Mixing Languages
So I've been thinking about the multi-cultural nature of my stories and making decisions about how much of another language, if any, I should include in my narratives and dialogue. Even though English is my primary language, my first words were in Mandarin Chinese.
People who were raised speaking at least two different languages know that there is more than one way to say something. They also know it is possible for a concept or phrase to exist in one language and not another. Such knowledge is extremely useful to writers.
Sometimes in my stories I will include a few uniquely Asian-American circumstances as jokes and play on phrases to those who understand both languages that I'm writing while trying to make it still understandable to the English-only readers. But usually my overall guiding principle in writing is that I should put in non-English language phrases only when absolutely necessary, when there is not an appropriate translation in English.
People who were raised speaking at least two different languages know that there is more than one way to say something. They also know it is possible for a concept or phrase to exist in one language and not another. Such knowledge is extremely useful to writers.
Sometimes in my stories I will include a few uniquely Asian-American circumstances as jokes and play on phrases to those who understand both languages that I'm writing while trying to make it still understandable to the English-only readers. But usually my overall guiding principle in writing is that I should put in non-English language phrases only when absolutely necessary, when there is not an appropriate translation in English.
posted by Emily Jiang at 11:57 PM
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3 Comments:
I agree with you that the writer should not be too trigger-happy when including another language, but I also think that such little words or expressions, when used sparingly and adequately, give an added flavor to a story. Not to mention that they reflect the truth of a situation. As you mention, some of us grew up with more than one language. I did, and so are my children, now, and it is fascinating to see them jumping from one language to another, according to the words that come easily to them.
Yes, I agree flavor is important! How wonderful your children's minds grow with each language! Sometimes my friends and I speak Chinglish (Chinese and English), too.
Emily,
That was so interesting - especially as I also grew up speaking a language other than English. My mothertongue is Tamil, but I write in English and I've often wondered if and how my English is influenced by my Tamil.
Padma
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