Foreign Language Translation Guidelines - A Question

[Madd_Maxxine]

The story I'm working on contains foreign language. I translate when it seems necessary. Is there a proper way to do this? This is an example of how I'm doing it now:

“Susu maia i lo matou aiga, Cassidy [Welcome to our family, Cassidy],” said Nikora.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Unless the details of the language matter (e.g., you've really constructed a language, or you're using a real language that some of your readers might understand) I would write in English and note that they're speaking another language.

When I've wanted to show the original and the translated dialogue, I've used italics. E.g.,

"No, no, está bien," he said. No, no, it's okay.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Ah, Google says you're writing Samoan? Never mind that bit about whether the details matter then, sorry.

 

[Madd_Maxxine]

Ah, Google says you're writing Samoan? Never mind that bit about whether the details matter then, sorry.

Thank you Google translate. The language is an important part of the story, and a big part of some of the humor at certain points. I started doing what you suggested by just writing it in English showing that it was a foreign language, but I kind of got into using the actual dialog. I'm trying not to overdo it though.

 

[Rustyoznail]

The story I'm working on contains foreign language. I translate when it seems necessary. Is there a proper way to do this? This is an example of how I'm doing it now:

“Susu maia i lo matou aiga, Cassidy [Welcome to our family, Cassidy],” said Nikora.

I've written stories with Hindi dialogue and one with a mix of northern European. I've done something similar to you, but a neater way is something like:

“Susu maia i lo matou aiga, Cassidy,” said Nikora.

Cassidy smiled back. "Thank you for the welcome, Nikora. I am so happy to be part of your family."

or

Cassidy shook her head. "I'm sorry, my Samoan isn't great."

"Welcome to our family."

 

[Madd_Maxxine]

I've written stories with Hindi dialogue and one with a mix of northern European. I've done something similar to you, but a neater way is something like:

“Susu maia i lo matou aiga, Cassidy,” said Nikora.

Cassidy smiled back. "Thank you for the welcome, Nikora. I am so happy to be part of your family."

or

Cassidy shook her head. "I'm sorry, my Samoan isn't great."

"Welcome to our family."

I have done what you did in that first example quite a bit. At times it either became too unwieldy or I became too lazy to do it that way each time. Here is an example of where I think it worked well.

As if on cue, Nikora exited her hut and walked toward the young women.
“Alofaaga, Nikora,” said Cassidy with a smile.
“Talofa teine papae aulelei,” Nikora nodded at Cassidy and spit on the ground near her feet.
Cassidy whispered to Rory, “Did she say what I thought she said?”
“She called you a pretty white woman,” responded Rory.
“But she spit on the ground.”
“That’s right, she doesn’t like pretty white women,” answered Rory.
“Oh great,” thought Cassidy.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

I find that using italics for foreign words makes it instantly apparent that they are foreign. From personal experience, I find it frustrating to get halfway through a phrase or sentence and find it just isn’t flowing. YMMV, of course.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Thank you Google translate. The language is an important part of the story, and a big part of some of the humor at certain points. I started doing what you suggested by just writing it in English showing that it was a foreign language, but I kind of got into using the actual dialog. I'm trying not to overdo it though.

Yeah, to be clear, what I mean by "never mind" was "clearly if you're writing grammatically correct Samoan then the details do matter, so don't let me talk you out of showing the original Samoan." Sorry if it came off like, "Well, obviously Samoan doesn't matter."

 

[Madd_Maxxine]

Yeah, to be clear, what I mean by "never mind" was "clearly if you're writing grammatically correct Samoan then the details do matter, so don't let me talk you out of showing the original Samoan." Sorry if it came off like, "Well, obviously Samoan doesn't matter."

Yeah, to be clear, what I mean by "never mind" was "clearly if you're writing grammatically correct Samoan then the details do matter, so don't let me talk you out of showing the original Samoan." Sorry if it came off like, "Well, obviously Samoan doesn't matter."

I had gotten your meaning. Whether the details matter is a "matter" of debate. They mattered to me, for some stupid reason. What is crazy is the fact that I'm doing some Samoan and some Maori. Pretty foolish of me, since nobody is likely to care, but I'm impressed that you had looked it up, so maybe some people will care.

 

[Madd_Maxxine]

I find that using italics for foreign words makes it instantly apparent that they are foreign. From personal experience, I find it frustrating to get halfway through a phrase or sentence and find it just isn’t flowing. YMMV, of course.

Are you italicizing the English words to suggest that they are the foreign language?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

No, sorry if that’s what it sounded like.

She smiled at me. “Bon jour, monsieur!”

 

[ronde]

I do this frequently and unless it's a phrase in another language that's in common usage by native English speakers, I'll have the character who speaks that language translate for the character who does not.