Folium: How Does English Sound to Foreign Ears via MetroUK
Folium: How Does English Sound to Foreign Ears via MetroUK
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A lot of times growing up, it was fun to mimic accents from different languages I heard, but really, I was trying to make sense of what I was hearing. One day I got to wondering how the English language sounds to non-English speakers. As Lola states in her article “How our language is perceived is something, as speakers, we rarely get an insight into” This may be something you’ve never thought about before, but indulge me.
BBC Language Facts
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While I was living in Perú, I taught English classes every Thursday where we explained the pronunciation of English letters and words. One Thursday after class, a young Peruvian man approached me and said he had a very serious question to ask me, I hesitantly said go ahead. He then asked me how he could better understand Americans with a southern drawl. He said he had been listening to some English speakers and was having a very hard time understanding them for their “gliding vowels”. My initial reaction was, “how do I help this poor guy understand something I’ve heard my whole life?” The answer is, I can’t.
‘British and American English sound very different to me,’ Rachel said. ‘American English sounds very casual and more practical, while British English sounds much more refined.’ – MetroUK
Lola calls english-speakers the “laziest linguists” in the world; we want everyone to “talk like us.” English is not the most spoken language in the world. If you were to ask someone what the most appealing language is, they would answer one of the love languages, French, Spanish or Italian. It was not until I lived in South America for a year and a half that I realized just how hard English is for non-English speakers to understand. English is difficult to study for those trying to understand the language, and requires many hours that go into listening and examining the way we speak. And as I did, many just end up mimicking the accents they hear trying to make sense of it.
Those trying to learn have a more difficult time because of the many different dialects found within the English speaking community. Wayne Rimmer, co-ordinator of the Pronunciation Special Interest Group at the International Association of Teachers as a Foreign Language says “The real distinctive thing about English is that it’s global in a way other languages are not and in turn, has a lot of influences because of that.” Ayanbunmi’s article mentions that Spaniards prefer Brittain’s dialect, while most Spanish speaking countries in the Americas sway more towards an “American accent” because they are more exposed to that.
There are a couple of videos found on youtube that I’ve seen that show us just how weird English sounds to non-English speakers. The videos really opened my eyes to just how strange we sound.American music is popular throughout the world. I’ve heard a few Peruvians bursting into a popular Michael Jackson song and it made no sense. A song made by Adriano Celentano, “Prisencolinensinanciusol,” has no actual meaning but it really puts into perspective how American singers sound to foreigners. So now the challenge is the next time you are out and happen to run into a non-English speaker, remember just how crazy to may sound to them, and have patience.
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Julie Martin
LEAF Editor & Contributor
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