Why do I frequently write in English?

Some time ago Noah Webster dug a hole for people speeking and writing a different language than English. Well, American English that is. Nowadays Webster’s is like the number one dictionary used in the U.S. (and abroad) for American English. Not for British English, ‘that’s something (not so) completely different’ as John Cleese stated in his Monty Python years.

Webster was having the opinion that a simplified English language that would be the first language in the U.S. would help people to read and write, to become literate. He wasn’t all that wrong but luckily enough he never really completely got his way. Nowadays English is important but certainly not the only relevant language in American daily life. Hey, there’s Spanish too and in Louisiana you should at least understand some French.

But still, English is still the main language in the U.S. And that simple fact means that it’s also the most important international language. Simply because Americans are involved in society worldwide, wether that’s a preferred situation or not is not so relevant for what this prose is about. It’s just a fact.

That fact of US English being so important drove me to realizing that some of my readers are not Dutch. Especially the ones involved in the writing process of my new novel do not speak ‘Dutch all that much’. So for them reading some of the texts I write is helping in comprehending my scribblings. Also, I am seriously thinking of writing this novel in English as the story is asking for that. The main character is an American by birth. And I don’t want to limit my audience to only Dutch language readers. So here I am, writing more and more in my second language.

To my surprise I’m not desperate for wording of my thoughts in English. Quite often I find that some things are better written in English as some words somehow fit their purpose easier in English than in Dutch. I don’t want to step on anyones toes but Dutch is nowadays a cluttered language. Too many foreign words, multi interpretable words and sentences that are usually well let’s say a bit er ‘longish’? US English simply needs lesser characters than Dutch without loosing meaning. Reason is that the grammar is simpler. And it’s that simplified grammar  of US English that we at least for a part owe to the work of Mister Webster.

So why so much English language work here lately? Simply because I’m serious about writing my novel in English and I need the training and day to day rhythm to be able to get to the level of language use that’s needed for a ‘proper’ (o how boring that word) novel. Doesn’t mean I won’t write in Dutch anymore. On the contrary. But it does mean that there’s a fat chance of finding more and more non-Dutch texts here. So the reason is selfishness. Shifting the language issue to you my dear readers allows me to use the language I want to use whenever I choose to do so.

Hope you don’t mind. If so, let me know.

Love and peace,

Alice