March 7, 2022
Can you speak in an accent that isn’t your own? Can any of your characters do this? How do you indicate that in your stories?
I studied French in high school, and Russian in college. (We won’t talk about my short-lived fantasy about working for the CIA.) I got passing grades in both, but wasn’t good at either. (No CIA for me!)
I know what my problem was. I don’t ‘hear’ accents. Well, I hear them, but my brain automatically translates them to the way they sound to me. When I worked as a waitress, I ‘heard past’ the accents of tourists, even those who didn’t speak English as their primary language, and understood what they were saying. If someone asked me to mimic the accents of my customers, I couldn’t have done it. The translation only works one way.
Now, Harmony Duprie, on the other hand, speaks fluent Southern Belle. (She also knows Latin, but doesn’t use it in conversation.) She picked it up from some of her college friends, and puts it to good use, pretending to be sweet and innocent when she is anything but.
Here are two examples, taken from The Baron’s Cufflinks.
I made a big show out of looking towards Jake. “You mean like a race car driver?” I added a touch of
Southern Belle to my act. All I needed was a fan to wave in flutter in front of my face, but I settled for fluttering my eyelashes. “Oh, no, my brother would never forgive me if I let someone else drive his baby. Even someone as good-looking as your friend.”
*****
That was ironic, coming from the man who was playing with Jake’s life. The Southern Belle took over. “Why, whatever are you talking about, Agent?” I asked with as much innocence as I could muster.
*****
Harmony also has to deal with an old French document and its translation in this story, but despite her name, she doesn’t know French. That’s part of the fun.
I don’t do anything special to indicate the use of another language or accent. I just put it out there!
How about our other authors? What do they do about other languages? Just follow the links below to find out.
As always, until next time, please stay safe.
March 7, 2022
Can you speak in an accent that isn’t your own? Can any of your characters do this? How do you indicate that in your stories?