Worst sounding languages?

[roshan]

The only Vietnamese language I like is Chinese.

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i like cantonese compaired to mandrian, although all asian languages (expect japanese) have this whining quality to it which irritates me.

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I think this whining quality is because the languages are tonal, which means the same syllable when said in a different tone means something else.

 

Malay and Tagalog are not tonal though.

[roshan]

I can't tell if people are speaking Thai, Vietnamese or Philipino.  It's kind of weird because I can place Korean, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese crystal clear.

 

Korean and Cantonese sound rough though.

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Its easy to tell apart thai and vietnamese from filipino. The thai and vietnamese languages are tonal like chinese. On the other hand, filipino is not tonal and I believe is spoken in a similar manner to italian or spanish. Also, in thai and vietnamese, the words have only one syllable each, while in tagalog it tends to be much more. ex. magkasingkahulugan(tagalog for synonym)

[moreKOTORplz]

The only Vietnamese language I like is Chinese.

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i like cantonese compaired to mandrian, although all asian languages (expect japanese) have this whining quality to it which irritates me.

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I think this whining quality is because the languages are tonal, which means the same syllable when said in a different tone means something else.

 

Malay and Tagalog are not tonal though.

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i know, my wife speaks tagalog

[Jorian Drake]

Sprechen sie Deutsch?

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Fixed

[Jorian Drake]

Anyone have any idea how Turkish sounds? I'd like to know what my own language is like, in terms of its pure sonority.

 

Once I heard someone speaking in Hungarian (is it called Magyar?) and it sounded surprisingly (uncannily, even) like Turkish. I know the languages are  closely related, but I wouldn't expect the intonation etc. so be so similar.

 

I don't have a 'worst' candidate, but for me the best sounding language has to be German. Next would be London-area English (don't know what to call it exactly)

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When Hungarians (yes, Magyar) arrived in europe, we came across turkish tribes. So we have gained some of your words, and you have gained some of our words.

In the age of turkish occupation/expansion there did this happen again.

[Jorian Drake]

The only Vietnamese language I like is Chinese.

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This is sooo not correct

[Jorian Drake]

guess no one speaks japanese in here

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....a very little, but I don't have the keyboard for it

[moreKOTORplz]

guess no one speaks japanese in here

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....a very little, but I don't have the keyboard for it

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i spelled it right, kuso?

[Ewen Brown]

i'm not too fond of click languages

 

the ancient assyrians had a language that was rather terrible on ones ears

[Sabahattin Dere]

When Hungarians (yes, Magyar) arrived in europe, we came across turkish tribes. So we have gained some of your words, and you have gained some of our words.

In the age of turkish occupation/expansion there did this happen again.

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I guess it was a matter of controversy to what extent Magyar was related to Turkic languages; though I did some simple 'research' and it appears your thesis is the right one.

 

Still it's a bit of a surprise to hear a language that sounds similar to one's own; especially since Turkish is sandwiched between languages that belong to totally different families, all of them using totally different alphabets, even. So there's nothing 'similar' around, not counting Azerbaijan where they speak practically only a dialect of what we speak here.

 

Still although we've loaned almost an infinite amount of words from Arabic, Greek, Armenian, etc. that doesn't seem to have affected the sonority too much.

[Jorian Drake]

When Hungarians (yes, Magyar) arrived in europe, we came across turkish tribes. So we have gained some of your words, and you have gained some of our words.

In the age of turkish occupation/expansion there did this happen again.

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I guess it was a matter of controversy to what extent Magyar was related to Turkic languages; though I did some simple 'research' and it appears your thesis is the right one.

 

Still it's a bit of a surprise to hear a language that sounds similar to one's own; especially since Turkish is sandwiched between languages that belong to totally different families, all of them using totally different alphabets, even. So there's nothing 'similar' around, not counting Azerbaijan where they speak practically only a dialect of what we speak here.

 

Still although we've loaned almost an infinite amount of words from Arabic, Greek, Armenian, etc. that doesn't seem to have affected the sonority too much.

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Both of us (turks, hungarians) were nomads, and we 'loaned' many things from the other ppl, but we(huns) had more to 'walk' from begin to the carpaths...actually, we don't know where we came from, but its clear that NOT from mongols, even if some ppl says that. There is too much opposite data for that idea.

 

 

...Some saz even, that we're from Atlantis...or even Mars :D

[Blarghagh]

German and dutch are ****ing ugly. I speak both (german only to an extent, though) and I despise them, despite the fact dutch is my mother tongue. And french is terrible too. No matter what's being said, it sounds like some crazy introducing themselves for Alcoholics Anonymous.

 

My favourite languages are english and japanese, because it's just funny.

[astr0creep]

Children have incredible ability to learn. Difficulty of learning a language can be determined when grown up.

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Yeah. I think one of the theories is that true fluency can only be achieved before puberty or something. I'm not really sure what they mean by that, because I've seen lots of examples of adults learning foreign languages quite well.

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I can only speak for myself : I don't translate from french to english in my head when I speak or write english. I don't need to translate when I listen either. Maybe that is fluency? Not thinking about it it just comes out?

When I speak Spanish or Japanese, which I am learning, I always have to think about what I need to say and very often some translation is involved. It doesn't just come out like english does.

[Rosbjerg]

oh I hate far to many tounges to list them all here..

but amongst those I despise the most is German and Finnish

[SteveThaiBinh]

I can only speak for myself : I don't translate from french to english in my head when I speak or write english. I don't need to translate when I listen either. Maybe that is fluency? Not thinking about it it just comes out?

It's a step on the road to fluency, which some achieve earlier than others. It wasn't until after I was in Japan for about a year that I stopped needing to translate from English to Japanese in my head. I wasn't fluent by any means, I was just more confident with the knowledge and skills that I had - constant repetition helps a lot. The different word order means it's probably harder for the English speaker learning Japanese than learning French or Spanish, for example.

 

I think it's harder for most people to become fluent in a language later in life, but harder isn't the same as impossible, and there are always exceptions.

Edited February 17, 2006 by SteveThaiBinh

[Dyan]

I don't like any language. Silence is golden.

[kirottu]

oh I hate far to many tounges to list them all here..

but amongst those I despise the most is German and Finnish 

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Then you haven

[mkreku]

Then you haven

[kirottu]

Always.

[Judge Hades]

Could you pass the ketchup. *munch munch munch*

[astr0creep]

The worst language is body language.

 

Or it can be when some people us it...

[Walsingham]

I don't know why there are so many Germanic haters here. German spoken in tenderness is oddly soft in spite of itself, like someone gently stroking your ears with an axe.

[astr0creep]

I don't know why there are so many Germanic haters here. German spoken in tenderness is oddly soft in spite of itself, like someone gently stroking your ears with an axe.

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Spoken German and Russian always sounds like the speaker is angry. Like that Simpsons episode when Lisa asks a Russian direction and the man starts screaming at her and he is just saying something like "turn left at the next light" or something.

 

Hi-larious.

[Sabahattin Dere]

Before saying anything about the expressive range of the pure *sound* of the German language, please check the vocal music of: Schubert, Brahms, Berg, Wollf, Schoenberg, *WAGNER*, R.Strauss, J.S. BACH (the cantatas), Mahler et al.

 

"Spoken German and Russian always sounds like the speaker is angry."

 

Now come on: I suspect whether your idea of the sound of German is that of some vociferating Nazi animal.

[Surreptishus]

Russian always reminds me of inexpensive good looking escort girl....

Edited February 17, 2006 by Surreptishus