Foreign languages in fiction

[HelloHound]

When there's a language that a character doesn't know, how do you the reader prefer to have it shown?

• Understandable to the reader
• Not understandable to the reader

 

[Paul_Tromba]

If you can do it right then there are a lot of benefits to having your own language. However, it is a lot easier to say that there is another language but make it readable to the audience.

 

[Amok]

context, descriptive dialogue instead of spoken. i'll only consider inventing a language for mega serious works, but i guess scrabbling a syntax together for basic writing can't be that hard.

"Bero? Hervasa der kitrja!"
Humpty shook his head in puzzlement.
"Der kitrja! Alei jar tjormo!"
Only when they started carrying him toward the volcano did he begin to understand.

As a reader i don't care, if it's nice i'll read it.

 

[JayDirex]

Nah. As a reader I don't want to read gobbitlygook.

So when I explain that the others are speaking another language it will be understandable to the reader and not understandable to whoever doesn't speak the language, by description.

But I'm past the days of writing strange words that the reader's not going to understand anyway. But that's a style choice.

 

[Southdog]

I always cheat a little and render foreign languages as prose. By that I mean I don't ever write out that conversation. Instead, it's always "they spoke in another language," or "they conversed in their mother tongue." Depending on the fluency of any characters observing the conversation, they'll pick out more words or understand the conversation better. I'm under no delusion that I would use translation software to make a flowing dialogue between native speakers.

Of course this doesn't apply when there's multilingual or polyglot characters. I honestly prefer having a translated conversation, and indicating it within the prose. Just saying "we spoke in Spanish," or "the conversation went like this," makes it easier on me. Simple italics usually suffice. It's hard enough to make natural dialogue in my mother tongue. I don't want to try it in a language I barely know!

 

[SailusGebel]

In symbols " ****, %^&$, ???? "

 

[TotallyHuman]

I write gibberish.
He said to me: "ettiohpritakka, bulchero del venne!", which translated roughly to "thus, we have the answer!"
There is a benefit, you can pull as much linguistic subtlety out of it as you want. The word he said was "greppio", which literally meant "goodbye". However, it was used towards the elderly from Northern regions. Its etymology goes way back to the middle of the 3rd century, the Miolian war. During those times...
This way, it could be said, he meant "we part now, but let us meet again, this time as friends"
You get the idea

 

[AliceShiki]

I usually just go with, "They said something I couldn't quite understand, but they seemed to be angry." or something similar.

If the main character doesn't understand the words, then the readers shouldn't understand them either (at least in first person narrative). The reader will only get the information that the main character got, which is like... Intonation, gestures and whatnot.

 

[Akaichi]

Use esperanto if it is a forign language.
They had something like this in the game Divinity original sin, Where a woman spoke in esperanto as if it was her native language and a mine beside her translated what she said.

Use symboles for alien languages and unnatural sounds.

 

[RedHunter2296]

I use Google Translate. But the scenes with other languages I handle according to the context.

If the main character knows the language, I put the original text first and then the translated one so that the readers understand that it is another language, but also what they are saying.

In case he doesn't know it, just the untranslated language. Because it is understandable that he does not understand and act according to the situation.

And in case they are in another place where only one language is spoken, for example, the protagonists go to Germany for X reason. I keep putting all the conversations in English because the readers take it for granted that they are speaking German at all times.

 

[Mephi]

It... depends? Like, if I'm writing strictly first person/ unreliable narrator, I don't want to have a translation at all. Maybe figure something out based on body language. I usually run what I want to say through google translate, and post what it comes up with, since that's alittle easter egg for those readers who go the extra step.

Other times, I would like to have the reader know, so I'd put the meaning in <> instead of the usual "".

Sometimes I just sprinkle bits of other language in, like Ja, as part of speaking, and its (hopefully) clear what the word means based on context.

 

[Jemini]

What's all the fuss? You can just do what I did and create your own language.

Lurisa, tiikis-ud ra ii gi ir. Mein tusu-sa endima akakisu. (Everyone, thank you for coming. I will teach you all about creating languages.)

 

[BlackKnightX]

Depends. If you want the readers to find things out along with the character, then make it unreadable. If you want to create some kind of dramatic irony, then use the normal language.

 

[Ruyi]

if it's a webnovel i'm reading online in English, i would prefer to have the foreign language show up with some obvious symbols like brackets or whatever. because ultimately, the important thing is the story and how relevant that dialogue is to the plot, not how cool some language the author made up looks or whatever.

i read stuff online because it's easy and fun. if i want to suddenly learn a foreign language, i'd read a book on that instead.

tho i wouldn't mind if the author put the original lines in the author's notes or as an extra chapter or whatever. basically my philosophy is: don't make the readers work any harder than they have to to enjoy your story. don't force them to do EXTRA stuff just to read a novel. save their patience for cliffhangers and the actual plot.

P.S. i can make exceptions if it's plot-relevant, a one-liner, or done for laughs. adjust accordingly.