# Whispering/Lip Reading in Other Languages

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whispering-lip-reading-in-other-languages/981672>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 26, 2023, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whispering-lip-reading-in-other-languages/981672 "2023-03-26T13:05:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pianodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e79b87/32.png) [@pianodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pianodave)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whispering-lip-reading-in-other-languages/981672/1 "2023-03-26T13:05:38Z")

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Hi SD,

I recently subbed at a Bar Mitzvah. During the service, I had a question about the music. I mouthed something to the Cantor, who responded. I was able to see her response though obviously there was no vocalization. This brought to mind the following:

Are other languages harder to understand when lip read or whispered? Does the nature of the language affect people’s ability to understand? English has a lot of consonants from which to interpret words and phrases, but there are other languages more vowel-centered, or frequently drop consonants. Puerto Rican Spanish seems to do that a lot, compared to other forms of Spanish.

Thanks,

Dave

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**Author:** ![pianodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e79b87/32.png) [@pianodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pianodave)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whispering-lip-reading-in-other-languages/981672/2 "2023-03-29T04:01:26Z")

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Can anyone answer this question?

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**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whispering-lip-reading-in-other-languages/981672/3 "2023-03-29T04:24:24Z")

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Don’t know if this answers your question, but it’s a chance to share one of my favorite videos. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igwGdxz20gc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igwGdxz20gc) _Bros melting at Sana’s cute cheese gimbap♡- Knowing Bros 76_

The headphones have loud music playing through them so the wearers can’t hear anything that’s said.

The redhead/brunettes are Japanese (Sana) and Taiwanese (Tzuyu) and speak heavily accented Korean which is part of the charm.