Britt Jones
Languages aren’t usually read into when it’s your native tongue, but to others, it can seem like the strangest things to meet their ears.
Now, even though we’re all taught our given languages from birth and onwards, you’ll never really hear how it sounds to non-natives.
From the cadence, pitch, and tone, languages are pretty complicated things that have been passed on for millennia.
They might change and adapt over a number of generations depending on who occupies where and whether countries merge and communities disappear.
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However, that’s not something we typically think about when considering our own language.
A woman on Instagram made people really think about what they sound like to others when she posted a video to the platform, showing what certain languages sound like to foreigners.
Amoxrella focused on Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French and American English.
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To someone who didn’t know any better, she was speaking perfectly in all languages and nailed her impressions.
But those who hailed from those countries were quick to let everyone know that she was speaking gibberish.
The country who was the most shocked at how they sound though, was the U.S.
Obviously, we all know what the Americans sound like, but do they know what they sound like?
It doesn’t look that way.
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Commenters under the video were shooketh over her impression and didn’t know she was doing a skit until they realised, they couldn’t understand a word she was saying in English.
One person wrote: “The American English sound like simlish.”
Another commented: “I didn’t realise it was gibberish until she got to English”.
Someone else said: “Is this really what English sounds like to non English speakers?”
Even pop-star SZA hopped on board and threw in her two cents: “Why is this so accurate and why are you nailing every one.”
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Another wrote: “How can she say so much and nothing at the same time?”
Someone else decided to explore how UK English sounds to foreigners too and people were equally as shocked.
@languagesimp is a multilingual guy who wants you to know what the Anglo lingo sounds like to people who don't understand it.
The effect caused by the TikToker is a little strange for those of us who do speak English…
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One person commented: “I felt like I should understand what he was saying.”
Another asked: “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 point is, nobody really knows how they sound until they hear someone else say something that makes absolutely no sense, even though they are using sounds that are pretty similar to the words we speak each day.
The English language may not be as pretty or musical as other languages, but it has it’s own unique sound that’s immediately recognisable.
I just never want to hear someone say those unrecognisable words every again.