How German sounds compared to other languages

[Thorn Wilde]

No it isn't. This is a portrayal of American English. Although this is "faked" it shows why much American English can be difficult to understand, specifically the lack of clear consonants. Accent is mainly about varying vowel sounds and these can vary to a remarkable degree yet the words will remain comprehensible provided the speaker takes the trouble to use clear consonants by articulation using the lips, tongue and teeth (those three words are also excellent words to practice clear elocution of consonants ). But downgrade the consonants and speech becomes unintelligible.

 

Which is why I'm a big fan of Brian Sewell

 

 

 

.

 

Can you tell the difference between different accents in a language you don't understand? Could you, for instance, tell two Norwegian dialects apart and tell me which is which (assuming of course that you don't speak Norwegian)? Chances are, you'd barely be able to tell Swedish and Norwegian apart, and you'd be even less likely to tell me which is which. Bearing that in mind, yes, the video I shared is pretty much exactly what any type of English sounds like to a non-English speaker. And the video was, I believe, made by Australians.

[Zombie]

Can you tell the difference between different accents in a language you don't understand?

 

Yes. French.

 

Bearing that in mind, yes, the video I shared is pretty much exactly what any type of English sounds like to a non-English speaker. And the video was, I believe, made by Australians.

 

I doubt your video "is pretty much exactly what any type of English sounds like to a non-English speaker" any more than Brian Sewell's magnificently mellifluous tones But, hey, we can test this here and now with non-native English members: can you tell the difference between Thorne's Aussies and Brian's crisply enunciated consonants?

 

 

And there's no prohibition on Aussies making American sounding mini-movies

[Thorn Wilde]

The issue was not about non-native speakers; it was about non-English speakers. People who do not actually speak or properly understand English. I have not always spoken English. I did not speak English when I was a little kid. I'm actually a pretty good authority on this.

[Zombie]

The issue was not about non-native speakers; it was about non-English speakers. People who do not actually speak or properly understand English. I have not always spoken English. I did not speak English when I was a little kid. I'm actually a pretty good authority on this.

 

 

Problem is your continuing insistence that your Aussie video "is pretty much exactly what any type of English sounds like to a non-English speaker" based on your own personal memory from many years ago of how it was for you "when I was a little kid". Hmm, not exactly sure how that makes you "a pretty good authority" to make such an unqualified claim about how English sounds to each and every non-English speaker.

 

For your claim to be true, that would mean you are essentially saying that the "sound" of a thick Glaswegian accent is aurally indistinguishable from Brian's. I think that would amuse Brian immensely

 

 

 

 .

Edited November 8, 2013 by Zombie

[Aditus]

This is kinda funny what you two are doing here. When I was a kid and I didn't speak English but faked it by speaking German with an accent ( come on I was four I think, I did the same with French and Italian) my parents said I  sounded like I tried to imitate a snotty British brat, whatever that means. So guess how I thought English sounded. I cultivated my Gerrrman accent everrr since.

[Thorn Wilde]

Problem is your continuing insistence that your Aussie video "is a pretty accurate portrayal of what English sounds like to non-English speakers" based on your own personal memory from many years ago of how it was for you "when I was a little kid". Hmm, not exactly sure how that makes you "a pretty good authority" to make such an unqualified claim about how English sounds to each and every non-English speaker.

 

For your claim to be true, that would mean you are essentially saying that the "sound" of a thick Glaswegian accent is aurally indistinguishable from Brian's. I think that would amuse Brian immensely

 

My only point is that you're a native speaker and as such are even less qualified to make judgments about this than I am. And I have a really good memory. I am also not the only person I know of who once could not speak English who has commented on how accurate this video is, and the people who made it must have gotten it from somewhere.

Edited November 8, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[Zombie]

My only point is that you're a native speaker

 

That I agree with!

 

you're ... even less qualified to make judgments about this than I am.

 

But it's you that's making the claim. And he who asserts must prove. And it is a pretty outlandish claim. A claim without any evidence apart from your memory from many years ago when you were "a little kid". So I'm puzzled how you can claim that your childhood memories make you "a pretty good authority" on this. And now you say a few other people have made similar comments. To make such a sweeping claim based on that?

 

That aside, though, more importantly it flies in the face of the facts. Because you are claiming that "any type of English" sounds the same to all non-English speakers:

- Scottish

- Welsh

- Irish

- Mancunian

- Scouse

- Brian Sewell

- Jamaican

- South African

- Texan

etc etc

 

Honestly, Thorne, it simply doesn't fly. You just have to listen to the huge variety of sounds of the English language.

 

This is not evidence but this guy makes a pretty good stab at mimicking 24 different English accent sounds. Tbh you'd have to be tone deaf not to hear the different sounds English can make

 

Edited November 8, 2013 by Zombie

[Thorn Wilde]

You seem to be under the impression that English is somehow special. There are many languages in the world that have just as varied amounts of dialects and accents as English, but you won't immediately hear the difference between two dialects of Hindi (loads of people can't tell Hindi and Punjabi apart either), or Thai, or Arabic, or even between two entirely different but closely related African tribal languages, will you? You'll only do this if you're very used to hearing them. They don't sound the same, but what you in your head perceive as sounding like that language will be a jumble of all the different accents, dialects and whatever that you've overheard. Perhaps, if they are significantly different, you might be able to tell if you hear them spoken next to each other. But if you try to recreate or mimic that language, the accent you'll produce will be a mix of what you've heard.

 

These days, having watched a significant amount of anime over the years and having been educated by a friend who studied the language, I am capable of naming several Japanese dialects (Osaka-ben is fairly easy to place if you know how) even though I don't speak the language. But if I, for instance, hear two Slavic languages next to each other, even though I've been exposed to many of them, I probably won't be able to tell you which is which, or in some cases even that they're different.

 

As for other people's testimonies than mine, there are several in the YouTube comments. I've taken the liberty of copying a few examples for you:

 

 

 

As a person who was a stranger to English and learned it later on, i can confirm that this is so true xD People that don't know English just hear the words that are the most used and the rest just seem gibberish ;D

 

 

 

yup, that is pretty much how english sounds at first. there's a gradual period during which it slowly morphs into something that you actually begin to comprehend. but that's how it works with any new language.

 

 

 

Hahaha so true!! I am not a native English Speaker, and this is exactly how it sounds when you are not very familiar to the laguage, just as if you were picking and understanding a few random words.

 

 

 

This is so true ! As a non native English speaker, when I watch for example a TV show in English, I understand most of it since I've learned English over the years, but the few parts I don't understand sound exactly like this !

 

 

Also, inexplicably (because I do agree with you that it sounds mostly American, but then nowadays I actually speak English like a native, and I know and recognise many if not most accents, a few of which I can mimic), someone wrote this:

 

 

 

oh my god! hahahaha! I can't even understand it! hahaha! then again, it sounds British to me, so that times the slurred effect just makes it all the more difficult, lol.

Edited November 8, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[Thorn Wilde]

Also, you say 'a few other people'. Try every other person I've shown this video to who isn't a native speaker and who went through the same process as I did to learn it. I haven't shown it to every single human being I know, but 100% of a sample of people is a pretty good indicator, and I've shown in to people whose first languages are Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch, Arabic and Russian, to name a few.

Edited November 9, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[Zombie]

You seem to be under the impression that English is somehow special.

 

 

Nope. I think you'll find, Thorne, that it was you not me that made a specific claim about English. So if you want to believe your definitive and unqualified claim that "any type of English" sounds the same to each and every non-English speaker then that's absolutely fine. Just don't expect claims made in GA forums to go unchallenged. I've done that. Others can make up their own minds. I've nothing further to say except, in the words of Carl Sagan "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".

 

[Y_B]

Well that sure escalated.

 

 

I don't know Spanish, but I can definitely tell when someone is speaking Antonio Bandera Spanish or Wal-Mart Spanish. One of these sounds like slow sex on a Sunday morning, the other sounds like burnt coupons on expired contraceptives.

[Thorn Wilde]

Nope. I think you'll find, Thorne, that it was you not me that made a specific claim about English. So if you want to believe your definitive and unqualified claim that "any type of English" sounds the same to each and every non-English speaker then that's absolutely fine. Just don't expect claims made in GA forums to go unchallenged. I've done that. Others can make up their own minds. I've nothing further to say except, in the words of Carl Sagan "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence".

 

 

I think you'll find, that the claim that you challenged was, 'That said, this video is a pretty accurate portrayal of what English sounds like to non-English speakers.' You answered this by saying that, no, this is what American English sounds like to non-English speakers, which was a claim you were entirely unqualified to make. I then tried to make you understand that when confronted by a language that contains a set of sounds very unlike the sounds you have in your own language, dialects and accents aren't going to register much. I did so using several examples, all of which you seem to have entirely ignored. You act like I have somehow insulted your language. I happen to love English. It's my favourite language in the world, that's why I write in it so much. That's why I've learnt to speak it as well as my first languages, why I am functionally tri-lingual, and why I have done extensive research on English accents and dialects. But there was a time even after I had learnt to speak English fairly fluently that I couldn't tell Australian and British English apart. That is to say, I could hear that there were some differences, but I couldn't say that Australian English was definitely Australian. I also had some trouble telling New Zealand and South African accents apart. They sounded very similar to me. Now I can tell them apart, but that requires practice. 

 

I have nothing but my own experiences and the experiences of the people around me to draw on, this is true. But it seems to me that you are challenging my opinion, all of my opinions on this matter, on no grounds whatsoever. You are a native English speaker. You have never heard English without understanding it (well, not since you learnt how to speak, anyway). Yet, instead of asking other people who may have some memory of having not spoken English what they think, you've contradicted me using your own point of view, which frankly has very little to do with anything, as you are, as already established, a native speaker and have always been.

 

Well that sure escalated.

 

 

I don't know Spanish, but I can definitely tell when someone is speaking Antonio Bandera Spanish or Wal-Mart Spanish. One of these sounds like slow sex on a Sunday morning, the other sounds like burnt coupons on expired contraceptives.

 

That's because Antonio Banderas speaks Spanish Spanish, while the Spanish you hear at Wal-Mart is South American Spanish, and these are quite possibly even more different than American and British English. Spanish Spanish is softer, for instance. It's also a language you're used to hearing. Just like how I can tell different Japanese dialects apart, and Zombie can hear the difference between some French dialects. But if you're hearing a new accent of a language that you don't speak yourself for the first time, it's going to be a lot more difficult to tell them apart.

[Zombie]

A lot of words

 

#35 "I've nothing further to say"

[Thorn Wilde]

I'm beginning to feel like you're really just trolling me tonight, Zombie, because no matter what I say you seem to find some way of misinterpreting me, or you just ignore most of what I say. I tried to send you this as a PM, but your inbox is full, so I'd just like you to know that I find you extremely disrespectful and very unpleasant to discuss things with. I don't know if you're targeting me specifically, or if you're like this with everyone, but I actually thought you were a nicer person than this.

[Arpeggio]

Well that sure escalated.

 

 

I don't know Spanish, but I can definitely tell when someone is speaking Antonio Bandera Spanish or Wal-Mart Spanish. One of these sounds like slow sex on a Sunday morning, the other sounds like burnt coupons on expired contraceptives.

 

Mexican Spanish is a lot less sexier than Spain Spanish imo. XD 

[Dolores Esteban]

I'm not a native speaker of English. I found the video Thorne provided sounded like American English, very authentic. Definitely not British English. All US American dialects sound pretty much the same to me, many consonants, barely vowels.

[crazyfish]

Well that sure escalated.

 

 

I don't know Spanish, but I can definitely tell when someone is speaking Antonio Bandera Spanish or Wal-Mart Spanish. One of these sounds like slow sex on a Sunday morning, the other sounds like burnt coupons on expired contraceptives.

not a spanish speaker either, but I can tell mexican spanish from spanish spanish.  

 

Not much of a french speaker either, but i can tell francophone french from french french,  even from quebecois french.