fluency

a very british kind of fomo

Last week was London Book Fair, which, if you’re at all interested in publishing, you’ll have already seen all over the internet: photos of Kensington Olympia’s arching glass ceilings and endless publisher stands far below, editors and agents scuttling like ants between them; grumbles about the layout (the maps were the wrong way round!) and the perpetual lack of seating; editors proudly reposting the rights deals that the Bookseller team deemed worthy to report on. And so on. I promise there is plenty of content like this out there already - and I’m not going to add to it.

But there is one thing that strikes me every single time I find myself at any kind of international publishing event - whether it’s a book fair or a fellowship or even an email from an agent from elsewhere in Europe. In fact, if you’re ever in a book fair meeting with me and you sense my eyes glazing over slightly, I can promise this is what I’m thinking about, with awe and admiration. You are doing all of this in your second language!

Native English speakers generally take it for granted that much of the world and at the very least most of Europe can speak English, if not fluently then at least very competently. It’s so not new and not unusual that it’s barely worth remarking upon. Only - I can’t help it. One of the streams of thought I can’t turn off in these international meetings and talks is this: would I be able to do this in another language? I try to translate at speed in my head, working out whether I’d have the words and constructions I’d need. In German? Yes, probably, well enough, but I’d be exhausted by the end of it. In French? Oui mais non, I’d understand you mais il y aurais beaucoup de mots which I wouldn’t know and I’d end up speaking un mélange d’English and French which would embarrass us both. In Swedish? Not quite, not yet, and although I’d love to get there, your English is already actually better than mine.

(The rest of this post continues below the paywall and includes - just to tempt you - my favourite LBF joke)