How to write accents in your character's speech

[alhawke]

I'm writing a book with a character with a French accent and another with an Italian accent. One beta reader said the Italian character doesn't sound Italian. I could explain it by saying that he's from the US and give up (I'm from USA), but it'd be nice and fun to play with accents. What do you guys do??

One forum said don't use th or s. Replace with d or f and z. ?? Do you replace letters?

[RPatton]

I'm writing a book with a character with a French accent and another with an Italian accent. One beta reader said the Italian character doesn't sound Italian. I could explain it by saying that he's from the US and give up (I'm from USA), but it'd be nice and fun to play with accents. What do you guys do??

One forum said don't use th or s. Replace with d or f and z. ?? Do you replace letters?

I tend to put books down that write the accent. It's too distracting for me. A mention of the character's nationality, another character responding to the accent, and I'll always hear the accent in my mind. When authors try to write accents, it doesn't seem to work as well. At least for me.

[Eric Thomson]

I'm writing a book with a character with a French accent and another with an Italian accent. One beta reader said the Italian character doesn't sound Italian. I could explain it by saying that he's from the US and give up (I'm from USA), but it'd be nice and fun to play with accents. What do you guys do??

One forum said don't use th or s. Replace with d or f and z. ?? Do you replace letters?

Don't do letter replacements. They come across as immensely cheesy. I speak French and German as well as English, and each has its own syntax. If, for example, I want to make a character sound French, I'll have him speak English but with a French syntax

"How you say the name of this flower, mon ami?"

Or English with a German syntax
"Your spouse, she is in the hospital, ja?"

Don't ask me to do Mandarin or Swahili 

[alhawke]

When authors try to write accents, it doesn't seem to work as well. At least for me.

That's my fear. Unlike facts I can research, it seems easy to foul up.

I speak French and German as well as English, and each has its own syntax. If, for example, I want to make a character sound French, I'll have him speak English but with a French syntax

That's a great method. But I have to research the syntax as well. I wish I had your language knowledge.
I always try to infuse realism in my fantasies. The way I see it, it's very easy to look "stupide" here.

[Eric Thomson]

I always try to infuse realism in my fantasies. The way I see it, it's very easy to look "stupide" here.

Lord is it ever! One of my favorite authors (now sadly passed away) has, on occasion, inserted sentences in German or French in his books, and I can't think of a single one he got 100% right. And that's on his publisher because it is so simple to make sure. But I'm probably among an infinitesimal number of his fans who actually notices.

[elleoco]

I'm with Eric, use syntax. I speak as a reader who won't read a book full of attempts to write how accents sound.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Another vote for Eric's method.  Pepper the character's sentences with an occasional non-English word, and that should be sufficient.  And when you're done, go back and eliminate about half of those words, because a little goes a long way, n'est-ce pas?  ;)

[The Bass Bagwhan]

Another vote for Eric's method.  Pepper the character's sentences with an occasional non-English word, and that should be sufficient.  And when you're done, go back and eliminate about half of those words, because a little goes a long way, n'est-ce pas?  ;)

Yep, this is my method too. No accent or letter replacement. Just the occasional foreign term as a reminder.

[alhawke]

Another vote for Eric's method.  Pepper the character's sentences with an occasional non-English word, and that should be sufficient. 

That's what I've been experimenting with. Looks like letter replacements is a firm no.

[Vijaya]

Another vote for Eric's method.  Pepper the character's sentences with an occasional non-English word, and that should be sufficient.  And when you're done, go back and eliminate about half of those words, because a little goes a long way, n'est-ce pas?  ;)

This.

Dialect and accents are like spices. Use judiciously.

Your readers will automatically supply the accent as they read.

[Lorri Moulton]

My Italian Interpol agent uses Carina a lot with his romantic interest. She thinks it's great! LOL

[Al Stevens]

Look over Agatha Christie's Poirot novels and Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat to see how the masters do it. Often the simple absence of contractions, regional idioms, and slang implies English is not a speaker's native tongue. It helps when you introduce them as such in narrative.

[alhawke]

Look over Agatha Christie's Poirot novels and Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat

I will. Thanks for the tip

[alhawke]

My Italian Interpol agent uses Carina a lot with his romantic interest. She thinks it's great! LOL

I now remember "Cara Mia" being used a lot in Addams Family (one of my all time favorite classic TV shows). So I put that in conversation ... for now. But when to use "Carina" vs "cara mia". Mama mia!
This brings up the challenge. What's used colloquially?

[Lorri Moulton]

I used Carina instead of Cara Mia because of the Addams family! LOL

[notthatamanda]

This link had some fun stuff on it.

https://iwillteachyoualanguage.com/learn/italian/italian-tips/italian-slang-phrases

Mi Fa Cagare My kids are going to love that one.

[Al Stevens]

This book has a chapter on the subject of writing accents with many good examples.

https://www.amazon.com/k/dp/B00R3L74VM/

[JRTomlin]

In my opinion, letter replacements are cheesy and even a bit offensive. I would suggest picking out a few words in French and Italian that are easily recognisable to readers and have the character occasionally slip them into the dialogue. That is what I do with my Scottish characters anyway. It may be that my readers are unusually tolerant but they don't mind a sprinkling (sometimes a heavy sprinkling) of Scots and Gaelic in my novels. In fact, that often receives positive comments in reviews, but I also write historical fiction with its own fanbase. I do include a glossary of those words though.

[PJ Post]

Never make the reader work to follow what's going on - because they won't. We fight hard enough to gain a reader's attention, try not to give them a reason to click away.

[JRTomlin]

I'll just say that I disagree with the above advice unless we are writing for those just learning to read.

[PJ Post]

I'll just say that I disagree with the above advice unless we are writing for those just learning to read.

That's fair. But there's a difference between smart challenging works and poor communication. Badly done accents are poor communication, which is what I was referring to. Most readers won't slog through a book like that, and even fewer will by another from that author.