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When writing something I plan to publish, the first step is to decide the language. I only have two choices: Spanish or English.
I noticed that I favor english for technical stuff, as I read the vast majority of documentation and programming texts in english. I read fiction mostly in spanish, and it being my native language, makes it my preferred choice for writing short stories and novels, as I find it easier to construct more complex and “emotional” sentences.
I manually translate my content. It’s not fun, but it helps me catch mistakes since I need to analyze each word. I could let AI or Google do the job for me (and I sometimes do to verify my own translations), but it doesn’t feel genuine. Even though they are the same words, It doesn’t feel like I wrote them. Also, manually translating stuff improves my understanding of both languages.
Because it takes time, I don’t translate everything, which takes me to the title of this post. If I publish some things in english, and others in spanish, will I accidentally create two audiences? An english speaking one, consuming mostly technical stuff, and a spanish speaking one, reading my stuff for my stories and essays. And finally, a bilingual audience, annoyed because they have to read the same thing twice in case I add exclusive content for a particular language.
If I write in two languages, does it mean I am two authors?
I could pick a single language and stick to it. But a part of who I am would be lost. Sentences that simply sound and feel better in a language or the other would be lost.
I guess like with programming languages, you can’t just pick one and ignore the rest. Extending the analogy, common algorithms have an implementation in every language, while large, specialized programs are written in just a few languages, or just one. Maybe that’s a strategy I can take. Translate the most useful or relevant content, while leaving the niche stuff for the language it suits best.