Unfortunately, it breaks one of the most important rules of fiction - the reader must be able to put themself in the shoes of the protagonist. If you have the protagonist understanding something that the reader doesn't, you break that association and alienate the reader from the protagonist.

Furthermore, such a scene is a major emotional pivot for the story, and the worst possible time to introduce any barrier to fluent reading.

I'll say it again: prose and TV are different beasts, and I think you're trying to write a book like a TV programme. You're trying to "subtitle" foreign speech, but that doesn't work, because it lacks the simultaneity of TV subtitling.

I've already mentioned The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and at the risk of labouring a point, I'll mention another - Outlander. The TV version has everything from individual phrases to entire speeches delivered in Scottish Gaelic. The presence or absence of subtitling indicates whether there are people present (typically the female protagonist, who is English) who aren't supposed to understand. In one scene, the protagonist gets a running translation from a local, so subtitles aren't needed. I've never read the books, but I'm told it's a very close adaptation. None of the subtitled text appears in Gaelic in the books, just in English. None of the unsubtitled text appears either, just prose about people talking.

I'd also point you towards comics. Now I know comics are looked down upon by a lot of people. This is fair only inasmuch as most of the content is pulp, but the medium is valid and it has well-developed conventions. Furthermore it is a useful reference point because it's roughly half-way between TV and prose.

When a Marvel character finds themselves in a foreign country, there's no "subtitling" -- you only get the translated version marked as foreign by the use of French quotemarks <<like this>>. Where the statement is meant not to be understood by the main character, most traditional comic writers will just scribble in the speech balloon.

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A language belongs to its native speakers, and when you speak it, you are a guest in their homes.
If you are not a good guest, you have no right to complain about receiving poor hospitality.

Thanks for everyone's advice!
So I was thinking about making a similar saying but once in the irish language.
Does anyone have any suggestions to quotes? I'd like to stay along the lines of choosing our own paths in life

Good idea, its better to use phrases within the Irish language itself. If the Grandfather was going to quote Shakespeare, it would be in English that he would do it.

To get the ball rolling;

1. (GM) : Ní bhfuighmíst ach ár slí fhéinig a ghóilt/ a shiúl We can only walk our own path

2. (GM) : Ní bhfuighmíst ach ár ngort fhéinig a threabhadh we can only plough or own field


1. (CO) : Ní féidir linn ach ár slí féin a ghabháil/ a shiúl


2 (CO) : Ní féidir linn ach ár ngort féin a threabhadh

(GM) = Munster dialect

(CO) = Standard Irish


Cian

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Please wait for corrections/ more input from other forum members before acting on advice