: Re: Writing dialogue for a non-English speaker in English? I am writing a story that features an illiterate Indian woman. Of course, while there are things only Hindi can satisfactorily express, I

What's more important? Her inability to speak in English? or her story that will be narrated?
And even if you began writing disjointed sentences as an attempt to show that she is not a native English speaker, are you absolutely sure that the readers will keep on reading it?
Disjointed, grammatically wrong sentences are fine in dialogues. But only when you use them sparingly. They are used as a tag to say 'this guy is not a native English speaker' or 'this girl comes from a not so elite social environment of the English classes'... or you get the drill. Perfect example, the character of Eliza in G.B Shaw's Pygmalion who had a cocknea accent with a not so good grammar. And this is London we're talking about.

G.B Shaw was so (obsessed is the right word?) with phonetics that there are some instances where he wrote Eliza's dialogues in cocknea English accent and then provided the proper worded dialogues in brackets for those who couldn't get it the first time. Pygmnalion was a play. Yours isn't. And this is not Edwardian London. My point is, what matters is your story and your characters. When the characters are developed fine, they seem real, they'll start speaking.

Again, don't worry about the way your dialogues will appear. Worry about the story. Those hints will be enough in the beginning because when the reader will be half-way through the story, they won't be concerned with the way she speaks. They will be concerned of what's supposed to happen next.

Load Full (0)

: Indicating a word choice you're unsure of I've often had situations where I'm unsure of the correct word to be used, either when writing or proofreading. How can this sense be indicated in

@Turnbaugh521

Load Full 4 Comments

: If you are one of those rare people who can write, straight through, without any major refactorings or changes of direction along the way, more power to you. But for many people, and IMO

@Turnbaugh521

Load Full 0 Comments

: Avoiding a juvenile/archaic feel in formal verse Formal verse appears vulnerable to seeming archaic because it has generally fallen out of fashion. It may also increase the sense of immaturity,

@Turnbaugh521

Load Full 2 Comments

: How do expert writers avoid using "I" when they have to refer to themselves in their article? How do competent authors, in a refined and perhaps (slightly) formal way, refer to themselves without

: Re: Writing dialogue for a non-English speaker in English? I am writing a story that features an illiterate Indian woman. Of course, while there are things only Hindi can satisfactorily express, I

More posts by @Turnbaugh521

: Indicating a word choice you're unsure of I've often had situations where I'm unsure of the correct word to be used, either when writing or proofreading. How can this sense be indicated in

: If you are one of those rare people who can write, straight through, without any major refactorings or changes of direction along the way, more power to you. But for many people, and IMO

: Avoiding a juvenile/archaic feel in formal verse Formal verse appears vulnerable to seeming archaic because it has generally fallen out of fashion. It may also increase the sense of immaturity,

: How do expert writers avoid using "I" when they have to refer to themselves in their article? How do competent authors, in a refined and perhaps (slightly) formal way, refer to themselves without

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top