A Personal Tip Concerning Vagan

First, for those who don't know, Vagan (not Vegan) is a language I created myself to be used in the Kingdom Chronicles. I built it from the ground up, giving it its own rules, alphabet, everything. For an example of how it sounds and looks anglicized, pick up a copy of either Kingdom Chronicles book. For an example of how it looks, check out the door on the cover of the Elements and the Exodus.

Although I built Vagan myself, there are still some tricky bits to using it. There are words and sounds that don't exist in it, many synonymous English terms that only have one translation in it, some single English words that have up to ten translations in it, and rules of grammar and punctuation that are entirely different. Vagan is a fun language to use, but making sure that English things don't slip in or transliterate unwanted can be tricky since English is my dominant language and Vagan is far from common use.

So to combat the issues I've had when readers have asked me to translate something for them, I've made use of a personal tip: Never be afraid to double-check yourself by writing it down or checking the dictionary. Until I finally earn my own horde of geeks (I use that term respectfully and excitedly), who all want to learn Vagan, I'm speaking and writing it by myself; so I have to make sure that I don't use it incorrectly or the whole language goes down the drain.