# What does English sound like to foreigners? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052 "2011-10-28T07:36:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cemab4y](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@cemab4y](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cemab4y)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/41 "2011-11-02T10:47:23Z")
> [@Beast\_Model](#): > > I told a Chinese friend (who speaks English and Hokkien) that Chinese sort of sounds like “ching chong wow bow” (or something equally inane) to Americans. She told me that her grandmother (who doesn’t speak English) says english sounds like “shhh shhh shhh shhhh” to her. > > I thought that was pretty interesting and kinda wondered if anyone else has ever heard of anything like that? My wife is Russian, and she says English sounds like Blubba- blubba- blubba ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/42 "2011-11-02T12:00:33Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > That’s because it’s actually a vowel-coloring, rather than a consonant proper. But North American English does have an /ɾ/ tap (or flap), in the middle of words like _water_.Or they can just say it without r-coloring on the first syllable maybe? “Da ra” instead or “Dar a”? I guess it depends on how you yourself pronounce it. OK, I was finally able to put my finger on what was bothering me about this… When someone says in Spanish “corazón” or “dorado”, you’re saying that the r is actually a modification of one of the neighboring vowels (the o, based on what you later say about “dar”?) and not a consonant? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/43 "2011-11-02T12:32:37Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I like this one. It’s “Prisencolinensinainciusol”, a 1973 Italian gibberish song meant to sound like English. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcUi6UEQh00](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcUi6UEQh00) I’m loving the dance moves. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/44 "2011-11-02T14:22:29Z")
> [@cemab4y](#): > > Blubba- blubba- blubba That’s because Russian is just as _hissy_ as English, but with a lot less of _blubba-blubba_, being instead replaced by over-pronounced palatalized consonants. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/45 "2011-11-02T22:25:27Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > OK, I was finally able to put my finger on what was bothering me about this… > > When someone says in Spanish “corazón” or “dorado”, you’re saying that the r is actually a modification of one of the neighboring vowels (the o, based on what you later say about “dar”?) and not a consonant? Here’s my interpretation. I’m guessing from guizot’s comment that he/she has a non-rhotic accent, and doesn’t pronounce the “r” in “dar” as a separate consonant, instead perceiving it as a colouring of the “a”. For many English people, “dar” -\> “dah”. However, in the syllable “ra”, the “r” is a distinct consonant. So guizot suggests that it might be better to render it as “da ra” (i.e. where the “r” would be pronounced as a consonant) rather than “dar a” (without a distinct r sound). Of course, for a Spanish person, there is no difference in pronunciation between “dar a” and “da ra”. I may be completely off the mark here, in which case I should just let guizot speak for him/herself. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/46 "2011-11-03T00:16:07Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Here’s my best effort, including a translation. The sketch is cut off at the beginning so I couldn’t make out the first few words. Note that Rick Kavanian, the actor in the foreground, deliberately makes a lot of pronunciation and grammatical errors which I’ve preserved: Thanks for that. 😉 I covered up the translations and tried to translate it myself without looking up any words. Did pretty well, though there were a few I couldn’t remember off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/47 "2011-11-03T06:46:05Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > OK, I was finally able to put my finger on what was bothering me about this… > > When someone says in Spanish “corazón” or “dorado”, you’re saying that the r is actually a modification of one of the neighboring vowels (the o, based on what you later say about “dar”?) and not a consonant? I wasn’t talking about Spanish. I was talking about English (the topic of this thread). [R-coloring](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-colored_vowel) is one of those things that characterizes (American) English for foreigners, probably because: [QUOTE=Wikipedia] R-colored vowels are rare, occurring in less than one percent of the languages of the world:[1] however they occur in two of the most widely spoken varieties: North American English and Mandarin Chinese. [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/48 "2011-11-03T08:00:08Z")
There’s supposed to be an old actor’s trick. Extras in crowd scenes would repeat “cantaloupe watermelon” over and over to each other in a quiet speaking voice to simulate the sound of normal background noise. Supposedly a bunch of people all saying “cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon” blends together and sounds like normal conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/49 "2011-11-03T08:08:47Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I wasn’t talking about Spanish. I was talking about English (the topic of this thread). Oh, ok, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/50 "2011-11-04T16:30:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There’s supposed to be an old actor’s trick. Extras in crowd scenes would repeat “cantaloupe watermelon” over and over to each other in a quiet speaking voice to simulate the sound of normal background noise. Supposedly a bunch of people all saying “cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon” blends together and sounds like normal conversation. Really? I always heard it as “peas and carrots peas and carrots”. In fact I’ve actually used it on stage although usually when the cast is feeling silly and we’re doing a light-hearted show. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/51 "2011-11-06T20:06:25Z")
> [@Aeris](#): > > Really? I always heard it as “peas and carrots peas and carrots”. In fact I’ve actually used it on stage although usually when the cast is feeling silly and we’re doing a light-hearted show. Have half of them saying “peas and carrots” and half saying “cantaloupe watermelon”. 😉 That’ll make a nice mix of sound and a decent lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/52 "2011-11-06T20:43:06Z")
Rhubarb ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/53 "2011-11-06T22:59:23Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > My high school English teacher was born in Germany and didn’t learn English until later in primary school. She remembers hearing English before she had learned it, though, and told our class it sounded like people talking with mashed potatoes in their mouth. A lot of very harsh R and SH sounds. Like SHRORSHRSHORSH, kinda. This is a bit surprising, since similar sounds are quite common in German as well. For example “s” followed by “p” or “t” is pronounced as /ʃ/ (what we would write as ‘sh’ in English). OTOH, terminal /r/ in American would certainly stand out, and terminal (“dark”) /l/ would as well. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/54 "2011-11-06T23:04:12Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There’s supposed to be an old actor’s trick. Extras in crowd scenes would repeat “cantaloupe watermelon” over and over to each other in a quiet speaking voice to simulate the sound of normal background noise. Supposedly a bunch of people all saying “cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon” blends together and sounds like normal conversation. Ah yes…the Cucumbrist Uprising. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/55 "2018-02-02T17:24:23Z")
I wanted to resurrect this thread to share [this video of Austrian comedian Felix Dvorak giving impressions of political speeches in Italian, American English, French, British English, Arabic, and Russian](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCPBAEYnIUQ). None of the speeches are actually in the stated languages, but are rather impeccably intoned gibberish intermixed with a few familiar words. It’s as good an answer as any to the thread’s question of what English (plus Italian, French, Arabic, and Russian) sounds like to German speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/56 "2018-02-02T17:46:04Z")
Saw [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybcvlxivscw) video linked from a different site (or maybe even from this one?) a few days ago. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/57 "2018-02-02T18:02:22Z")
This was intriguing enough that I asked a close Pakistani friend about it. He agreed that (American) English “hisses.” When I expressed surprise, he pointed out all the common “s-words” that we use: is, this, has, was, his, us, as, and so forth. I never really noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/58 "2018-02-02T18:11:15Z")
Also, [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MovG8WvYonY) is what English sounds like to a Beluga whale. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/59 "2018-02-02T19:10:00Z")
While it is hard to find Finns that don’t speech English these days, I still enjoy asking them this question. As the unrolled R is fairly unique in my experience they typically make a sound like “eeerrrreeeerrreeeerrreee” They also point out the oddness of words and names ending in consonants. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052/60 "2018-02-02T20:26:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There’s supposed to be an old actor’s trick. Extras in crowd scenes would repeat “cantaloupe watermelon” over and over to each other in a quiet speaking voice to simulate the sound of normal background noise. Supposedly a bunch of people all saying “cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon cantaloupe watermelon” blends together and sounds like normal conversation. Traditionally over here, it’s supposed to be “rhubarb”. Can’t help wondering how long it would take before constantly repeating the same syllables gets people tongue-tied. Here’s what, for comic effect, parody WW2 Germans are supposed to imagine as posh English: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edm0YJraeVI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edm0YJraeVI) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreigners/601052.md?page=4)