People can't believe video showing what speaking English sounds like to foreign people
Have you ever found yourself listening to people speaking foreign languages and wondering how you'd sound to someone you doesn't speak English?
Well, now you don't have to, as one TikTok user has created a video detailing what our language sounds like to non-speakers - and it's leaving people absolutely baffled.
It's no secret that listening to a language you're unable to speak sounds like a bunch of random gibberish, which means that we also sound like that when trying to order a pint while on holiday.
Don't believe me? Take a listen to the clip down below:
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The video was created by a TikToker who goes by the name of Language Simp - @languagesimp - and if his profile is anything to go by, he can speak a lot of languages. So, you'd assume he has some knowledge on the topic.
Language Simp begins the clip by explaining that this is how English is likely to sound in the ears of someone who doesn't speak the language before reeling off a bunch of familiar but unintelligible words and phrases.
For anyone who's familiar with The Sims franchise, Language Simp's take on non-English English is strikingly similar to the games' fictional Simlish, which closely mirrors our own speech patterns and speed but makes no sense.
Now if you're wondering how Language Simp put this together, it would seem like the aim of the game is to mimic English intonations and the accent using nonsense words.
The clip, which has been viewed millions of times since being posted, has clearly struck a chord with viewers who just couldn't believe this was how they sounded.
"I felt like I should understand what he was saying," one person commented, as a second noted: "You are telling me people hear me talking like a Sim?”
While someone else wrote: “I feel like I understand what he's saying, but I also don't."
A fourth person said: "This sounds right… but it’s not…"
The creator isn't alone when it comes to his take on our language either, as a short YouTube film titled 'Skwerl' was created in fake English and also uses slowly spoken nonsense.
Meanwhile, a voiceover website, Voices, has put together a collection of sound qualities widely attributed to English and it turns out we use a lot of the following in our speech:
- Slurred and garbled sounds
- Harsh 'r' sounds
- Overuse of 's', 'sh' and 'ch' sounds
- Interesting variations in rhythm and inflections
- Lots of 'ing' sounds at the end of words
- Dropping of consonants at the beginning and end of words
- Overemphasis on the beginning of words and underemphasis on the end
- Open and rolling vowel sounds
- Soft consonants
- Flat sounds
Oh dear...
Brenna Cooper