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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36969
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36969
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

 **Transliteration** is commonly used in cases such as you describe. Look for example at Ken Liu's short story _[Mono no aware](http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/mono-no-aware/)_: the title itself is a transliteration. Then, within the text, there is an explanation:

> “Everything passes, Hiroto,” Dad said. “That feeling in your heart: It’s called mono no aware. It is a sense of the transience of all things in life.”

**Your Chinese characters are utterly meaningless to me** , as they would be to any non-bilingual reader. They are pictures, and unlike emoji, they convey to me nothing whatsoever. Transliteration is the only way that would allow me to have an idea of what sound they're supposed to make.

Thus, the only reason I see to include actual foreign characters is if you wish to talk about their shape. For example, from _Mono no aware_ again,

> The world is shaped like the kanji for umbrella, only written so poorly, like my handwriting, that all the parts are out of proportion. [followed by an image of the relevant kanji]

Such use is actually beautiful, since it conveys foreignness without distancing the reader.

**Your text should be readable, understandable, and enjoyable for an audience that speaks no language except for the one you're writing in**.

What to do when it's important that your character makes mistakes in another language? This is a case for telling rather than showing. From _Mono no aware_:

> My father would be greatly ashamed at the childish way I still form my characters. Indeed, I can barely write many of them anymore. My formal schooling back in Japan ceased when I was only eight.

I cannot tell from the drawing of the kanji that anything is wrong with it, but the MC tells me it is wrong.

Original score: 7