Even Greener Pastures
Language Learning => Questions about the Use of Language => Topic started by: Alharacas on June 29, 2018, 07:56:56 am
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My first wife thought German sounded "romantic". She used to get turned on listening to Falco and "ninety nine red ballons".
It is obvious now I should have nipped that relationship in the bud...
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I used to think that German sounded like killer dogs barking and growling. My only exposure to it had been on the TV show Hogan's Heroes. When I heard Miriam speak it I found out I was wrong. And you wonder why I don't trust Hollywood.
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;D For me, Russians sound as if they were drunk. I don't think it's a prejudice, because I had the same thing with Spanish from Spain - I guess the reason was "ceceo" (or the pronunciation of ce/ci/z in general). When I learned enough to understand and speak it, however, this feeling disappeared. If I ever get to learn some Russian, as I intend to, I suspect the same thing will happen.
That’s out of drinking vodka. In case Russian children speak the same, they are surrounded by people who " breath" with alcohol on them.
Seriously though, it’s interesting that Russian makes you such impression. Perhaps, it's more about manners and intonation.
I speak quietly with a downward intonation (almost always). However, my husband often makes a remark when I’m angry:”I want to you to scream or swear instead of observing a metal sight of your eyes when you are furious” :)
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For German, like others said, it is the films about WWII, dubbed in a caricatural way, that give this impression. I do not like the Spanish spoken in Madrid (seseo plus the syllabes that have all the same lenght).
Italians also can seem agressive, since they may speak loudly.
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Russian sounds nice to me, similarly to Polish spoken by people from the East part of my country.
French and Italian both sound very nice. Japanese very normal, like Polish to me.
Arabic is really harsh, but I don't find it aggressive. I like the sound of Turkish (especially their pop music) and Persian. I've learned very little of Turkish before my vacation there a few years ago. I wanted to demonstrate some sentences I learned to my colleague at work and said something like 'I'm in a very good mood' (Benım ruhsal durumum çok ıyı). And she said it sounded like 'I'll kill you ...' (she had probably very bad stereotypes about Turks?).
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They say Russian, German and Arabic sound aggressive. Surely it has nothing to do with the history behind these languages. :P
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Yes, Chizuko, it appears to be something traditionally sung in Cologne.
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The language which sounds a particular aggressive?
North Korean speaking sounds always aggressive. They are always angry. I wonder how ordinary people speak.
For me, German does not sound so aggressive. I watched TV show that a foreign woman showing her cook and explaining in her language. I didn't notice where she is from. She talked about cooking, smiling beautifully. She sounded intelligent too. Then the Japanese narrations told it was cooked in someone's house in Germany. She was a German. It didn't sound aggressive at all.
Another TV shows the beer festival in Munchi. People speaks happily,of course it's a party! How can I describe about the German team work? They really enjoy together, singing, drinking. It made me smile.
I can't understand any languages other than Japanese and English. so other languages are always music to me. When I talked with someone who is Muslim in English, he sounds like reading Quran. If Italian speaks English or Italian, it always sound like a opera.
So, personally, the language that sounds aggressive is only North Korean. Because they are truly angry and aggressive.
I watched this video a few years ago. Is this German song? The all audience suddenly sang it. Good team work!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUqhPoA5bIY&lc=UggAV8JEUJJon3gCoAEC
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I'm sure you're well aware that German has a reputation for sounding aggressive, but in my opinion its aggressiveness has been overstated: probably many people's experiences of spoken German largely come from films about the war (and I imagine that any language heard solely in a military context from the mouths of one's enemies is bound to sound aggressive).
Yes, I'm well aware of that. And I agree with you, the Minion and Marcin as to films about the war and military context in general.
You might be surprised to learn that one language I find sounds aggressive is Italian, or if not aggressive, at least quarrelsome. But I only started thinking so after I learned the language. I don't remember if I had any particular opinion about it before that.
I find that surprising indeed. For various reasons.
First, because Italian has always sounded particularly charming to me. Secondly, because I had this idea that perhaps we tended to think that any language we're surrounded by - without understanding it! - sounded aggressive. I got this idea precisely because over the years, countless people have told me either how agressive German sounds - or that they used to think it sounded really harsh and aggressive until they started learning it.
Thanks for disabusing me of this, Coligno. ;)
To me, it's the Arabic language (as spoken in North Africa) which sounds particularly harsh and aggressive. Perhaps I should take a few lessons, just to find out whether that would change my perception.
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So it depends on our perception of the country, based on stereotypes and often painful history. I've heard some Russians say that Polish sounds unpleasant (like the snake language from Harry Potter series). But whoever I ask, they say 'Oh no! It sounds nice (or at least normal)!'
P.C. again?
;D For me, Russians sound as if they were drunk. I don't think it's a prejudice, because I had the same thing with Spanish from Spain - I guess the reason was "ceceo" (or the pronunciation of ce/ci/z in general). When I learned enough to understand and speak it, however, this feeling disappeared. If I ever get to learn some Russian, as I intend to, I suspect the same thing will happen.
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I agree that this is common opinion about German. Especially repeated by people who never learned It, who know it only from the movies about war - I remember from my teenage years those films (of Polish or Soviet production) were showed in our TV over and over again. So I really felt a bit disappointed when I was told German would be the second foreign language taught at my high school (There was Russian obligatory for all, and German or French as a second - but they divided us into groups not asking for preferences; English wasn't available at all). When I started to learn I noticed it sounds normal, maybe a little bit harsh, but there are more languages which not sound melodic. Btw. It was more useful while travelling in Central Europe than e.g. English or French.
When people say that German is unpleasant I sometimes show them nice songs like this one by FAUN, I placed in another thread on this forum.
So it depends on our perception of the country, based on stereotypes and often painful history. I've heard some Russians say that Polish sounds unpleasant (like the snake language from Harry Potter series). But whoever I ask, they say 'Oh no! It sounds nice (or at least normal)!'
P.C. again?
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I'm sure you're well aware that German has a reputation for sounding aggressive, but in my opinion its aggressiveness has been overstated: probably many people's experiences of spoken German largely come from films about the war (and I imagine that any language heard solely in a military context from the mouths of one's enemies is bound to sound aggressive).
Not only this. Some time ago I realized that I already have some German vocabulary, only it mainly consists of phrases like: Gott mit uns; Arbeit macht frei; Lagerfürher; Kinder, Küche, Kirche; Juden, raus; Nur für Deutsche etc. I can go on. Actually, this is not funny, but that's how it is.
I also remember thinking it sounds harsh and not very nice - but I suppose that was our schoolteacher's fault. She was always speaking as if she wanted to kill everyone around. Now when I listen to German radio, I find German pronunciation actually very nice with all those schwa sounds.
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I'm sure you're well aware that German has a reputation for sounding aggressive, but in my opinion its aggressiveness has been overstated: probably many people's experiences of spoken German largely come from films about the war (and I imagine that any language heard solely in a military context from the mouths of one's enemies is bound to sound aggressive).
You might be surprised to learn that one language I find sounds aggressive is Italian, or if not aggressive, at least quarrelsome. But I only started thinking so after I learned the language. I don't remember if I had any particular opinion about it before that.
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Or did you use to? Do you speak that language? And if so, has your perception of that language changed over the course of learning to speak it (to whichever degree of fluency)?