Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A Writing in English, from the viewpoint of a non-English-speaking character, how can I convey a language very similar to the character's own?

Two methods I can think of: 1) The character says or thinks what he's understood. "So you want me to go to the hut in the forest and kill the wizard?" He listened as the elders discusse...

posted 8y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:40Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25273
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:45:05Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25273
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T05:45:05Z (almost 5 years ago)
Two methods I can think of:

1) The character says or thinks what he's understood.

> "So you want me to go to the hut in the forest and kill the wizard?"
> 
> He listened as the elders discussed the situation. _Do they really want me to go into the Black Forest and take out the sorcerer who's cursed the whole kingdom?_ He wasn't sure if he was up for that.

2) The narration summarizes what the character thinks he's understood.

> The elders spoke for a while. He couldn't follow the entire conversation, but he gathered that they wanted him to go into the great forest beyond the village and either incapacitate or kill the sorcerer who had cursed the kingdom. He wasn't sure if he was up for that.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-11-18T22:58:36Z (about 8 years ago)
Original score: 3