Seeker

I've done a bit of language work in my stories, but this one has me flummoxed for some reason.

Here's the snippet - I'm trying to portray three language types (Norwegian, English, Hindi) - and I'm trying to do it quickly, so this 'language game' expresses it quickly.

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It was a long way to go. The countryside was beautiful, but at eleven, it just seemed boring. Rolf helped by making up a language game.

First, it would be Ruby’s turn. “Er vi der ennå?” she’d say.

Then my turn: “Are we there yet?”

Then Prita’s: “@yaa hma ABaItk vaha^M hOM”

“Kyaa hama abayitik vaha um hom?” repeated Rolf.

“Ja! Yes! Hanji!” clapped Prita.

“Whew. Saying that is as rough as these roads..."


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So - the problem - the above is likely totally wrong. Is my Norwegian correct? My Hindi? and how the hell do you pronounce it (I just winged it above).

Any resources to get this correct? (I've used the Internet automatic translators to get this far....)

terrib

Seeker, Writerdude is from Norway, PM him he'll help you.
Terri

Seeker

Thanks! Now we need a writer that is from India and speaks Hindi...

The Backward OX

I guess it depends on how keen you are on research.

The slow way would be to wade through the members list here. That could take forever and might be totally unproductive.

There is another way to find Hindi-speaking Indians, much quicker, but it does require some effort on your part.

Register on a penpal site, then search for the criteria you want.

Here’s the way to do it on one particular site. First, go to: http://epalstest.phk.at/index.php

• Follow the prompts to Join (see LHS of page)
• Login (also LHS of page)
• Go to View (you guessed it)
• Select filters of Location, Age (avoid the very young), perhaps Interests (you’ll need to select from menu), and you will be presented with a list of people matching those criteria.
• By clicking on either the name at the top or ‘Contact this Person’ at the bottom, you will be able to contact them.
• The rest is up to you.

Good luck.

__________________
How Beautiful it is to Do Nothing, and then Rest Afterwards . . . . . Spanish proverb

Seeker

I actually have some Indian contacts, so am pursuing this with them as well. But I thought I'd put the entire question on the site rather than just the Norwegian part.

Part of my research also involved Indian/British life for a nine year old in 1921 - so they have already helped me there.

Almost NONE of the research on life will be in the story, since the girl gets shipped up to Norway - but as every good writer knows, simply UNDERSTANDING the character allows you to write them more accurately even if what you learned isn't actually in the story itself.

Thanks for your suggestion!

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For languages, I also worry about dialects - like I wonder if the Norwegian would really be Bokmål, Nynorsk, or even fit 1921. Once you start the research, you also have to decide when you have reached 'good enough'.