# Looking for French > English translator/co-writer



## ElizabethAlexandraMary (May 12, 2009)

Oh, hello there. You're probably going through my posts/threads list to see what I looked like a while ago.

I'm afraid you're a little late.


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## M. LeRenard (May 14, 2009)

Gee.. if your English is as good in your fiction writing as it seems to be in your posts, I would say you should have little trouble even without a translator.  Maybe what would work better would be if you gave it a shot first yourself, then had somebody just go over it and check for weirdness.  This would negate the need for a francophone altogether, and it would reduce the workload for said person by a lot, too (translation is hard work, after all).
But if you don't like that option... I'd consider helping you out.  I'm finding fewer and fewer excuses to do anything French-related these days, and I don't want my language abilities to atrophy.  I've graduated with a four-year degree in French language, and I did spend some time in France, so I at least have the 'moderate' skill you require.  It all depends on what kind of time commitment this would require, I suppose.  I am working on a novel of my own, so I don't want to put that on the sidelines.

I would have PM-ed you, but I felt like it might help to clarify exactly what you'd like out in public, just in case anybody else was interested.  If you'd rather PM me the details, though, that's fine too.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (May 14, 2009)

I'm glad this was finally noticed.

Of course, I appreciate your help, but I feel like I must decline your offer considering you already have a novel in the works, and the last thing I'd like to do is steal someone's time when it could be used in better ways. So I'll keep your proposition in mind, but I might put this on hold until I can get more attention on the forums, so people are more willing to help me.

I *do* need a translator, even if my English seems okay. Any writer will surely agree with me, there's a large difference between writing a story, or any kind of narrative/descriptive text, and a forum post, which is nearer the casual conversation. Before going on here, I barely spoke English at all. Coming from a small, entirely francophone village, we had no English courses at school, and I learned most of my English from Internet forums. (Thank god, I'm trying to avoid the leet-speak parts.)

The issue with this is that while I may know how to express myself by everyday means, I rarely read any written documents in English, whether it be novels, encyclopedias, or any other "mainstream" text, since they are easily available in french, in my country.

Also, I've read far more Internet fiction in English, so it leaves me slightly illiterate in both language: when thinking of a story, half of the time I know exactly what to write in English, the other half in french, and there's that mysterious third half where I get brainstuck, my mind unable to express my ideas with words.

I hope that sums it up.


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## VÃ¶lf (May 14, 2009)

Oh of course I find Renard here, who else... lol XD 

oh, and lol that too, if you've seen any of my old leet speak posts, forgive me, I knew no better at the time  

Okay, to be clear I speak decent French, and have a great number of reliable resources (mostly other people, actually) to help me where I fail. I'm not too great with slang, and while I'm sure the fox here would probably be of more help, I'll try and see if I can help you, novel writing or not. I always find time for things  Anyway, I read through and I bet I can do it for you. I sent you an email, so reply and let me know, as I probably won't be on here for the next few days.


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## TakeWalker (May 14, 2009)

I was actually going to suggest Monsieur Le Renard, but I wasn't sure if he was busy. :V There, now you've got a recommendation.


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## M. LeRenard (May 14, 2009)

> I do need a translator, even if my English seems okay.


If you say so.  You seem to write English a lot better than most of the English-speaking people on this forum, anyway.
Well, looks like Volf can help you out, in any case.  Good luck.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (May 14, 2009)

Volf said:


> Oh of course I find Renard here, who else... lol XD
> 
> oh, and lol that too, if you've seen any of my old leet speak posts, forgive me, I knew no better at the time
> 
> Okay, to be clear I speak decent French, and have a great number of reliable resources (mostly other people, actually) to help me where I fail. I'm not too great with slang, and while I'm sure the fox here would probably be of more help, I'll try and see if I can help you, novel writing or not. I always find time for things  Anyway, I read through and I bet I can do it for you. I sent you an email, so reply and let me know, as I probably won't be on here for the next few days.


 Aww, so sad, great people always leave when I need them the most...

Anyways, I sent you a PM for when you'll be back.


Obviously there's no guarantee Volf will decide to take the job (I can't speak for him!), so if you still have any interest let me know. However he remains my top priority for now.

Many thanks for the help and comprehensive replies, everyone!


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## VÃ¶lf (May 23, 2009)

XD I have two magic numbers: 

_*2  9*_​


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (May 29, 2009)

Volf didn't do shit so far and is always busy, despite mentioning "having a reasonable amount of free time", so I'm open to any offers once again, unless he can give me a proper reply.


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## VÃ¶lf (Jun 17, 2009)

Is it that you don't like me? I  cut off 'cause you seemed a bit hostile, from my perspective at least. I was expecting an assignment, and you just say "get online." I was, and you sent me nothing. I have no idea what to do, even now.

Did I miss something? What do you want? Or maybe you just want me to butt out? Have I not been on enough, is that it?

This isn't my work, it's yours. I have little idea of what's going on, so how could I be overly interested or enthusiastically, realistically speaking? Anyways, I think I'm the one who's due a "proper reply" here. Talk to me man. I would like to help, I just need you to give me guidance on what to do is all.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Jun 17, 2009)

First, I'd like to point out this is an old post that was "bumped" for restoring the half a month old forum backup after FAF crashed. I'll give you the reply from the discussion we already had, anyways: 

You're running out of time. Of course, we're all running out of time. But particularly you.
I'd love to explain to you what's going on, but you're never here. This isn't going anywhere: if you're not motivated I can't ask you to invest more time in the project.

And I understand you've got some stuff of your own. I remember you were planning to write your own novels, and I see you are also offering writing help to several other people. I wouldn't want to take away your time for a project you don't even feel involved with.

So if you really want more information, or to know what's going on, just log on msn and let me know. I'm trying to be online as much as possible.


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## VÃ¶lf (Jun 17, 2009)

I could try, but if it's this bad already, it won't get better  

So I'm done, no hard feelings. Good luck with it; I'm out.


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