Standards
for Success in
Foreign Language Writing
Following these simple guidelines will take you
far on the path to good writing in a foreign language.
Always…
…type your paper, double-spaced,
in 12-point font
This is a good standard to use and what your instructors will expect
unless they specifically state otherwise.
…identify the work.
Begin one inch from the top and also from the left edge of the first
page and place your identification in the upper left corner in this
order:
- Your name
- Instructor name
- Course name and number
- Date
…start page numbers on pg. 2, preceded
by your last name.
…spell-check.
Although spell-checking in Word is not fool proof, it will catch lots
of little typos and English spellings. You already do this for every
paper or letter you write in English; it’s also good practice
when writing in a foreign language.
In Tools menu, choose Language, then Set Language and click on Spanish
(Spain-Modern Sort) or French (France). Then, when a misspelled or incorrect
word is underlined in red, right-click it to see a series of options
for corrections. Click on the correct spelling and it replaces the misspelled
word in your document: how easy it that?!
use accents.…
A word without appropriate accent is a misspelled word and often carries
a different meaning. Consider this:
J’habite à Columbia. (correct meaning:
I live in Columbia)
J’habite a Columbia. (incorrect: I live have Columbia?!?)
In French, “a” without an accent is the verb “avoir!”
Now that you have spell check, there’s no excuse for omitting accents!
…include Works Cited.
Even if you just consulted web sources or if you have only one primary
source (ie, a literary text you are writing about), you will need a
Works Cited page.
“Notes” is the French equivalent and “” is the
Spanish equivalent of “Works Cited.” Always use MLA style. Here
are some Frequently Asked Questions about MLA style: http://www.mla.org/style_faq
Consult Tools of the Trade for differences between formatting in English
and French.
Other Helpful Tips
Don’t memorize lists of vocabulary;
learn by writing sentences with a personal meaning for you.
Instead of learning vocab from index cards, practice by writing sentences.
This helps you learn verbs commonly used with nouns, practices articles
and verb conjugation, and improves fluency by teaching you to think sentence-by-sentence
instead of word-by-word. The following is a simple example, but it should
give you the right idea:
vocab: pomme, banane, pamplemousse
verbs: aimer bien, préférer (these always
take le, la, les)
Write sentences : J’aime bien les pommes,
mais je préfère les bananes.
(I like apples pretty much, but I prefer bananas.)
Par contre, ma sœur préfère les pamplemousses
aux bananes.
(My sister, on the other hand, prefers grapefruit to bananas.)
…use vocabulary and expressions you
already know.
When trying to formulate sentences and ideas, think about vocabulary
and expressions you already know. Most often teachers will try to assign
you a topic that lends itself to material just learned in class, so show
off your new knowledge! Whether or not you are on shaky ground with the
new vocabulary and structures, you will want to refer back to your textbook
or handouts for phrasing ideas.
Stuck? Rephrase in English and try again.
Did an idea come to you in English that you just can’t seem to
express in Spanish or French for lack of vocabulary or grammatical structure?
Rephrase the idea in English, shooting for a more simple, but more precise
way of saying what you’d like to communicate and avoiding slang
in English. (This is an excellent technique for translating texts too!)
Imagine your teacher saying, “I can’t understand what you’ve
written. Could you tell me what you are trying to say?" Again, think
of how to say what you mean using structures you have already learned.
Be on the lookout for ‘Faux Amis’ & other
linguistic pitfalls.
While it is good practice to use your knowledge of English to help you
guess French words (about 30-40% of the vocabulary in the 2 languages
is similar), be aware that sometimes meanings differ for similarly spelled
words.
For a list of French-English faux amis, consult http://www.eurotexte.fr/translation/tips_fauxamis.shtml
To avoid some other common pitfalls for Anglos writing
in French, see
Répertoire des impropriétés et des anglicismes les
plus fréquents : http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/spielmag/courses/txt/improprietes.htm
Here are more good tips on foreign language
writing from
other Writing in the Disciplines pages:
Marquette University professor advice to students : http://academic.mu.edu/aswriting/forlang.htm
