Re: Translating into Klingon

["marien danzig" <skulle@hotmail.com>]

Mastery of a language is the single most important tool in writing stories 
in a second (or third, etc) language.  My Latin tutor used to say that You 
know you have mastered a language when you can THINK in that language, 
without the need to translate into your native language first (or vice 
versa) - which, I guess, is what Qov was saying in her post about a week 
ago.  I first met this tutor when he gave a whole lecture o the curriculum 
of medieval universities IN LATIN.
Here's something else to think of when writing in other languages (and Qov 
also touched on this in another way in her post when she said to Write what 
Klingons know): Joseph Conrad (who, I believe, was French) loved writing in 
English because of the diversity of meaning in English words (he cited 
varying usable 'definitions' of "oaken" as an example).  In this light, 
stories about warriors and feuds and battles make the best subjects Roger 
Cheesbro's {ghIlghameS}, the Iliad, etc.

Not that I'm actually suggesting that you be restricted to these subjects; 
that would take the challenge out of it...
(I mean, I've even seen Klingon translations of such moving pieces as Alice 
Cooper's "Steven" and Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not 
want...").



--DantlhIgh

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