Language issue?

[ShelbyDawn57]

Being trolleyed is just slightly less obvious in certain accents.

My aunt learned to speak Welsh before going to visit our extended(by generations) family in Carmarthen. Even after hearing her speak it, I'm convinced it's completely made up and just a joke on the rest of the world. Lots of side winks and nodding going on.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I don't get shmangled, I stop when I'm rat-faced.

We all have to have limits.

 

[SimonDoom]

Historically, this is not all that problematic. Scotland and France have a long history of mutual esteem and cooperation against those dastardly English dogs.

One of my all-time favorite bits of dialogue in a movie is the rant by the lead character in Trainspotting, Mark Renton, played brilliantly by Ewan McGregor, about being Scottish, which he says to a friend who's trying to rouse him and his lazy, drug-addicted friends to do a hike in the Scottish wilderness:

“It’s shite being Scottish!
We’re the lowest of the low.
The scum of the fucking Earth!
The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shit into civilization.
Some hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers.

We, on the other hand, are COLONISED by wankers. Can’t even find a decent culture to be colonised BY!
We’re ruled by effete arseholes.


It’s a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and ALL the fresh air in the world won’t make any fucking difference.”


I visited Scotland quite a while ago and loved it. Beautiful countryside, wonderful people, and Scotch! But this passage from the movie always makes me laugh.

I liked England, too, I must say.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

One of my all-time favorite bits of dialogue in a movie is the rant by the lead character in Trainspotting, Mark Renton, played brilliantly by Ewan McGregor, about being Scottish, which he says to a friend who's trying to rouse him and his lazy, drug-addicted friends to do a hike in the Scottish wilderness:

“It’s shite being Scottish!
We’re the lowest of the low.
The scum of the fucking Earth!
The most wretched, miserable, servile, pathetic trash that was ever shit into civilization.
Some hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers.

We, on the other hand, are COLONISED by wankers. Can’t even find a decent culture to be colonised BY!
We’re ruled by effete arseholes.


It’s a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and ALL the fresh air in the world won’t make any fucking difference.”


I visited Scotland quite a while ago and loved it. Beautiful countryside, wonderful people, and Scotch! But this passage from the movie always makes me laugh.

I liked England, too, I must say.

One great thing about Trainspotting was it helped convince a few Americans before they came to visit that the UK isn't just a quaint fairy-tale pretend country full of poshos and afternoon tea and mystical Celts, but it's actually a place with cities and druggies and shitholes, too.

At least once it was subtitled. My poor housemate came from New England to London and saw the film a fortnight later. Bless him, he then went and bought the book and spent the next month trying to read it and constantly asking us what phrases meant.

The four countries of the UK are like squabbling siblings, ganging up on that brat France next door, but we'll band together against the gang from the postcode across town.

My aunt learned to speak Welsh before going to visit our extended(by generations) family in Carmarthen. Even after hearing her speak it, I'm convinced it's completely made up and just a joke on the rest of the world. Lots of side winks and nodding going on.

I did some work in Carmarthen. Nice town, mostly Welsh-speaking, but 'diolch yn fawr' and learning which toilets to go into is all you need. I lived with a Welsh girl for a while (basically Ellie in Homesick Halloween), and got quite good at picking out the English words when she was was ranting on the phone to her family - apparently she didn't dare use Welsh swear words to her mum but English ones were fine!

 

[SimonDoom]

One great thing about Trainspotting was it helped convince a few Americans before they came to visit that the UK isn't just a quaint fairy-tale pretend country full of poshos and afternoon tea and mystical Celts, but it's actually a place with cities and druggies and shitholes, too.

At least once it was subtitled. My poor housemate came from New England to London and saw the film a fortnight later. Bless him, he then went and bought the book and spent the next month trying to read it and constantly asking us what phrases meant.

The four countries of the UK are like squabbling siblings, ganging up on that brat France next door, but we'll band together against the gang from the postcode across town.


I did some work in Carmarthen. Nice town, mostly Welsh-speaking, but 'diolch yn fawr' and learning which toilets to go into is all you need. I lived with a Welsh girl for a while (basically Ellie in Homesick Halloween), and got quite good at picking out the English words when she was was ranting on the phone to her family - apparently she didn't dare use Welsh swear words to her mum but English ones were fine!

I've always liked George Bernard Shaw's observation that the US and Britain are two countries divided by a common language. There's a lot of truth to that. We share much but the differences keep things interesting.

 

[SimonDoom]

One of my favorite TV series in the last few years was Chernobyl, and all of the soviet characters simply spoke English in the actors' native accents.

The verisimilitude of the sets and costumes and acting would not have benefited from having English-speaking actors use a language they weren't fluent in, or even worse, having them try and act in English using Russian and Ukrainian accents

That was a good show, and a nice showcase for the talents of Jared Harris, a talented actor who's flown under the radar more than he deserves. Among other credits, he played Ulysses S. Grant in Lincoln, with Daniel Day Lewis. And you're right -- the English accents weren't an issue.

 

[AwkwardMD]

That was a good show, and a nice showcase for the talents of Jared Harris, a talented actor who's flown under the radar more than he deserves. Among other credits, he played Ulysses S. Grant in Lincoln, with Daniel Day Lewis. And you're right -- the English accents weren't an issue.

He played Anderson Dawes in The Expanse. That show had a huge impact on me, and his role was pivotal in giving a voice to the Belter positions.

 

[PennyThompson]

He played Anderson Dawes in The Expanse. That show had a huge impact on me, and his role was pivotal in giving a voice to the Belter positions.

He's also great as Hari Seldon in the Foundation series... Basically Jared Harris is good in everything

 

[JGittes]

....

The Auld Alliance of Scotland and France (as feared by Elizabeth I) is pretty dead - one thing that unites the UK is ganging up on the French. And certain visiting heads of state.

King Charles III certainly took one for the team this week.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I always joke that France is the UK's little brother. We bicker and fight and argue and bitch and call them names and wreck their room...

But God help any other bastard who fucks with them.

Then that other bastard takes the lunch money from both of you and your cousin from across the pond has to bail you out.
Again.

 

[onehitwanda]

Then that other bastard takes the lunch money from both of you and your cousin from across the pond has to bail you out.
Again.

yeah, this is why Canadians are so popular in both countries. They can always be relied upon in a scrap.

 

[Jorunn]

You are writing a story in English on a mostly English story site. So you can go omnipresent third person, or introduce an English-only speaking character, whom the others must interact with. Feel free to use common French expressions and idioms. But after a “Huh?”, have the French characters think them or explain them in English. I do this in many of my stories, set in several different EU countries. You can add enough French ambiance by including location names, foods, etc.