Multi-lingual authors: do you write in more than one language?

[fannyfun]

I've published my first few stories, first in German, than translated them into English. I've now published an original Story only in English.

A couple of thoughts: when translating, I seem to make more mistakes and I seem to not catch them when proof-reading.

Second: i find it quite interesting to see how tastes differ linguistically, so to speak. The literal same story will be rated quite differently in German and in English. Others are pretty much the same.

So, how do you do it? Only publish in one language? And is it your first language or another one? Do you have a different voice in each language?
Do you write specifically for different audiences (ie, "I'd never write *that* in English") or do you trust that the right audience will find your work no matter what?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I have only written in English (so far). I haven't given any thought to translating any of my stories here and maybe I should.

It's always been interesting to me that my mainstream published works seem to do quite well in countries other than the US.

Canada, Australia, and Great Brittain I can somewhat understand since English is a predominant language there. However, countries such as Japan, Dubai, Korea, Brazil, and most Scandinavian countries have mostly minority English speaking populations and my books are only published in English.

So, I'll piggy-back off the OP by asking if anyone has ever translated their English published stories to another language on Literotica, and if so, why did you select a particular language, and what application did you use for the translation?

 

[Bramblethorn]

I have only written in English (so far). I haven't given any thought to translating any of my stories here and maybe I should.

It's always been interesting to me that my mainstream published works seem to do quite well in countries other than the US.

Canada, Australia, and Great Brittain I can somewhat understand since English is a predominant language there. However, countries such as Japan, Dubai, Korea, Brazil, and most Scandinavian countries have mostly minority English speaking populations and my books are only published in English.

I think you're underestimating the English proficiency in some of those places. By my understanding Sweden, Norway, and Denmark all include English as a mandatory subject in school, and per Wiki about 86-90% of people in those countries can speak English - a bit higher than Canada's 83%, though I'm not sure if the definitions used are entirely comparable. For Iceland it's even higher, somewhere around 98% (higher than Australia's 93%!) For most Scandinavians it won't be a first language, but many will still have good enough English to read it for fun.

For Japan, Korea, and Brazil, the percentages are much lower, but Brazil is a country of > 200 million people, so even 5% of that is still a sizeable number of English speakers.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I think you're underestimating the English proficiency in some of those places. By my understanding Sweden, Norway, and Denmark all include English as a mandatory subject in school, and per Wiki about 86-90% of people in those countries can speak English - a bit higher than Canada's 83%, though I'm not sure if the definitions used are entirely comparable. For Iceland it's even higher, somewhere around 98% (higher than Australia's 93%!) For most Scandinavians it won't be a first language, but many will still have good enough English to read it for fun.

For Japan, Korea, and Brazil, the percentages are much lower, but Brazil is a country of > 200 million people, so even 5% of that is still a sizeable number of English speakers.

I don't mean to underestimate the proficiency for people in those countries to understand English. I simply question why they would express interest in reading stories in a foreign language rather than their own.

I worked through the years with a lot of Asians who were proficient in English (speaking, reading, and writing), but they always preferred to read Han-character printed books. Most could write English well, but still used Asian keyboard layouts on their computers. In Europe and other countries where Latin characters are used, reading in a foreign language would be more understandable.

 

[SirBurnInside]

I sometimes struggle writing in English and I'm from England!

I haven't ever thought about translating my stories into other languages, I'd certainly have to use a translation tool as I can't speak any other language, other than a few words and phrases in French, and I think I'd be nervous that the translations weren't correct most of the time.

For now I'll stick to just English I think

 

[ElectricBlue]

Paging @Omenainen

Your presence is required in the Hangout.

 

[Omenainen]

Haha, I see my bat signal is lit on Lit

Okay, so what was the question? My personal take on translating is: don’t. If you want to write in another language, write in that language. Don’t write in one and then translate, and god forbid, never ever translate with any kind of program, even for something like short lines for characters. It will just be embarrassing because it will not go right. If you want to have lines of a language you don’t speak, find someone to translate for you or check your translations. Yes, really.

I don't mean to underestimate the proficiency for people in those countries to understand English. I simply question why they would express interest in reading stories in a foreign language rather than their own.

This kind of sentiment is only possible for someone from a, how should I put it, substantial cultural background.

I am Finnish. There is 5.5 million people living in Finland, and I assume all the Finnish speaking folks in other countries don’t really tally up that number. It’s not possible to live in this modern world and only know Finnish language, which is why almost everyone here learns 2-3 other languages growing up. Finnish literature exists, but as you might expect, it is a teeny tiny market. Some amount of literature gets translated to Finnish, but not nearly everything that’s interesting, so sure we read in the original language whenever we are able. I suspect Finnish erotica exists too, but I also suspect anyone having an interest in written erotica learns quickly how to masturbate in English.

I write in Finnish but I only write and publish smut in English. There’s no platform for Finnish erotica that would in any way compete with Literotica. But I don’t ever translate. Either you know a language well enough to write prose with it or you don’t. Simple as that, really.

Oh, and this:

So, how do you do it? Only publish in one language? And is it your first language or another one? Do you have a different voice in each language?

I do have a different voice in different languages! It’s quite an interesting feeling. Languages are different and the imagery and phrases used are different. And I don’t have the same level of nuance in English as my native language, so it’s very different to write in “the language of my soul.”

As to whether readers have different tastes for erotica in different languages, I have no idea. Could be, but also ratings are wildly arbitrary so it would take some effort trying to research that.

 

[Red_Owl]

Only English for me. There would be no audience with my other language, with under 1000 speakers.

 

[ColetteJulie]

I have only written in English (so far). I haven't given any thought to translating any of my stories here and maybe I should.

It's always been interesting to me that my mainstream published works seem to do quite well in countries other than the US.

Canada, Australia, and Great Brittain I can somewhat understand since English is a predominant language there. However, countries such as Japan, Dubai, Korea, Brazil, and most Scandinavian countries have mostly minority English speaking populations and my books are only published in English.

So, I'll piggy-back off the OP by asking if anyone has ever translated their English published stories to another language on Literotica, and if so, why did you select a particular language, and what application did you use for the translation?

I'd like to ask chat GPT to translate one, I'll have to cut the sex scenes and see what AI makes of it.

 

[fannyfun]

Only English for me. There would be no audience with my other language, with under 1000 speakers.

Oh, that sounds interesting! What language would that be??

 

[thomas1965]

I write mostly in German but have translated a few stories into English. One story I wrote only in English.
I don't see a difference in missing typos. I miss them in both languages.
I noticed that the stories in German attract more readers.

 

[Red_Owl]

Oh, that sounds interesting! What language would that be??

Samala, it's an American language

 

[Bramblethorn]

I suspect Finnish erotica exists too, but I also suspect anyone having an interest in written erotica learns quickly how to masturbate in English.

Finland has certainly made its contribution on the graphic side, though! Tom of Finland would have to be one of the best-known erotic artists in history.

 

[YDB95]

I speak French, but I've never tried writing smut in it. Maybe I should try it one of these days.

I am Finnish. There is 5.5 million people living in Finland, and I assume all the Finnish speaking folks in other countries don’t really tally up that number. It’s not possible to live in this modern world and only know Finnish language, which is why almost everyone here learns 2-3 other languages growing up. Finnish literature exists, but as you might expect, it is a teeny tiny market. Some amount of literature gets translated to Finnish, but not nearly everything that’s interesting, so sure we read in the original language whenever we are able. I suspect Finnish erotica exists too, but I also suspect anyone having an interest in written erotica learns quickly how to masturbate in English.

I'm involved in a fiction-writers' group in my suburb (of Melbourne, Australia), and one of our members is Finnish. Yes, of course she writes in English too.

 

[Omenainen]

I'm involved in a fiction-writers' group in my suburb (of Melbourne, Australia), and one of our members is Finnish. Yes, of course she writes in English too.

Tell her I said hi. Finland is so small that we probably know some of the same people, if not each other.

 

[Omenainen]

Finland has certainly made its contribution on the graphic side, though! Tom of Finland would have to be one of the best-known erotic artists in history.

In all honesty, we don’t have a right to boast when it comes to Tom of Finland. Finland was so homophobic and backwards in those days that he effectively had to flee from here, and then when he did and became famous out in the big world, it’s suddenly “oh but he was Finnish of course.” But that’s how it is with many things I suppose.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I am Finnish. There is 5.5 million people living in Finland, and I assume all the Finnish speaking folks in other countries don’t really tally up that number. It’s not possible to live in this modern world and only know Finnish language, which is why almost everyone here learns 2-3 other languages growing up. Finnish literature exists, but as you might expect, it is a teeny tiny market. Some amount of literature gets translated to Finnish, but not nearly everything that’s interesting, so sure we read in the original language whenever we are able. I suspect Finnish erotica exists too, but I also suspect anyone having an interest in written erotica learns quickly how to masturbate in English.

Footnote to that - you can really see this effect in action with European pop/rock/metal music*. So many bands make English their language for songwriting, even when the members might not be 100% fluent, because it broadens their reach. From this list of ten Finnish artists/groups I think there's... one, maybe two? who are working primarily in Finnish, plus one instrumental?

*Not the masturbation part. AFAIK.

 

[Seadog777]

I like to throw in a little bit of Spanish or some other foreign language from time to time in my stories.

Why the hell not, learn a little something while enjoying some erotica.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I think you're underestimating the English proficiency in some of those places. By my understanding Sweden, Norway, and Denmark all include English as a mandatory subject in school, and per Wiki about 86-90% of people in those countries can speak English - a bit higher than Canada's 83%, though I'm not sure if the definitions used are entirely comparable. For Iceland it's even higher, somewhere around 98% (higher than Australia's 93%!) For most Scandinavians it won't be a first language, but many will still have good enough English to read it for fun.

For Japan, Korea, and Brazil, the percentages are much lower, but Brazil is a country of > 200 million people, so even 5% of that is still a sizeable number of English speakers.

People in places that were once British Colonies, like Hong Kong, also speak a lot of English.