The sound of English language to non-English speakers will seriously mess with your head

If you spend more than a few seconds thinking about the English language, you'll soon realise that it really doesn't make any sense.

One video demonstrates that better than most:

Between our slang, contractions and wildly varying accents, we don't make it particularly easy for people trying to learn English to understand what we're saying.

And if you’ve ever visited a foreign country, between checking out the local cuisine and figuring out the exact cost of a pint, you may have wondered how you sound to non-English speaking locals.

But now, TikToker the Language Simp - or @languagesimp - has revealed exactly what it sounds like, and it turns out we sound a little bit like Sim - who’d have thought?

Now, whether you speak English or not, the above video will sound like gibberish - and that's because it is.

If someone came up to you and repeated what the TikToker said in the video, you'd be convinced they were speaking a different language. You might be able to grasp a few words like 'water', but on the whole you'd be clueless.

This is why it's the perfect example of how English sounds to non-English speakers.

UK Stock Images Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

The Language Simp speaks several languages, including English, so is ideally placed to reveal how we sound to non-English speakers.

He shared his short, almost-English speech in a clip that’s since been viewed millions of times, resulting in a strange effect for those of us who actually do speak English.

After watching the video, one person commented: “I felt like I should understand what he was saying." Another agreed, commenting: "I feel like I understand what he's saying, but I also don't."

Baffled by the noise emerging from the TikToker's mouth, another viewer added: “You are telling me people hear me talking like a Sim?”

ArcadeImages / Alamy Stock Photo

If odd linguistic information is your thing, then you may also be interested to know the English language could soon become even more confusing as a study released last year found the majority of Brits could end up talking like a 'roadman' within the next 100 years.

Words such as 'peng', 'wagwan' and 'bare' are part of a dialect known as 'Multicultural London English' (MLE) that could become the dominant dialect in the UK over the next century.

According to Professor Paul Kerswill of the University of York, Multicultural London English is a dialect born in the British capital in the early 1980s - but traces its roots back to the Windrush generation.

With plenty of younger generations already familiar with the MLE dialect, the study predicts they will keep using it well into adulthood and pass it on to their children - meaning it could eventually become one of the most popular dialects in Britain.

Considering how strange we already sound to non-English speakers, I dread to think what a challenge they'd face if we all started speaking like roadmen.

Topics: UK News, TikTok, Viral

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.