As someone who grew up bilingual and has spent years watching fiction handle this with the grace of a person trying to parallel park a cruise ship: please. i am asking nicely. stop phonetically spelling out accents in dialogue. stop having your multilingual character "think in english." and stop treating languages as cute flavour when they're actually load-bearing walls. let me explain:

⊹ Phonetic accent spelling-- "ze said zis," "I canna doo eet," "ees very 'ot"--does not convey an accent. it conveys that you find the accent hard to read and mildly comedic. actual accents are not misspellings. they are specific music, rhythm, stress patterns, vowel shapes that cannot be represented in text that way. what conveys accent is word order, idiom, the things a speaker reaches for. A character who says "it doesn't matter, leave it" and a character who says "never mind, let it go" are from different places. use that. not the apostrophes.

⊹ Multilingual people do not experience their languages as separate filing cabinets they access one at a time. languages blur and overlap and interfere with each other in beautiful ways. When you're tired you reach for the word from the other language because it's closer. when you're emotional you revert to your first language because it's where your feelings actually live. when you're angry you swear in the language you learned swearing in. when you're tender you use the diminutives and endearments that don't translate. your bilingual character's language choice in every scene is characterisation. use it as such.

⊹ the thing about not having a word for something is real and it matters. Every language has concepts the others can't carry cleanly. the grief for something you never had. the specific quality of afternoon light. the feeling of wanting to be home while you're already there. when your character encounters something their language doesn't have a word for, they don't just find a workaround, they feel the gap. they feel slightly untranslatable. multilingual people live with the knowledge that some part of who they are exists only in one language and cannot be fully brought across.

[ tug ] sender tugs receiver behind them during a tense moment

[ pull ] sender pulls receiver out of harm's way at the last second

[ tuck ] sender stares at receiver and quietly reaches up, tucking a fallen strand of hair behind receiver's ear

[ yank ] sender yanks receiver closer to them, ending up in semi-suggestive close proximity

[ steady ] sender grabs receiver's arm to steady them before they fall over

[ walk ] sender moves around receiver and walks closest to the street as they travel down the sidewalk, keeping receiver away from any potential danger in the roadway

[ untied ] sender drops to their knee and starts tying receiver's shoe for them

[ spoon ] sender lifts a spoon towards receiver's mouth, encouraging them to eat

[ trace ] sender traces receiver's lips with their thumb

[ pin ] sender pins receiver to a tucked-away spot in the shadows to avoid being caught

[ neck ] without a word, sender dips down to receiver's throat and kisses them soundly

[ handheld ] sender slips a hand behind their back and grabs receiver's fingers as they stand behind them

[ carry ] without asking, sender takes receiver's heavy bags from them and carries them

[ lock ] sender and receiver lock eyes across the room

[ drink ] sender brings receiver a drink and holds it to their lips, insisting they take a drink

[ reload ] sender reloads receiver's gun for them in the middle of a fight

[ shelter ] sender uses their body to shelter receiver from an explosion or attack

[ carry ] sender picks up receiver and carries them off the battlefield and into a safe spot before running back to the fight

[ toss ] from a secret hiding spot only receiver and sender can see as they avoid an enemy, sender silently gestures to receiver to toss them (their gun, something valuable, etc.)

[ stairs ] sender offers out a hand to help receiver ascend or descend a staircase

[ cover ] sender covers receiver's eyes so they don't witness something gruesome

[ fix ] sender comes up to receiver and fixes their collar and/or tie

[ shake ] to convince receiver not to do something, sender hastily shakes their head from a distance

[ watch ] from a distance, sender taps on their watch to show receiver they're running out of time

[ i'll go ] sender gently pushes receiver back, taking charge and insisting they will handle the dangerous task

[ reach ] through a locked gate, sender reaches for receiver's hand

[ ship ] as receiver's ship takes off from the planet, sender waves to them from the ground and watches them leave

[ protect ] after someone threatens receiver, sender rushes over and gets right in their face to protect them

[ punch ] after someone attacks receiver, sender rushes over and punches them in retaliation

[ nip ] sender playfully nips at receiver's neck

[ knuckles ] sender kisses receiver's knuckles in a polite gesture

[ squeeze ] sender gives receiver's butt a playful squeeze from behind

[ danger ] as an all-powerful receiver is about to lose control of their powers and cause massive damage, sender finds their eyes and tries to talk them down

[ goodbye ] without saying a word, sender approaches receiver and kisses them goodbye

[ wipe ] sender wipes a tear from receiver's face

[ location ] without saying anything and giving away the surprise, sender takes receiver to a secret spot

[ hold back ] sender has to hold back receiver from attacking someone

[ game ] sender lets receiver win a game they're playing

Hélène Cixous, from The Book of Promethea