, go to "Hogwarts" (top of the left-side menu). Enter your name, and you'll see a letter from Professor McGonagall. Click on "Supplies List," then "The Sorting Hat" and then "The Sorting Ritual." This lets you do a quiz with five multiple-choice questions.

Here is where English practice really happens. Read each question and answer carefully. Compare the Japanese and English questions! There's no right or wrong answer, but I must have done something bad because I ended up in Slytherin. Peter was lucky - he got Gryffindor.

There's lots more to do. "Fun and Games" is second from the top of the left-side menu. "Quidditch Practice," for example, is like a video game you can play online. Look in the "Library" for a lot of extra hidden games.

This site is so full of stuff to discover and play with! The only problem is that you probably need ADSL to really enjoy it. Keep telling your Mom you need ADSL!

Shukan ST: March 14, 2003

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