Which language to use when writing a multinational story
I'm Brazilian and I'm writing a book in portuguese. However the story takes place first in Europe, i.e. Italy, Portugal, and London. Of course this requires of me some research about the culture of these places. After that it is going to take place in Brazil.
Besides that I have a little doubt about how to describe the language two characters would be speaking in, mainly if they speak multiple languages. SHould I always mention in which language the characters would be speaking everytime they change places? Should it be implied depending on the country the characters they are?
There are also somethings that make sense only in certain languages, like rhymes and contextual jokes. Should I write that it both the main language of my text and the specific language the character is speaking? Would not that become burdensome to the reader mainly considering that most of the readers won't be polyglots?
Example (in which English is the main language, but the character is saying something relevant in Portuguese):
And then the man said:
-Não se preocupe porque sempre chove quando menos se espera. (Don't worry because it always rains when it is least expected.)
Mark did not know what the man was saying. He only know it was Portuguese. He knew that "Não se preocupe" meant "Don't worry", but what about the rest? He hadn't the chance to ask, for the strange man couldn't be seen in front of him anymore...
Do you have some examples of stories following this pattern?
Thanks!
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1 answer
In general, it's my opinion that a story should pick a language and stick to it. Even though many people speak multiple languages, having a book in more than one language means you're limiting yourself to a subset of possible readers.
Ask yourself: What purpose does it serve to the story and characters to quote them speaking in more than one language? If a reader speaks (for example) English and Portuguese, there's no reason for them to see a translation immediately following. If they speak only one or the other, then they'll see text that makes little sense to them.
However, of course the characters would be speaking in more than one language, and that should be conveyed. But there's no need to double up on the dialog; quoting the occasional word or phrase should be sufficient to get this across to the reader.
You can also add color by mentioning, from time to time, misunderstandings from accents and translation problems. You can even describe double meanings that result. (For example: "He said the word "misunderstanding", but in [language], that word also meant ‘sabatoge’”.)
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