Lorraine Mace

Write Away! June 2008

Text Box: Home Language Living abroad, it’s natural to find oneself searching for the right word to express a desire or emotion. What I’d never expected, so it came as a shock the first time it happened, was to search in vain for the word or phrase in English. The more comfortable I became in French, the more frequently the bon mot eluded me in my home language. As I write only for the English language market, this was something of a drawback. Of course we should integrate fully into our overseas communities, but as writers we also need to keep in touch with what is happening to our home language, if only to stay up to date with any new words and phrases. Just as we did in childhood, we need to read, look and listen. Read It’s easy enough in most countries to pick up English newspapers, but these can be expensive. Also, it isn’t really enough to read just one type of paper. A cross section is required to stay up to date with the in jokes and new expressions in use. Online versions of all the popular papers are available. Simply put the newspaper’s name into any search engine and the website will come up. Look With the free to air programmes via satellite we can stay abreast of how the language is evolving. But if television isn’t an option in your country, rent (or buy, if necessary) some of the latest television comedy DVDs. If there are changes to our language, comedians are usually the first to pick up on them. Listen The BBC offers an online radio service to all of their popular stations via the Internet: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/. If you do not have the necessary audio player installed, the instructions given are simple to follow. It means you can have the radio playing while you write. If that is too much of a distraction, listen to your favourite programmes at a time to suit you via pod casts. English Away from Home You can’t beat finding an online friend to read your masterpiece for unintentional errors. An Australian friend was very amused when reading something of mine because one of my characters went into her lounge. For me that made perfect sense because the lounge is a room. For my friend it made no sense at all, because in Australia the lounge is what we call a sofa! Write Away! Notes from the Margin


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