How to Use Foreign Languages in Fiction

By Laurence MacNaughton, @LMacNaughton

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Using a foreign language in a novel can be tricky, but it can also add a sense of the larger, diverse world. This month, Laurence MacNaughton tackles options for using foreign languages in your story.

When a character in your story speaks a foreign language, should you write it out in that language, or in English? How can you make the dialogue sound exotic without confusing the reader?

These are tricky questions. Foreign languages can lend your characters and locations a more exotic flair, and even increase the dramatic tension in a scene. But before you start sprinkling a certain je ne sais quoi into your prose, understand that you have several options.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com