Do you ever wonder

[darkina]

Do you happen to wonder how your language feels like "from outside"? Like trying to detach yourself from it and try to feel like a foreigner, possibly even one that doesn't know it at all, feels about it?
I am so curious to know how Italian sounds so sometimes I try to concentrate on the sound and forget the meanings but it obviously doesn't work too well. Especially besides the usual things they say about Italian. Especially the famous statement that we speak "like singing". I'd like to hear that because it doesn't seem like that to me. Spanish sounds a bit like singing to me, but my friend (Italian) who lives in Spain said they say we "sing" and she kind of agrees that we "sing" more which I can't really picture.
Or I try to look at written text and again forget that I understand it and see how funny the words look, but even if it works a bit, it still doesn't work perfectly.

Also, sometimes I wonder how it feels not to be able to read at all. Which is stupid because if I look at a Japanese text, I could get that feeling so easily But it's different somehow, other alphabets don't seem to matter, I want to know how it feels not to be able to read mine. Does anyone remember that, or we all forget the feeling once reading becomes usual? I learnt to read when I was 4 years old and I guess I always really wanted to as soon as I was conscious enough to want it, so that's why I learnt so early and quickly and I can't remember how it feels not to be able to, at least a little bit.

Or maybe it's a stupid thread so we can use it for things you randomly wonder about

[ego]

Yes I do wonder how my language sounds to the foreigners. I wonder it like 10-15 times a day . OK, here's the deal: I'll tell you how Italian sounds and then you will tell me how Greek sounds:

Italian sounds like a merry language, with many vowels and a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful intonation. I guess that's what people mean with "singing". The Italian intonation is intense and passionate unlike the Spanish one which is flat (the Castillian one). A robot would pronounce Spanish easier than Italian. When you listen to Italians talking you have the feeling they are passionate, open people, and they certainly love talking, or else they would be bored to produce this intonation that includes all musical notes, from Do to Si . Spaniards use 2-3 notes in total. They talk in Do, they ask in Re and they are mad in Mi. Italians even when bored, talk like "Do-Fa-Sol-Sol-Si-Mi-La-Do-Re-Mi..."

[darkina]

I still don't get it and I still don't think Spanish is much flatter...at all...

Would you kill me if I told you what I thought the first time I heard Greek? That it sounds exactly like Spanish, just I can't understand a word. Even when I hear Greeks speaking English, I think they are accent is rather similar to the Spanish one. The Greek intonation is so nice, but also so uncannily similar to Spanish for me...
(to comfort you, I'd add that I adore to hear Spanish so Greek is quite adorable too...)

[Luís]

The Italian intonation is intense and passionate unlike the Spanish one which is flat (the Castillian one). A robot would pronounce Spanish easier than Italian.

You know very well that Greek sounds like Spanish, but flatter.

Besides, all Greek words are huge. In fact, not only are they huge, but they all look alike too.

Italian, on the other hand, is very melodious. And let's not forget the gesticulation. It's an integral part of the Italian language!

[Egein]

I did that just a few moments ago. I thought I could still do it with Icelandic because my oral skills are not so great and it did work for some time. It's amazing it all sound sso slurred and not very nice. I have no choice but to do it in finnish since I don't understand anything. I do it with texts often it's easier. Sometimes it works for french. It's very..sporadic.

[darkina]

And let's not forget the gesticulation. It's an integral part of the Italian language!

Nooot that again... Is it really true? It seems to me that everybody does it! I know an English guy who gesticulates 50 times more than I ever do...

[Varislintu]

I sometimes look at latin script upside down and through the back of the paper to try to see what it really looks like.

Minä katson joskus latinalaista kirjoitusta ylösalaisin ja paperin käänntöpuolen läpi nähdäkseni miltä se oikeasti näyttää.

[Axiom]

I often have that feeling and very often I try to listen to the Russian language as a foreigner. I wonder how it sounds because several times I noticed that foreign people sometimes don't "see" any difference between Russian and other Slavic languages. For example, when we've been to France with my mother, we were several times asked:"Are you Polish?". I always thought that it's hard to mix Polish with other languages because for me it seemed that the language consists mostly of sounds like "cz" and "sz". But when I decided to listen to my speech attantively, I noticed that you can often meet sounds like "ch" (ч) too. Since then, I think that I pronounce "ч" and "щ" too often, these sounds even disturb me! Maybe it's the matter of my pronounciation?:lol: Or I just put too much attention to the particular sounds.

About Italian.. Well, I've been to Italy, but I don't remember exactly how spoken Italian sounds, so I'm afraid of being mistaken. I hear some Italian songs on the radio sometimes and they are beautiful. But I think that there is too much "r" sound in Italian.

[pastorant]

I notice the difference in Italian dialects. Sometimes it's too sing-songy for me. It can be annoying when it's too stacatto
Greek sound like Castillian that I can't understand.
Portuguese sounds like nasally, mumbled Spanish.

I LOVE German, but not Dutch at all.

I hear Europeans say that English sounds as bad to them as Danish does

I didn't learn Cherokee as a little child, so I know
Cherokee sounds very odd, like you're speaking under water Plus, native Cherokees NEVER move their lips.

[Psi-Lord]

I’m forever wondering what Brazilian Portuguese sounds like to foreign ears, as the descriptions people often give me are based on European Portuguese instead.

[Nero]

I'd be surprised to find out what people think of english. Go on, hit me with it! I won't cry

Latin always sounded formal and a little evil to my ears... I expect the devil to speak Latin as his mother tongue

[sa wulfs]

I'd be surprised to find out what people think of english. Go on, hit me with it! I won't cry

I always thought English sounds incredibly smooth and "agile". Especially American English.

[darkina]

Latin always sounded formal and a little evil to my ears... I expect the devil to speak Latin as his mother tongue

Latin??? Wow, you must be OLD!

[Psi-Lord]

Latin always sounded formal and a little evil to my ears... I expect the devil to speak Latin as his mother tongue

I thought the Devil’s mother tongue was Hungarian. And, well, no offense, but if the Devil does speak Latin, I really hope he has no English accent.

[Dminor]

I'm in love with the Italian sound. When I was in Italy last year I couldn't even resist to keep on listening to an italiana giving indications to someone who was trying to park his car in some difficult spot. And although it must have sounded pretty similar, I don't really like sound of reconstructed Latin. I think the biggest difference is the more frequent lack of "coda's" in Italian, i.e. consonant(s) after the vowel of a syllable. For example "cantus" sounds worse to me than "canto".

Ik ben verliefd op de klanken van het Italiaans. Toen ik afgelopen jaar in Italië was kon ik het niet eens weerstaan om te blijven luisteren naar een Italiaanse die aanwijzingen aan iemand gaf die zijn auto op één of ander moeilijk plekje probeerde te parkeren. En hoewel het er wel behoorlijk op moet hebben geleken, vind ik het niet zo mooi hoe het gereconstrueerde Latijn klinkt. Ik denk dat het grootste verschil erin zit dat Italiaans vaker "coda's" mist, d.w.z. medeklinker(s) na de klinker van een lettergreep. Ik vind "cantus" bijvoorbeeld minder mooi klinken dan "canto".

[Nero]

Latin always sounded formal and a little evil to my ears... I expect the devil to speak Latin as his mother tongue

I thought the Devil’s mother tongue was Hungarian.

Hehehehe, yes, that also. The devil is bilingual!

はい、それも。悪魔は二カ国語です！

[Wildfire]

Well, I did think how Russian language might sound to foreign people, and I suppose that impression isn't obvious as this language seems harsh (because of consonant clusters, there're very few diphthongs) and soft (many consonants are palatalized) at the same time. But I'd definitely like the way it sounds.

I think the most beautiful spoken languages are (in this order): French / English / German / Serbian / Russian / Romanian / Ukrainian / Swedish / Spanish / Polish.

Я действительно думал о том, как иностранцы могли бы воспринять русский язык и считаю, что впечатление было бы противоречивым т.к. он кажется резким (из-за большого количества согласных звуков; кроме того, почти нет дифтонгов) и мягким (благодаря тому, что в русском языке много мягких согласных звуков) одновременно. Но мне бы наверняка понравилось как звучит этот язык.

Из всех языков самыми красивыми считаю (в таком порядке) французский / английский / немецкий / сербский / русский / румынский / украинский / шведский / испанский / польский.

[Johanna]

I have no idea how Swedish really sounds like for a foregner, a lot of people say they think it's beautiful, but I don't know. And from how I see it, some dialects are horrible. I guess there's no one who isn't Swedish who can tell me how Västgötska sounds?

Ja ha'engen aneng om hu svännska ejjänntlien låte för enn utlänning, många säjjer att di töcker dä'ä våckert men ja vet ente. Å som ja ser't så ä nåra dialeckter väldi fuLa. Ja antar att dä'nte fenns nånn såmm ente ä svännsk såmm kan taLa om fö mäjj hur väsjöttska låter?
(L = "thick l")
(' = as in English, two words becomes one)

Jag har ingen aning om hur Svenska egentligen låter för en utlänning, många säger att de tycker det är vackert men jag vet inte. Och som jaf ser det är några dialekter väldigt fula. Jag antar att det inte finns någon som inte är svensk som kan tala om för mig hur västgötska låter?




The same text in English, Västgötska and Swedish

[Dminor]

You should ask HerrFraeulein.

[culúrien]

I know what the vast majority of people think of English. But I've never been able to seperate myself from English and be able to form my own objective view of it.