tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966097532659996793.post1817604618261712528..comments2023-11-02T08:39:45.816-04:00Comments on En Violet: Todavía no habla español? Inglés?Kelsey (Dominique) Ridgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10646757546422013401noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966097532659996793.post-39553482757188823712011-01-16T23:46:34.941-05:002011-01-16T23:46:34.941-05:00DL -- Good point. I think the only reason I got d...DL -- Good point. I think the only reason I got distracted during Firefly -- awesomeness -- is that I like to pretend I speak a little Chinese, so I'd always be stopping to say "I've got to learn to say this." If I can get a reader that psyched about anything I write, I'll call that a win.Kelsey (Dominique) Ridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10646757546422013401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966097532659996793.post-65081405563884050722011-01-15T10:18:59.039-05:002011-01-15T10:18:59.039-05:00First off - LOVES ME SOME FIREFLY!!!!
Secondly, I...First off - LOVES ME SOME FIREFLY!!!!<br /><br />Secondly, I was taken aback when I first recognized what the characters were doing, but then I became accustomed to it and even enjoyed trying to self-translate with what I felt fit in that situation. The key for me was balance. Firefly never let become distracting.DL Hammonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02007260062331783715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966097532659996793.post-61269503337741844072011-01-12T00:51:24.496-05:002011-01-12T00:51:24.496-05:00Vicki -- You raise a good point. The fluency of a ...Vicki -- You raise a good point. The fluency of a character is definitely a concern when determining whether or not a character can go off in another language. You'd need to know how the character picked it up, otherwise it'd be weird.Kelsey (Dominique) Ridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10646757546422013401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966097532659996793.post-27175784152326176952011-01-12T00:46:27.218-05:002011-01-12T00:46:27.218-05:00Yeah...Firefly...*coughneedstowatchitstillcough*
...Yeah...Firefly...*coughneedstowatchitstillcough*<br /><br />But on the subject of languages - it's pretty much up to you and your readers. There's a character in the Mercy Thompson series who will break into Ancient German when he's ticked off, or use a couple terms of endearment. The narrator (Mercy) has lived with him enough (and has picked up enough German) to get the gist and relay it to the audience. <br /><br />Granted, this character isn't a main one, so these instances are pretty few and far between. It might get a little more confusing/annoying if it's happening once or twice every page.<br /><br />I personally haven't tried second languages out in my writing. And other than maybe having a scene or two practicing for Spanish class, I don't see myself having a character fluent in it.Vicki S https://www.blogger.com/profile/01052645354767036185noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966097532659996793.post-173781441632159512011-01-12T00:39:00.853-05:002011-01-12T00:39:00.853-05:00Melissa -- You're right, contextualizing the n...Melissa -- You're right, contextualizing the non-English is totally key. You've gotta make sure people understand what's going on.<br /><br />Susan -- I think not having a foreign language character is definitely a fair reason not to have random foreign language appearing.Kelsey (Dominique) Ridgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10646757546422013401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966097532659996793.post-60938872367865662042011-01-11T00:21:58.231-05:002011-01-11T00:21:58.231-05:00I've never written another language into my bo...I've never written another language into my books. First, I don't know any other languages except for a bit of Spanish. Second, I've never had a character that speaks another language.Susan R. Millshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09578747592345750650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966097532659996793.post-47972391546396554442011-01-10T08:35:49.238-05:002011-01-10T08:35:49.238-05:00Awesome discussion question. First off, LOVE Firef...Awesome discussion question. First off, LOVE Firefly and yes, a must see for nerds. I don't think I even realized it was Chinese they were speaking though, that's how clued in I am. <br /><br />I've never written a character who uses another language, outside of a few random words, but if it fits the character I think I would. The only issue I have is when there's not enough context around the phrase to really understand what they are saying. <br /><br />I read War and Peace last year and Tolstoy used a lot of French especially in dialogue. (Most of the upper classes in Russia spoke French at that time.) So instead of translating the Russian and the French into English, they translated the Russian into English and left the French in French with a footnote at the bottom of the page giving the English translaton. What a headache. But that's an extreme example.Melissa Gillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02700191547004665402noreply@blogger.com