Post History
I want to create a believable conversation between a character who speaks Mandarin and English and a character who speaks English but does not speak Mandarin. Basically, the Mandarin speaker is sup...
Question
language
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T09:46:03Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/38766 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
Double U
·
2019-12-08T09:46:03Z (almost 5 years ago)
I want to create a believable conversation between a character who speaks Mandarin and English and a character who speaks English but does not speak Mandarin. Basically, the Mandarin speaker is supposed to code-switch, but (s)he forgets and instantly says, "好", which means "OK" or "good". I'm guessing that the non-speaker will interpret it as "how" or maybe "ha", but it is possible that the non-speaker will not interpret it as anything meaningful. As a first-language Mandarin speaker, the language just enters my brain automatically. I don't think about grammar or tones. Grammar is something that sounds good to the ear. Tones are an intrinsic part of the word. Every bilingual code-switches, so that the bilingual uses the language that the other person understands. However, the bilingual can slip unconsciously and leak out a foreign word. I would like to know how this will be perceived by the non-speaker.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2018-09-08T02:49:03Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 4