Ask Jerry
Language Barriers in Dialogue
Asked by Bonnie Lafitte on April 29, 2020
In one of my manuscripts a woman who knows very little English tries to speak to her son, a child she hasn't seen in years. The child speaks English well and does not speak his mother's native tongue. Suggestions for getting across the emotions without using much dialogue due to the language barrier? (This would have been my question during your talk on dialogue today.) Thank you.
Jerry's Answer
That would depend, Bonnie, on whose point of view you're telling this from. If from the mother's, you can describe her angst:
She didn't know how to express what she felt. She wanted to tell him she loved him, missed him, prayed for him every day. [Then quote her saying those words, haltingly, in her own language.] It was clear he didn't understand. If only she could tell him in English!
If you're in his perspective you could say:
She was trying to tell him something important. Her desperate eyes, the cry in her voice made that clear. But what was she saying?