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: Re: How to write long extracts in a foreign language? In my writing there are eight groups of people, each with their own language that they speak. Do I put large amounts of writing into their
I would avoid putting in too many languages. I know some people get away with it, but what are the odds of someone, who bought an English novel, speaking Japanese, French, Italian, and Pashtu? I'd have to say, pretty small.
Then comes your ability to write in these languages on the level of the speaker. If one person is well-versed, they'll call you out on something not adding up and it can break immersion (kind of a big thing for most readers).
So, my advice, is avoid putting in the 'other language' if you can (and I can't think of one reason why you can't). JP Chapleau explained it well enough how to get it all across without actually writing in the 'target language'.
One tactic some might find interesting, is writing in the the target language, and 'sub titling' it to explain what's going on. But it's hard to do unless your point of view character can reasonably (<-- important word right there) understand all eight languages. Be honest, how many people speak 8 languages? IRL? Not many. In fiction? Groans way too many. In Star Wars KOTOR, the main character spoke... what was it, 1500? I think "an impressive amount of alien languages" shouldn't be anything but Mary-Sue red flag.
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