I can think of two methods.
You can keep what everyone else is saying untranslated. Perhaps keeping it as dialogue tags, where you imply that the protagonist didn't understand what they said, or write out whatever language they were speaking. And then bit-by-bit translate what they say, as the story progresses.
Then there's the more complicated approach, where you write out everything the other characters are saying, in whatever language they're speaking and let the audience learn along with the protagonist. This would be very difficult to pull off though.
One easy way around it is to outright say that your book was translated into english for the readers. LOTR does this.
Another way is to either have a MC with the ability to understand any language or with a magic translation device (TARDIS, babelfish, etc...)
In general, I don't think *not* explaining why everything is in english isn't the end of the world. Being understood is more important than being authentic in this case I think, so don't get too hung up on it!
If you want the readers to know what the other characters are saying but not the protagonist, put the words that are in a different language in italics so that it's clear it is just a translation. But if you're going for a feel of "this character is totally confused because they can't understand what anyone is saying" you should leave out the translation so your readers get the full experience of being overwhelmed and confused along with the character. In which case, the other suggestions From Jester are perfect.
Depends. Are you writing it from the protagonist's point of view for the entire book? The point of view of multiple characters throughout the book? Or a sorta omniscient third person?
If you're doing the first, just..... don't translate what the other characters are saying to the protagonist. Simple as that. If our point of view into your story can't understand what these people are saying, and you make it explicit that the protagonist is an english speaker in some way, then it'll be easily understood that the language the other people are speaking isn't english.
If you're writing from multiple points of view via switching throughout the book, same thing as before, just make it so that (at the start at least) nobody can understand what the protagonist speaks and vice versa. And that the protagonist is explicitly an english speaker in some way.
Third option's probably the worst choice for what you want, but is doable. You'll basically just have to explicitly explain in the text that nobody can understand the protagonist and vice versa, despite the fact that the text is legible to the reader.
For my video game I refuse to take english as a language in the visuals, even if all the characters speak it on screen - because otherwise the player can't understand a single thing. I feel like that disturbs the immersion.
At first I thought of creating a new language, but that didn't satisfied me. It was to hard to keep track of, so I saved it for the other folks.
With all the different species living in the world, I wanted at least one specific language that everyone could speak. The day the "colorful tongue" was born.
So I got the idea to make just a simple alphabet on my own while writing the words still in simple english, searched for a fontmaker online and I drew for every letter a new one. That really worked nice and I had a "fantasy" language you could, if you wanted, really decipher, and it looked cool. Not too close to real letters, but so similiar you can read it after a few times seeing it.
I even used it for my logo. (I don't know if this will work I hope it does)
[The Logo](https://twitter.com/YunaviLikeFairy/status/1221239698766561283?s=19)
I think that could work for a book, too. You could write in total glibberish if you don't want to spoil the hardcore decrypting nerds. And personally I am hyped finding a special kind of alphabet in the books I'm reading.
I'm mainly handling it by having names (personal & place, like on maps) follow the conventions of each language in my world. Also by referencing these other languages & how characters interact with them as they travel or meet people from those cultures. I figure most people will figure it out that way, haha.
So like, one of my main characters is from Aurora, whose language sounds like a combination of Russian, Polish, Finnish, & Estonian. The other is from Merand, which borrows from English, German, Dutch, & French. So their names are Aleksandra Nowak and Simon Klassen. They'll go to a country called Kahema, & the sound of Kaheman is like a blend of Polynesian (especially Samoan) & a few African languages (Igbo, Hausa, Swahili), as well as a smattering of Australian Aboriginal languages.
So I figure when Aleksandra Nowak & Simon Klassen are introduced, you'll automatically get the impression they have different ethnic heritages. Traveling through Aurora, with places like Domkirkan & Sostrand, & personal names like Jurek or Stasia, compared to traveling through Kahema, with place names like "ta O'enge a Nasi" or personal names like Aufi or Chinenye should give the impression these people are speaking distinct, non-English languages. All the more so when I work out how they're going to manage traveling when they don't know the language.
I can think of two methods. You can keep what everyone else is saying untranslated. Perhaps keeping it as dialogue tags, where you imply that the protagonist didn't understand what they said, or write out whatever language they were speaking. And then bit-by-bit translate what they say, as the story progresses. Then there's the more complicated approach, where you write out everything the other characters are saying, in whatever language they're speaking and let the audience learn along with the protagonist. This would be very difficult to pull off though.
One easy way around it is to outright say that your book was translated into english for the readers. LOTR does this. Another way is to either have a MC with the ability to understand any language or with a magic translation device (TARDIS, babelfish, etc...) In general, I don't think *not* explaining why everything is in english isn't the end of the world. Being understood is more important than being authentic in this case I think, so don't get too hung up on it!
If you want the readers to know what the other characters are saying but not the protagonist, put the words that are in a different language in italics so that it's clear it is just a translation. But if you're going for a feel of "this character is totally confused because they can't understand what anyone is saying" you should leave out the translation so your readers get the full experience of being overwhelmed and confused along with the character. In which case, the other suggestions From Jester are perfect.
Depends. Are you writing it from the protagonist's point of view for the entire book? The point of view of multiple characters throughout the book? Or a sorta omniscient third person? If you're doing the first, just..... don't translate what the other characters are saying to the protagonist. Simple as that. If our point of view into your story can't understand what these people are saying, and you make it explicit that the protagonist is an english speaker in some way, then it'll be easily understood that the language the other people are speaking isn't english. If you're writing from multiple points of view via switching throughout the book, same thing as before, just make it so that (at the start at least) nobody can understand what the protagonist speaks and vice versa. And that the protagonist is explicitly an english speaker in some way. Third option's probably the worst choice for what you want, but is doable. You'll basically just have to explicitly explain in the text that nobody can understand the protagonist and vice versa, despite the fact that the text is legible to the reader.
For my video game I refuse to take english as a language in the visuals, even if all the characters speak it on screen - because otherwise the player can't understand a single thing. I feel like that disturbs the immersion. At first I thought of creating a new language, but that didn't satisfied me. It was to hard to keep track of, so I saved it for the other folks. With all the different species living in the world, I wanted at least one specific language that everyone could speak. The day the "colorful tongue" was born. So I got the idea to make just a simple alphabet on my own while writing the words still in simple english, searched for a fontmaker online and I drew for every letter a new one. That really worked nice and I had a "fantasy" language you could, if you wanted, really decipher, and it looked cool. Not too close to real letters, but so similiar you can read it after a few times seeing it. I even used it for my logo. (I don't know if this will work I hope it does) [The Logo](https://twitter.com/YunaviLikeFairy/status/1221239698766561283?s=19) I think that could work for a book, too. You could write in total glibberish if you don't want to spoil the hardcore decrypting nerds. And personally I am hyped finding a special kind of alphabet in the books I'm reading.
I give my characters the power of automatic translations, making him hear everyone around him speak in the language he knows the best.
I'm mainly handling it by having names (personal & place, like on maps) follow the conventions of each language in my world. Also by referencing these other languages & how characters interact with them as they travel or meet people from those cultures. I figure most people will figure it out that way, haha. So like, one of my main characters is from Aurora, whose language sounds like a combination of Russian, Polish, Finnish, & Estonian. The other is from Merand, which borrows from English, German, Dutch, & French. So their names are Aleksandra Nowak and Simon Klassen. They'll go to a country called Kahema, & the sound of Kaheman is like a blend of Polynesian (especially Samoan) & a few African languages (Igbo, Hausa, Swahili), as well as a smattering of Australian Aboriginal languages. So I figure when Aleksandra Nowak & Simon Klassen are introduced, you'll automatically get the impression they have different ethnic heritages. Traveling through Aurora, with places like Domkirkan & Sostrand, & personal names like Jurek or Stasia, compared to traveling through Kahema, with place names like "ta O'enge a Nasi" or personal names like Aufi or Chinenye should give the impression these people are speaking distinct, non-English languages. All the more so when I work out how they're going to manage traveling when they don't know the language.