PERSONAL RANT AHEAD. YOU CAN JUST IGNORE IT. I NEEDED TO VENT.
I have a little problem along the lines of 'why do people say they're bad at summaries?' and here it is: Why are so many authors keen on including a foreign language in their fics if they clearly do not master said language?
Seriously. It is utterly insulting for those who actually do speak it.
I don't include other languages in stories, even though I flawlessly write French, English and Spanish and comfortably speak them. Heck, I avoid doing so, for two reasons: 1. it's completely unnecessary and out of place for no reason, and 2. it throws people. I know it throws me. Why would any character from, say, Japan, suddenly start speaking French? I mean, for heaven's sake, isn't it bad enough that we're making them speak in English for broader audiences? You have to butcher French too?
Don't get me wrong. I love all languages.
But what point are people trying to demonstrate here? That on top of (usually) having very low mastery of one language, they can also mess up another one?
Please, people. French isn't romantic for those who can actually read that what you wrote is something stupid and senseless like, 'You are turtle flower'. And this without even respecting basic means of grammar and gender use. Come on. Give me a break. Google translator is not your friend. It makes poetry look like rubbish rearranged by a three year-old in the back of his mom's SUV.
On a side note, please, people. Latin based languages such as French, Italian and Spanish are only romantic for those who have no clue what they're saying. Next time you read or hear something in either language, remember, they could be messing with your head. They're not all great seducers. They just boast more. They could be saying total bullshit. You might think they're saying 'I know what you did last summer', when in fact they're saying, 'I ate a clown last summer'.
So. To anyone who has ever wanted to use a foreign language in a story, please...
Don't do it.
It will just cause those you think are so romantic to laugh at you. Loudly. And also make you seem like a complete and utter ignorant imbecile. Which is not exactly something you want to be cast as, right?
Instead of trying to defy any laws of logic by making your characters speak in a language that they shouldn't know, and which you also do not master, learn to write properly in your own language. Then, please, shy away from murdering other people's languages. The use of it is silly, it makes you look silly, and it makes me want to slap you silly.
One of my teachers used to say most people on this earth don't even know how to communicate properly in a single language. Most people will never achieve knowledge of their native tongue. Some people I know are bound never to understand more than the basics of French, and some, even, will never understand them. Those people will forever be handicapped in this world.
And it's not just the francophones. I know a lot of English speakers and many other languages (if not all) suffer from this problem.
So, instead of trying to look good by making debilitating use of someone else's language, learn to use your own, and stick with it. It'll make you that much smarter.
Sorry for the rant. I just hate people who pretend to know stuff they don't, thinking that nobody will notice.
I NOTICED. And, I'm telling you, NON-RESEARCH SUCKS. So, do your homework.
Love (yes, love ^^),
CM
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7 comments:
Even though I haven't even attempted to read stories that aren't English, I can totally relate with what you're angry about. I've had many a bad experience with people attempting to speak foreign lanugages to try to impress me with their "knowledge" and it disgusts me. Like, if you freakin' don't know the language, DON'T TRY TO SPEAK IT. Learn it and then try to speak it. Some people are so stupid these days. I just hate know-it-alls.
There was this girl in elementary school who would copy my ideas and listen to my opinions and knowledge about certain things and then tell other people as if they were her own. God, I hated that.
The only other language I know fluently other than English is Armenian, and they don't have that language on the site, so I'm stuck with reading English.
I couldn't imagine any Zelda character speaking Armenian anyway; you'd have to actually hear the language to actually know how awkward that would be. XD
And as for your fabulous story...I just can't wait for the next chapter. I can't wait for the romantic parts of the story. I've been wanting to read a good ZeLink for a while now...so recently I've been consoling myself with some oldies that I've read before.
I hope you update again really soon! I can't believe it, you've only posted three chapters and have 40-something reviews already! This story is looking very promising!
Good Luck,
--->The Destined
I don't read fanfiction in other languages. But some people include languages I know in their English ones.
That's what drives me up the wall.
Yech.
Love,
CM
P.S. I'm glad I get all those reviews. ^^ I'm tired of my GW story To Woo a Princess being top on the list all the time. Grr.
Oh, I'm sorry about that. Heh.^^; I thought you were talking about both, like a poorly written fic in a foreign language, AND a fic with inserts that were in a foreign language.
I've never had to endure such an experience, and hopefully never will.
And I just read chapter 4 of OiH, and I love it! I can't wait for the next installment! It seems like the majority of your fans are anxious for some more ZeLink moments, as I am.
Keep it up!
---->The Destined
*P.S-How did you know that I was practising my posture while reading the fic?? That's just scary. XD
o_O
I know everyone did the posture thing. It's like a subconscious reaction. You read instructions that are easy to obey to, and it makes you curious, so you try it out.
I totally knew everyone would fall for it. Heck, even I do sometimes.
What can I say? I love making readers react. X)
Love,
CM
The thing I hate the most is when people put Japanese into their fanfics. It's like ... they're writing fanficitons for an anime or manga series (say, for example, Inuyasha) and they have them going "Arigatou" and "Demo ..." and "Aishiteru" at the end of every sentence. It's freaking annoying. If you're going to write in English, keep it ALL in English, because I hate being jolted out of what I'm reading just because an idiot decided to look on Google and copy-and-paste.
I can understand if there are words that just can't be translated, like "youkai" (sorry if you haven't read Inuyasha, this is just an example) but when they have their characters turning into people who can't speak English and obviously can't speak Japanese very well, it shits me.
Yeah ... my rant in response to your rant XD The only language I'm fluent in other than English is German, but I can write Japanese comfortably and I can understand Serbian (go ethnic parents!)
Yes. The Japanese bits throw me too.
I must admit I once did that. Way back when I was a n00b writer. I then improved and realized there was no point for someone to suddenly shift languages mid-sentence.
Unless you, like myself and many Quebecers, tend to speak Frenglish (French and English). But we do that because the transition is funny. Not because we invented another language. And we also know how to speak both fluently, so...
Yes to everything you said.
Love,
CM
Hey CM! I loved OiH (I finished it ,what, two days ago, I think?) It was a fantabulous story (yes I did use the word fantabulous) and I hope that you succeed with your writing career and go far! ^^= Thanks for sharing your wonderful stories with us!
Best of wishes!
sealy7
ps. I didn't end up doing the posture thing, so now I feel like a lazy bum! XD
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