42 - A book that features two languages

[Charity]

I just finished the book Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys which is in English and contains Russian phrases, as well. It was a really great book!!!!

[Dedra ~ A Book Wanderer]

Jack wrote: "The novel Slanted and Disenchanted has French characters and some hilarious observations on American culture through the eyes of a French family. This isn't like a Paris memoir. It's actually a boo..."

I read Slanted and Disenchanted: A Novel last year and absolutely loved it! It deserves so much more attention.

[El]

Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros

[JessicaMHR]

I just finished The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo and it has quite a smattering of Spanish throughout the book, including one whole poem in Spanish (see translates it after). The audiobook was great!

[Heather L]

I’m going to count The Gambler by Fyodor Dostoevsky for this one, as there is a smattering of French throughout.

[Dubhease]

I read Eragon. He created an ancient/elven language and even a dwaven one.

[Britany]

Finished The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jamie]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz has quite a bit of Spanish in it, enough that it gets a bit frustrating at times if you don't know the language.

It's a very polarizing book, but I loved it.

[Nadine in NY]

Jamie wrote: "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz has quite a bit of Spanish in it, enough that it gets a bit frustrating at times if you don't know the language.

It's a very polar..."


I loved that book! I listened to the audiobook read by Lin Manuel Miranda, and I found a slang dictionary online that was very helpful (although I was able to follow along just from context, i didn't NEED to know what they were saying).

The Annotated Oscar Wao: http://www.annotated-oscar-wao.com/

[Tania]

I read Furia for this; it has quite a bit of Spanish in the book and a few phrases in Italian, and the main character is bilingual.

[Sherri]

I used Peach Blossom Spring.

[LeahS]

I read The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers, the final book in the excellent Wayfarers series. Five aliens from four different species spend time together when their travel is delayed. Words from their languages crop up throughout this book.

[Preeti]

The book Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi contains some sentences in Twi. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Bahni Turpin.

[Kaia]

I read Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin. Although you don't see a lot of the second language, its creation is the main plot point so it definitely "features" a second language. Very interesting concept, but I'm not sure about the execution. I might read the rest of the trilogy, just to see if it gets developed more fully.

[Donna]

I’m just finishing Tears of Amber by Sofía Segovia and will use it for this prompt. There are quite a few snippets of German throughout the book. Also, on another level, the book is translated to English from the original Spanish. It’s a great book.

This book also fits the prompt for Latinx author.

[Michelle]

What's confusing me a bit about this plot is whether books also count when they feature more than two languages.

I was reading a Dutch book with many English quotes, but in the last chapter there was also a German quote. So now I'm wondering whether it still counts. Maybe I will let it count regardless, until I complete the challenge and I can read Firekeeper's Daughter which was already on my TBR.

The same goes for the Outlander series (amazing books by the way, I'm so obsessed and got my boyfriend to like the tv series and now our puppy is called Jamie :') ). It's been a while since I read the first books though, but I'm quite sure all of them feature Gaelic and a bit of French next to English (assuming you read it in English of course).

[Nadine in NY]

Michelle wrote: "What's confusing me a bit about this plot is whether books also count when they feature more than two languages.

I was reading a Dutch book with many English quotes, but in the last chapter there..."



I'd say "yes." It doesn't say "exactly two languages" - if it includes three languages then it includes two languages. I've been really liberal with this one, too - if there is more than one word in another language, I count it. (I don't mean phrases that are common - in English we use many phrases in Latin, German, Yiddish, French, etc, and those wouldn't count for me. Examples: je ne sais quoi, pied-à-terre, gesundheit, schmaltz, caveat emptor, etc. Even "et cetera"! Others might count these. )

[Michelle]

Nadine in NY wrote: "I'd say "yes." It doesn't say "exactly two languages" - if it includes three languages then it includes two languages."

That's definitely true, thanks!

And I agree with you, the prompt leaves quite some room to choose books in which another language is not that prominently displayed (e.g. a quote at the beginning of the book or chapter(s) would work as well I assume). But indeed, just as you I wouldn't count books for this prompt where the only words or phrases in another languages are 'adopted' into the main language of the book.

[Ron]

Maybe I'm being too literal here but I think that's part of the fun in asking this question as well as pondering the answers.

What kind of language are we talking about here?

Language can take on many different meanings.

Take comic books, movies, fanfiction, or information in textbooks. Each has its own terminology. Even medical or law jargon.

"The main trait that distinguishes jargon from the rest of a language is special vocabulary."- yet jargon is also seen as a subtype of language.

"Jargon as a noun (uncountable): A technical terminology unique to a particular subject.

Jargon as a noun (countable): Language characteristic of a particular group."

"When used as nouns, jargon means a technical terminology unique to a particular subject, whereas language means a body of words, and set of methods of combining them (called a grammar), understood by a community and used as a form of communication."

*****

I just thought this would be an interesting topic/question to think about. From my POV and from what I've come to discover is that language doesn't have to be a specific translation from say English to Spanish, but it can also be a means of information since certain language/jargon may not be used as part of an everyday vernacular.

[Nadine in NY]

Ron wrote: "Maybe I'm being too literal here but I think that's part of the fun in asking this question as well as pondering the answers.

What kind of language are we talking about here?

Language can take on..."



LOL I think jargon is a part of a language, not a language in itself. I could not have a conversation with you in jargon. If I said "azeotrope, temperature glide, enthalpy, tons, approach, LMTD, void fraction, vapor blanketing, liquid carryover" that would just be a list of terms.

[Ron]

Exactly the point to my question. Since jargon is a part of language would that be able to work for this topic?

I mean the way I see it, it's like the topic of 'party'. It doesn't necessarily have to mean a party in the sense of a social sense but it could mean a party in the sense of politics.

Just a few things I started thinking and stuff. LOL.

[Nadine in NY]

Ron wrote: "Exactly the point to my question. Since jargon is a part of language would that be able to work for this topic?

I mean the way I see it, it's like the topic of 'party'. It doesn't necessarily have..."


I mean, if you want to count it, count it. But I don't. I work with engineering teams in France and China, and we don't all use the same jargon, although of course we are talking about exactly the same thing. There are a few words that they use the English version of, but for the most part, French is French, and in China it's Mandarin (I guess?) The layperson wouldn't understand what any of us are saying, but the jargon we use is still a part of our main language, not a separate language on its own.

[Ron]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Ron wrote: "Exactly the point to my question. Since jargon is a part of language would that be able to work for this topic?

I mean the way I see it, it's like the topic of 'party'. It doesn't nece..."

Thanks for the input. I'll go through and see what books I can find when it comes to general language to language rather than language-jargon.

[Ron]

Managed to find a poetry book called Sáanii Dahataal/The Women Are Singing: Poems and Stories . It's a mixture of some English and some Navajo.

One of my joys is reading Indigenous history. The poems in this book were really fascinating, especially in the Navajo language. It's hard to choose a favorite poem but the one I did enjoy was 'They Were Alone in the Winter'. Still, despite that I enjoyed it, I still did not connect to it the way I was hoping so I gave it a 3-star.

[Marianne]

I picked iron lake

[Denise]

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

[Hrishika]

I would recommend Such Big Dreams for this one!

[Janette]

I think sign language would count. I am reading and there is sign language mentioned and translated.

[Rachel]

Daughters of Smoke and Fire is a powerful story about the struggles of the Kurdish people in Iran, including the suppression of their Kurdish language by Ava Homa the first Kurdish woman to publish a novel in English. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Here is my review

[Felicia]

If you are still looking for a book for this prompt I would recommend Carrie Soto Is Back. Great book and Carrie and her father speak to each other often in Spanish.

[honeyfolds]

I listened to Furia (spanish and english were used in the book)

[Lilly]

What do you all think about using These Violent Delights or Our Violent Ends for this prompt? I'm trying to fill up as many spots as I can with books I've already read

[Denise]

Lilly wrote: "What do you all think about using These Violent Delights or Our Violent Ends for this prompt? I'm trying to fill up as many spots as I can with books I've already read"

Is there more than one language? If there is, I think you're fine for either of these :) Even if it's just the occasional word or sentence, it counts if you want it to count.

[Vaish]

"Fight until you can’t breathe, & if you have to forfeit, you forfeit smiling, make them think you let them win.”

Clap When You Land
It is a verse novel beautifully written. It features both Spanish and English.

[Kirby]

Brandon wrote: ""Features" is a term that allows some flexibility. If you are not already on the Tolkien train, try The Lord of the Rings, which features some Elvish."

I was going to say that I read The Hobbit in 2022. I guess that would be a book w/ two languages, but I don't know if I would say "features" either.