7 Ways to Improve Your Writing in a Foreign Language
By: Layane Moura
Tags: Language, Writing, Productivity, Writing Tips, Language Learning

Be bold and don’t just use ‘words’

Each language has an infinite richness in its way of manifesting itself. Don’t just stay on the surface. Go deep and look for expressions, slang, spontaneous and natural ways of foreign speech. Do not limit yourself to just one word, when you can use a much more expressive locution instead. This generates a connection with the reader, making him or her identify and affect themselves more by your writing.

For this, you can search on the Internet like the following:

How to say [insert here an expression of your native language] in [insert here what foreign language you want to write in].

“Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.” — Rita Mae Brown

Analyze the context of each sentence

If in any more complicated situation you end up needing to translate using automated translation programs or websites such as Google Translator, be very careful.

Always, in any case, analyze the context.

Translating a word in an isolated and hasty way, outside of a specific conjuncture as a sentence, can cause it to change its meaning entirely. Especially because, unlike Portuguese where we usually have a specific word for each situation, in English, the same term can have different meanings depending on the situation.

To avoid mistakes, I have two tips!

First, after finishing, do the reverse translation and see if the meaning has changed in any passage. If this has happened, fix it and repeat the process until the result is a consistent message.

In the second place, we have some sites that facilitate this process. On Linguee and Context, you can see the searched terms inserted in a sentence and see if the meaning corresponds to what you would like to give for the phrase.

“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.” — Flora Lewis

Use your own discernment too

In addition to automated translators, resources such as Grammarly, which assist with editing and proofreading, are also offered as a way to collaborate with the writing process. Use them to help you, but don’t trust them blindly. They are certainly fundamental tools in building better writing, but they are just tools.

We cannot underestimate our ability to judge when something is sounding strange or out of place. Trust your gut.

It is worth pointing out that we still don’t have any resource available that perceives 100% the differences of connotation or meaning that we may be wanting to apply, or that has the subtlety of human perception. Especially if it is a matter that can be as subjective and fluid as language. Figures of speech, such as ironies, double meanings, metaphors and personification, can easily go unnoticed.

Each word and expression carries with it an infinity of senses that may not be translated with the quality expected by machines.

The final deliberation must pass through us!

“To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world. “ — Chinese Proverb

Understand the language structure

This is one of the most important tips. It is implied that if you are studying and producing content in a new language, you already have some knowledge. But what I am reinforcing is the need to know in-depth the formation and syntactic structuring of the language.

A good understanding of these particularities can even contribute to optimizing the translations in the programs and sites already mentioned, when necessary.

For example, every time I translate something from Portuguese to English in the translator, I add the subject in the sentence. I need to do this because in Portuguese we can often have a hidden subject. This small correction greatly increases the chances of my translation is done correctly. I also need to pay attention to verb tenses, which are much more numerous in Portuguese, and to reflexive pronouns, which function differently.

But that is my mother tongue.

You will need to pay attention to the structuring nuances of yours!

“He who knows no foreign languages know nothing of his own.” ‒ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Reflect on your message

Now, a very serious matter. You need to remember that it’s not just ‘writing’ in another language. You also need to ‘think’ in it. That is, you also need to analyze whether the message you are conveying, in a cultural and social context, makes sense — or is relevant — to readers. For example, some basic references to moments, facts or events, which would easily be understood by a compatriot of yours, may not be understood by a foreigner. Writing is also a matter of making the reader identify with the written subject.

Besides, we must consider and, when possible, respect the subtleties of speech.

Differences in communicative preferences, such as levels of formality and politeness, mentalities and values, must be taken into consideration.

For example, English is a super simplified language, short and objective sentences are used, often with a usual ‘order’ of positioning the words. Brazilian Portuguese — I don’t know about Portugal — has countless ways of writing the same sentence with countless other possibilities of ordering it. In other words, we — generally a typical behaviour of Latin, Arabic, Asian and African cultures — tend to adopt a preference for indirect enunciation marked by pre-requests, justifications, in which the speaker conducts the speech in a circular basis. Meanwhile, Anglophones opt for a much more directive form.

Another detail is that in Portuguese we do not need to use verbs like ‘would’ and ‘could’, emphasizing a condition when making requests. We could achieve the polish effect only by the intonation, dispensing the use of specific words, or even making use of diminutives for that.

Our speech is also topic-oriented, while in the English language the prominent element is the subject, that is, the interlocutor.

I have only used these examples to demonstrate that a language also carries great cultural baggage. We need to pay attention to all these details if we want to deliver the clearest possible message.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” — Nelson Mandela

Pay extra attention

If even in our native language, we often slip, writing a text in a language that we do not fully master requires us to try twice as hard.

Use the programs mentioned here to help you, read carefully, search and dedicate yourself. I am sure that in the end, the pleasure of looking at a well-written text that communicates the message you want will be worth it.

“One should not aim at being possible to understand but at being impossible to misunderstand.” — Marcus Fabius Quintilian

In doubt, ask natives

To ensure that you are being accurate in your message in all the above cases, as in the case of application in a context, or the cultural understanding of the reader, do not hesitate to ask a native for help! No one knows the language better than someone who has grown up and lived their life using it. Make friends, interact, strengthen your network and whenever you feel the need, ask.

There’s no need to feel ashamed. Most are always very willing to help!

You should be proud that you are trying and wanting to learn and improve.