Foreign languages

[G.G.]

Ok, I was reading another discussion board and someone brought up that when adding sentences in a different language in a book, people should always verify its accuracy with natives of that tongue, or at least with someone who speaks it fluently.

So I was thinking; How about a thread where we could ask these questions.

Warning: This might give everyone headaches just to stare at so many different dialects and languages in one thread but let's do this.

[Nicole]

Ooh what a great idea GG! How very helpful :)

[Mark]

I like this idea, it could prove very helpful to have this kind of easy access to that sort of source. Thanks, GG.

My wife is Hispanic, so we could help with any Spanish questions.

[Karen]

An excellent idea, G.G. I guess we all feel betrayed by foreign language errors in a book that is otherwise great.

[Harmony]

Sounds like a great idea ... I hate it when the wrong word(s) crop up, and this sounds like a great resource to have. Well done GG.

[Claire]

I can help with Hebrew and my husband speaks Russian, so I could ask him if anyone needed it.

[G.G.]

WOW, and to think that I was afraid to start this thread. Thank you all for your responses and thank you all who offered their help (or their sweet-half's help)! I can help with (Canadian) French if needed.

I think I'm going to be the first to bug people since no one seems to want to start. :p

These sentences are already in my book, but if they are wrong, I'll include the changes in the next updates. Mark, I think I may have to bug your wife. :P

It's a series of sentences. They do not always relate to each others. Here it goes.

1-"Cariño, ven y abre la puerta de atrás para mí, por favor, no dejes que nadie te vea,"

2-"¿Qué pasa, papá? ¿Por qué la puerta de atrás y por qué el secreto?"

3-"Teresa, esto es un amigo,"

4-"Él necesita nuestra ayuda."

5-"Gracias por ayudarme."

The first four sentences are supposed to be natives. the number 5 is the answer from someone who only learned basic language.

[Karen]

These sentences seem all right, G.G. :)
I would omit the accent on 'que', though.

[Mark]

Yes, my wife mentioned the same thing as what Karen pointed out.

[G.G.]

Thanks Karen! That was quick! :)

(Omit the accent on all 3 'que'?)

EDIT: Thanks Mark! (and thank your wife for me!)

[Karen]

Yes, G.G. on all three 'que', please. :)

[G.G.]

Thanks!

Done on my own manuscript. Sadly, to have it changed on the one published will have to wait a little. :(

[Yveta]

One more comment: when writing in other languages, make sure you use punctuation and quotation marks correctly. Do not use the English grammar as a rule. Each language has specific rules. Spanish, for example, places quotation marks after "?" and "!" the way English does, however, when you use a comma, it is different. For example, if you say in English: "Get away from her," shrieked the hag. Your quotation mark in Spanish will be AFTER the comma, like this: "Aléjate de ella", aulló la bruja.
French and German and other languages have punctuation that's very different too!

[G.G.]

I agree but I'm afraid if one would start doing that, the readers might get confused and scream that it needs/lack editing. :(

I might be wrong but wouldn't it be better to use consistency in these cases? If the book is using English rules, stick with it no matter what? If your book is in Spanish but you'd used English sentences, wouldn't your readers yell that there is a typo in that sentence since the coma is inside instead of out? Why? Because the rest of the book shows them outside and that's also how they are used to see it.

In the same manner, if in an American English book, there is a British character speaking, should the author switch the quotation " for ' just for that character as it's used mainly in England?

I know it would make my head spin after a while, especially if there are many nationalities involved.

Interesting point though and it'd be cool to get people's opinion on that.

[Claire]

From what I've seen (YA books mainly) grammer stays consistent throughout even with a sprinkling of foreign languages. I agree with @G.G on this.

[Ann]

I don't think I would like to see too much of a language I don't understand in a book, unless the language was fictional. But in one of my novels, the character ofen speaks words of french to his mother. I write the short sentence with English puncuation then write the translation in iltallic before I write the tag.

[Mark]

A way I've dealt with this, is to state ' so-and-so spoke to so-and-so in their - fill in the blank - foreign tongue...and then proceeded to write the conversation out in English. It's a cop-out, I know, but it allows the reader to imagine the words being spoken without having to decipher it for real.

I'm not knocking using the real deal, if that's what the writer prefers. Rather, I'm referencing my own impatience with reading through extravagant fantasy dialog, names, or language I'm not familiar with. I'm one of those impatient readers.

[Harmony]

I'm using pro-enochian in my current book, and am trying to keep it to the very minimum. I am putting the translation in a bracketed italic immediately after it, but am being very careful not to overdo it. Personally, like Mark, I hate having to wade through loads of sentences in a language I don't know or understand. But I feel a small amount goes a long way to aid authenticity - if it's done correctly. I agree with GG on the grammatical usage, and feel it best to stick with the punctuation already used in the rest of the book. :3

[Ann]

I think done correctly it can really emotionally charge a scene, no one cries out for their mother in a language she didn't speak.

[Mark]

Bisky, good point, indeed !

[Ann]

I write some dark stuff :p

[G.G.]

Oh, I have to agree that overdoing it can be irritating for the readers and a sure way to lose them too.

It's like in movies... Nothing like 15 minutes of a foreign language to lose me. If I'm sitting and watching, and it's subtitled, I can deal with it, if (yes IF) they give me enough time to read it, which is too often not the case.

[Mark]

I have to go off-topic in regard to GG's comment, I loved the foreign movie Love Is All You Need, set in Italy.

[Ann]

I hardly ever watch movies in English nowdays xP

I'm much more used to reading subs :p

[G.G.]

@Bisky They say it's the best way to learn a foreign language: complete submersion. :P

@Mark I haven't seen that one but I love the German Movie 'Das Boot'. The subs were short enough to give you time to read, and explicit enough to understand the story.

[Ann]

I dunno about that. I've lived here for a while and I still struggle. And we still get problems for instance the other day I asked Viking to bring back some spring onions.

I now own four very large leeks.

[G.G.]

@Bisky LOL well... I guess that's what he wants to eat. :P

[Nicole]

Hahaha awww Bisky

[Marat]

If you need any help with Serbian or any other language from Balkans, I am here to help. :)

[G.G.]

Thank you Marat!