Guest Blog :
Author Mel Skubich
'Speaking English as a foreign language'
How does writing all of my fiction and most of my poetry in English make me a misfit? It’s fairly simple, really. English is not my mother-tongue. I learned it at school from the age of 11. English is a foreign language to me – you could even say that after my native German and Latin it was the third language I had to learn. Ever since I fell in love with a handful of British bands and singers (most importantly Pet Shop Boys, Marc Almond and Holly Johnson) in my teens, I became obsessed with everything British. I tried to pick up slang words and funny little proverbs, read my favourite books in English and began watching TV shows and films in English as well. I did what kids in the 80s did, I had pen pals all over the globe and we all communicated in English. Some of us even collaborated on little fan fiction stories together, which were sent back and forth in letters. It got to the point where I gave up reading books in German altogether (until I discovered some excellent German fantasy authors).
Okay, so now you know that I’m a bit of a geek but all that still doesn’t explain why I started to write in English.
At first it was because those pen pals in other countries were my only audience. Then it was because the best Star Trek and Harry Potter fan fiction on the web was in English. I also chose to write in English because in my fan fiction (which was based on real life pop stars that shall remain nameless), I wrote about British guys and I could not bring myself to writing their conversations in German. Now I am at a point where I think I have found my voice – in English. I don’t think I would be even half as good, if I started to write the same stories in German. My sentences just seem to be so awkward and forced and simply not right when I don’t write in English.
Which puts me into a strange spot: I cannot attend writers groups and workshops in my hometown because everybody is expected to be working on a German text. I cannot submit to German publishers or magazines. I know that neither my English nor my writing are perfect but when asking for feedback on my stories I noticed that my English-speaking friends are often reluctant to point out grammar or punctuation mistakes. Because: “English is not your mother-tongue.” While it’s nice that they think I’m doing a fairly good job, I don’t want to get an A for effort. I simply don’t want my readers to notice that I’m from Germany and not some place on the British Isles. So I’m struggling to find my place but that is what I’ve always done. Why should doing what I love best, namely writing, be any different?
No-one’s a misfit without a reason and once you accepted the fact, you don’t want to be anything else.
Mel
Author Mel Skubich
'Speaking English as a foreign language'
How does writing all of my fiction and most of my poetry in English make me a misfit? It’s fairly simple, really. English is not my mother-tongue. I learned it at school from the age of 11. English is a foreign language to me – you could even say that after my native German and Latin it was the third language I had to learn. Ever since I fell in love with a handful of British bands and singers (most importantly Pet Shop Boys, Marc Almond and Holly Johnson) in my teens, I became obsessed with everything British. I tried to pick up slang words and funny little proverbs, read my favourite books in English and began watching TV shows and films in English as well. I did what kids in the 80s did, I had pen pals all over the globe and we all communicated in English. Some of us even collaborated on little fan fiction stories together, which were sent back and forth in letters. It got to the point where I gave up reading books in German altogether (until I discovered some excellent German fantasy authors).
Okay, so now you know that I’m a bit of a geek but all that still doesn’t explain why I started to write in English.
At first it was because those pen pals in other countries were my only audience. Then it was because the best Star Trek and Harry Potter fan fiction on the web was in English. I also chose to write in English because in my fan fiction (which was based on real life pop stars that shall remain nameless), I wrote about British guys and I could not bring myself to writing their conversations in German. Now I am at a point where I think I have found my voice – in English. I don’t think I would be even half as good, if I started to write the same stories in German. My sentences just seem to be so awkward and forced and simply not right when I don’t write in English.
Which puts me into a strange spot: I cannot attend writers groups and workshops in my hometown because everybody is expected to be working on a German text. I cannot submit to German publishers or magazines. I know that neither my English nor my writing are perfect but when asking for feedback on my stories I noticed that my English-speaking friends are often reluctant to point out grammar or punctuation mistakes. Because: “English is not your mother-tongue.” While it’s nice that they think I’m doing a fairly good job, I don’t want to get an A for effort. I simply don’t want my readers to notice that I’m from Germany and not some place on the British Isles. So I’m struggling to find my place but that is what I’ve always done. Why should doing what I love best, namely writing, be any different?
No-one’s a misfit without a reason and once you accepted the fact, you don’t want to be anything else.
Mel
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