Comments on: Language — How Does it Sound?

By: Harvey

Harvey — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:17:34 +0000

Here ya go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAA_qbiOQ5k

By: Nici

Nici — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 05:06:52 +0000

I agree that most Americans sound like Tim the toolman Taylor to non-native speakers of English. The “r”-sound overshaddows just about everything else.
I’m German and have been living in the states for over 5 years now. When I first came here, I could hardly tell if people tried to imitate bellowing stags (after all the first day of deer hunting season is a holiday in some areas of WI) or if they actually tried to communicate with me. Besides their “r”-sounds, people tend to drawl their vowels in some American dialects. They make extreme diphthongs out of monophthongs and it really sounds as if they chewed gum while trying to speak.
But, I have to admit, the longer I live in this country, the more I love the language. Some Americans are so cute when they try to speak German with their American “r”s. )

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 14:31:45 +0000

…. thanks, Hoosierboy, that explains a lot…..

By: Sistaweb

Sistaweb — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 06:21:38 +0000

[...] Seit ein paar Tagen verfolge ich ein lustiges Hin und Her bei Jim, über den ich auch zu dem Fake-Übersetzer-Posting eins weiter unten gekommen bin. [...]

By: Erica

Erica — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 02:33:15 +0000

Great. Now you got me listening to accents. Like I got nothing better to do. The Southern ones make me giggle. My knees buckle in vapors at the Oirish ones. I must say, however, this one takes the cake. It is most definitely definitely definitely my absolute favorite.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 00:47:03 +0000

For those who are serious about this sort of thing(G), the following site has people from around the world reading a short passage using English. Then take a look at the generalizations to see the problem areas.

http://accent.gmu.edu/browse.php

By: TJ

TJ — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 21:04:16 +0000

I love this post and the comments, as I’ve often wondered about this. RRRRRRR! I love that there are vowels to emphasize our laid back-ness. I need to find a Jim Nabors clip…

Annm

Fake German sound involves:
- Switching “W”s to “V”s
- Overemphasizing hard consonant combinations (like “SCH”)
- Lots of SHOUTING

Hope this helps!
TJ

By: Ann

Ann — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:31:10 +0000

Another fake genius! You might also like to watch the response videos.

By: Ann

Ann — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:00:12 +0000

If you want to entertain your German friends with an American English impression, you do the “rrr-thing”, go over the top with the intonation and simply fake chewing on a chewing gum whilst trying to talk properly. That should lead to drown-out vowels and gives an impression of the “easy-going-ness” that is associated with Americans. Heh.

Ruby, sweetheart: can you hear the difference between this and that? That’s what’s all about

Btw, you might get a kick out of that.

And now it’s your turn, Jimbo and commenters: How does Fake-German sound?

By: hoosierboy

hoosierboy — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:49:21 +0000

I used to entertain my colleagues (or mostly myself) with my Dutch impression which mainly consisted of clearing my throat and adding a some hard “ch” and “g’s”. It was much like your “translator”. My German friend also just used rrr rrr for making fun of Americans. He relates the tale of his first visit to America trying to understand Southern/black/Atlanta accents. On a side note, no one can understand a Scottish accent.