We native English speakers have it very easy on the language front — not only do we not need to worry about translating our own words, we can usually read other people’s work in our language of choice. Language issues are very much out of our minds most of the time, which is a luxury.

That said, one of my favorite writers — in any language — is the Polish polymath Stanislaw Lem, and many of his works don’t have English translations. When I’m frustrated because one of his works isn’t in English, I do consider the reverse issue — Polish readers who aren’t comfortable enough in English to access the huge quantity of English writing. It’s just one of those many challenges thrown our way by pure chance, depending on where & when we are born.