3 ms·

I like to study languages and this happens to me embarrassingly often. I call it hyperhearing. Overhearing a fragment of speech, I'll mentally force it to be so

• Retra 9y ago
  My girlfriend likes to listen to French music, and I don't speak French, so I'll sometimes sing along with the words that sound almost like English. She naturally can't do it because all she can hear is the actual French meanings, not the craziness I come up with. I've also heard that one of the biggest 'tells' of (American?) English is how the 'r' is pronounced with the tongue unnaturally forced into the back of the throat, so when movies try to create invented languages, they tend to avoid that sound, and it makes it sound more foreign or alien. It's also one of the harder sounds for children to learn.
  • mbanzi 9y ago
    In italy there is "Canzoni Travisate" (Misheard songs) where somebody subtitles parts of english language songs that could sound like an italian. It's hilarious (to italians..) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtFhej8TvAI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtFhej8TvAI
    • bonzini 9y ago
      I was expecting "l'8 di gennaio"...
  • baobrien 9y ago
    I think that's called a 'rohtic' pronunciation (never studied linguistic) and carried over into the American dialect from an older English dialect. see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English
  • rimliu 9y ago
    Some take it to the next level: https://youtu.be/yqVVv97pKGk https://youtu.be/yqVVv97pKGk
  • burfog 9y ago
    Here you go then, French with fake subtitles in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_a256A5RFQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_a256A5RFQ This is an unknown Indian language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3wTY00564Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3wTY00564Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz9pXe4PbRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz9pXe4PbRQ Dutch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucB84k0G3EU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucB84k0G3EU Korean, at least mostly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ZfW1XzAgA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ZfW1XzAgA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvASlcUuCZI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvASlcUuCZI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN_E6HCuE5A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN_E6HCuE5A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHf1bKw_ftI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHf1bKw_ftI Possibly Chinese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK2gdO31pYs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK2gdO31pYs Japanese: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwrqzGBNvGY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwrqzGBNvGY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt6RuccJdAo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt6RuccJdAo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcdYbEangV4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcdYbEangV4 Seems like a Germanic or Slavic language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRIn_60Ei6I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRIn_60Ei6I
  • taejo 9y ago
    Dutch pronounces <r> in the same way in some contexts (before another consonant or at the end of words) and the first time you hear it you might have a moment of confusion, thinking people are speaking English but you just can't understand it for some reason.
• kabes 9y ago
  The official term is mondegreen
  • derriz 9y ago
    There's a classic Peter Kay clip on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ukn2YT5jeM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ukn2YT5jeM - which exploits how succeptible we are to suggestion when it comes to mondegreens. Warning: Kay has a strong Northern English accent and heavily uses local idioms so I hope the humor isn't lost on an international audience.
    • icebraining 9y ago
      Definitively not lost, thanks for the hilarity!
    • walshemj 9y ago
      Actually Peter Kays accent is not that strong like wise Jasper Carrots Birmingham accent is not the full Yam Yam "black country" dialect. BTW black country refers to the mines in the rural areas near Birmingham and not to race. And I wont mention the accents in peaky blinders :-)