The Other Side of the Language Fence

[metalikhan]

The previous thread has an on/off discussion about indicating foreign accents, etc.

But I'm curious whether anyone actually writes in a foreign language or translates their English work into another language.

Going the other direction has it's own set of challenges. Each language has quirks, such as idioms native speakers understand but English speakers don't get or words meaning something different depending on the sentence construction.

Any thoughts on marketing stories to foreign speakers, an international audience?

[j2starshine]

I've done a little translation for a non-profit organization, but its a huge undertaking when you try to capture a story's essence and translate it another language. You would need a professional translator or someone who is very well verse in both languages. Even marketing is tricky. The same cool slogans in our language, once translated can take on a different meaning entirely. Then there is dialects, dual meanings, jokes, etc that exist, or concepts that don't exist. It all depends on culture and language as well. perhaps, getting opinions from native speakers might help.

Anyways, hope that helps!

[metalikhan]

Yep, j2s -- I'm finding out what a challenge it is!

I tackled the project of translating my SFF poetry collection into Spanish. Actually got one of the poems done, but when I posted it on a translation forum for feedback, I learned I wasn't handling prepositions and articles very well. Did okay with noun choices and verb conjugations, though, so I'm making progress.
Slowly.
Very slowly.

[j2starshine]

That's great to hear! I think, when I go back to school, I will minor in Spanish, although, I would love to take Latin and Greek. We shall see. Not that I would do anything with them though. I just love languages. But I probably should learn my hubby's language first. :-)

eh-wasn't it the turtle that won the race? Slowly but surely!