Lingusitics What do foreign languages sound like to you?

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on personal perceptions of various foreign languages, highlighting how individuals interpret the sounds and nuances of languages they may not fully understand. Participants express distinct opinions on languages such as British English, American English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Russian, often associating them with cultural stereotypes or emotional responses. Notably, languages like Arabic and Spanish are described as melodious, while others like Chinese and German are perceived as harsher or comical. The conversation also touches on linguistic relationships, such as the similarities between Slovak and Polish.

PREREQUISITES
  • Basic understanding of phonetics and language sounds
  • Familiarity with cultural associations of languages
  • Knowledge of language families and linguistic relationships
  • Awareness of regional dialects and their characteristics
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  • Research the phonetic characteristics of Arabic and Spanish languages
  • Explore the cultural significance of language perception in different regions
  • Study the linguistic relationships between Slavic languages, particularly Slovak and Czech
  • Investigate the impact of dialects on language comprehension and identity
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Language enthusiasts, linguists, cultural anthropologists, and anyone interested in the subjective experience of language perception and its cultural implications.

  • #61
I think it's Madarin.
 
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  • #62
Whenever I don't understand the language, I always hope that the other person will speak louder and slower...
(see about 8:25)
 
  • #63
Silicon Waffle said:
I think it's Madarin.
My best friend moved to Taiwan and learned Mandarin.. He's actually the guy who showed me that video about 10 years ago, before he started learning it... I'll have to send it to him again and see if he can translate now :)
 
  • #64
Choppy said:
Whenever I don't understand the language, I always hope that the other person will speak louder and slower...
This is so oh true.
 
  • #65
German seems angry all the time, and French sounds snob :biggrin: Nordic countries languages I find odd and interesting. Russian sounds oddly like European Portuguese, if I'm distracted I could mistake someone on a public transport speaking Russian as speaking Portuguese, since the sounds are very similar. On the other hand, Spanish is a very similar language to Portuguese, in vocabulary, but sounds totally different (sounds more similar to Brazilian Portuguese).
 
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