: Re: What's the best way to show a foreign language in a manuscript? What's the best way to show a character speaking a foreign language in a fiction manuscript? Should the foreign words be italicized

@Angie602

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Try to avoid using another foreign language as a stand-in for the language you're wanting to portray (like, say, using Swedish as a stand-in for Romani, as was done in Thinner). I'd treat that as the most absolute requirement.

Try to avoid long passages in another language. If you're finding yourself using much longer sections than "a sentence", it will probably be too intrusive.

For single sentences or shorter, provide something along the lines of a translation. This should probably be to the level of understanding of the scene's viewpoint character.

"Ruttna som en banan!", shouted Gunnar.

Elyse could tell that he was agitated, he only ever spoke Swedish when at the
limits of patience. She didn't know if she wanted to know what he was actually
saying, it was probably obscene and perverse, as stressed as he was.

FWIW, he's shouting "rot like a banana", pretty silly as an interjection, but at least not very offensive.

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