Harry Potter question for my f-list...

[rurounihime]

Okay, question...

How many of you fic readers and writers prefer the phonetic-speak for Fleur and Viktor in canon?

Example: "Eet eez no use. I cannot dress in zeez robes." ... "Vat vould you ask of me, Herm-own-ninny?" Etc.

How many of you just wish they were shown speaking like all the other characters, leaving the accents up to the readers' imaginations?

*is really curious*

Comments

[tulimeeria.livejournal.com]

I must butt in once more - this is a very good point. Not many authors pay attention to the grammatical aspect of foreigners' English. I should imagine that Viktor would have trouble using articles, for example, and as for Fleur - isn't the word order in French a bit different from English? It'd be interesting to see an author try and reproduce some more imaginative markers of second-language English. Of course, that can be difficult if English is their first language, but still.

[ex-uniquewo.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is. In French adjectives are often placed after a noun. Other typical errors are: using the pronouns 'he' and she instead of 'it' (we don't have a neutral form), forgetting the -s ending at the end of verbs in the present tense (*he like chocolate) and adding -s at the end of adjectives (they're not invariable in French).

It's true that when one wants to imitate a native English speaker speaking French, they will of course mispronounce some sounds and phonemes but they will also always use the feminine form when the masculine form should be used and vice-versa. That's a typical mistake that one expects from English speakers. (Well, except Jodie Foster. She speaks 99.99% perfect French. :))