# Ha! What English sounds like to those who don't speak it! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645 "2009-12-17T15:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Foldup\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/21 "2009-12-18T01:00:36Z")
I listened and it sounded English to me, though more like something barely heard on a shopping mall stereo or something. If I’d heard it without knowing it was gibberish at all, I would’ve thought it was in English and that I just couldn’t pick up the exact lyrics. He did a pretty good job of nailing English vowel sounds. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/22 "2009-12-18T02:02:28Z")
There’s a guy who asked about this on Youtube: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C5EZmyJ9ik](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C5EZmyJ9ik) There are some examples in the related videos. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/23 "2009-12-18T02:15:33Z")
A related thread from a while back: [How do non-English-speaking jerks make fun of how Americans talk?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=531333) ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/24 "2009-12-18T02:16:39Z")
And here’s the converse situation. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhuOicPFZY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhuOicPFZY) ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/25 "2009-12-18T02:26:51Z")
I’ve been obsessed with this for weeks. My avatar on another board is a screen capture from this video - right about 0:11, when he gives the “A-OK” sign with his thumb and forefinger. _OLL RIIIGHT!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Obsidian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/51bf81/32.png) [@Obsidian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obsidian)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/26 "2009-12-18T03:08:17Z")
> [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](#): > > And here’s the converse situation. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhuOicPFZY](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhuOicPFZY) Wow, that sounds remarkably like my grandparents arguing. Complete with the handwaving. They couldn’t decide on dinner without trying to signal planes in from JFK. “The kids won’t be able to tell we’re fighting if we do it in Italian!” ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/27 "2009-12-18T03:41:25Z")
Just to underscore how obsessed I am with this song, I just did this. Now we can all sing along. You’re welcome. > [@Adriano Celentano](#): > > \*With insane and shoes now home build your scene in a whole rain, maybe get yer’ color boss tide. > > Brrrrrrr… Chickens and wine begin to cool, baby sustain, yeah, built yo’ hole! > > With insane and shoes now home build your scene in a whole rain, maybe get’cher color boss tide? > > When it’s a shame, I do the coffee steam. You know for trouble now but Jersey girls pray for this jam. > > You the comin’ up choose no wife, I’m not sure, hoba-hoba this skin, lob a cobra no time! > > Oh, but differences stand, like the shoes of Gobo Man. Cuba cost too, the rap’s called Dufresne a girls. > > Hold something… > > Aye-ayes lie senseless. Benny Hill so go with diesel. Eyes. > > You can call May to say one Prisencolinensinainciusol. All right! > > Aye-ayes mine senseless, any gold so go with bizzo. Eyes. > > Prisencolinensinainciusol. All right! > > What else? You don’t sleep and now you’re givin’a scene, to line the chips you knob a duff-hole, had a good time. Let Fraser know. > > We’ve been seein’ in his tail, run these shoes in Como pail. This is too many cars and over four world he grinds a stain. > > Aye-ayes might chance let, and a hilt so go with Beezo. Eyes. > > You can call May to say one Prisencolinensinainciusol. All right! > > You da’ Hershey in our bills, eekin’ outta my door, less braver do that you lyin’ pleatinyole. (?) > > Aye-ayes might sense let, any gill some frow with beezil. Ayes. > > You can call May to say one Prisencolinensinainciusol. All right!\* ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/28 "2009-12-18T03:43:36Z")
It sounds remarkably like English, but I guess I was expecting more of a foreign language paradigm. It sounds totally normal to me. It’d be cool if someone could somehow make it sound like English, but also weird and foreign, the way a non-English speaker might perceive it. That’s probably impossible, but it’d be cool. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/29 "2009-12-18T03:58:07Z")
> [@Obsidian](#): > > Wow, that sounds remarkably like my grandparents arguing. Complete with the handwaving. They couldn’t decide on dinner without trying to signal planes in from JFK. Which, ultimately, is what gives the singer away as not being American. When he does the okay sign, he can’t hold his hand still. He waves it around way too much. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/30 "2009-12-18T04:46:37Z")
I think Frank Zappa would have loved this, and possibly forced his band to cover it. ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/31 "2009-12-18T06:14:10Z")
LMFAO. Sounds like Elvis singing lyrics written by a stenographer transcribing Bill Cosby. “Presen’ Colin n Sinain Cusol. Oll Righh.” ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/32 "2009-12-18T06:37:33Z")
Lordy, but that rhythm does wear thin after a while, though. Whew. Also, at the end, he reminds me of Tom Waits. Not the voice (🙂 ). The general demeanor. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/33 "2009-12-18T06:43:53Z")
I don’t have any examples of this to link to, but when I lived in Japan I’d sometimes hear pop songs that were in English…kind of. There would be actual English words mixed in with the Japanese lyrics, but they didn’t really make sense and the Japanese accent and inflection would be so strong that it was almost completely unrecognizable as English. Actually, there were times I only knew the song contained English because I could see the lyrics – on Japanese television songs are often subtitled (in case you want to sing along at home?). Actually, looking on YouTube just now I did find a song that was a hit in Japan when I lived there, the [EXILE cover of “Choo Choo Train”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6yjPsXDsnE). I’d say the English in this one is better than average, but you get the idea. I’ve been told that some Japanese bands don’t even bother with bad English, they just make up English-sounding gibberish, but I’m not sure if this is true or not. I was out with a Japanese friend once and we encountered a little boy, I guess about four years old, who started chatting away at us. My friend was translating (“He says he knows how to swim”, etc.), then the little boy jumped up and said something that sounded like “Ping pong pasha!” My friend laughed and said “Oh, he’s ‘speaking English’ to you!” So I guess that’s what English sounds like to the Japanese, or at least one little Japanese boy. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/34 "2009-12-18T06:50:54Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > It sounds remarkably like English, but I guess I was expecting more of a foreign language paradigm. It sounds totally normal to me. It’d be cool if someone could somehow make it sound like English, but also weird and foreign, the way a non-English speaker might perceive it. That’s probably impossible, but it’d be cool. What, like [this?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=414TmP12WAU) ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/35 "2009-12-18T07:56:57Z")
Very amusing, and pretty realistic sounding. Although I wonder if I’m the only one who thinks the girl at 1:50 sounds German. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/36 "2009-12-18T08:06:08Z")
Reminds me of Murray Head (“One Night in Bangkok”). And yes, the blonde sounded like Nico. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/37 "2009-12-18T08:14:15Z")
I think the blonde dancing with him is Rafaella Carrà, who was a famous Italian singer in her own right, and one who recorded in English at times, so she had some familiarity with the language. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/38 "2009-12-18T08:15:00Z")
You mean you guys are now saying you’ve never heard [this song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XubVpeq4E20)? Aserejé ja de je de jebe tu de jebere seibiunouva majavi an de bugui an de güididípi is what the opening lyrics of [Rapper’s Delight](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6gD_CwF5YM) sound like to a Spaniard who don’t speakee no English: I said a hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat Oh, and I think Celentano speaks English. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/39 "2009-12-18T13:22:45Z")
Am I the only one to think that the ‘teacher’ in this looks like Sasha Baran Cohen? ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645/40 "2009-12-18T14:02:48Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Just to underscore how obsessed I am with this song, I just did this. Now we can all sing along. You’re welcome. awsome! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ha-what-english-sounds-like-to-those-who-dont-speak-it/521645.md?page=3)