What English sounds like to those who don't speak it:

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What English sounds like to those who don't speak it:

"An Italian singer wrote this song with gibberish to sound like English. If you've ever wondered what other people think Americans sound like, this is it." Hat tip

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about 2 years ago Brian responded:

Voodoo Glow Skulls for the same trip

about 2 years ago Cliff responded:

Well, I'm an American and it sounds like English to me too, so no surprise I guess.

about 2 years ago MarcyRandom responded:

The song is called "Prisencolinensinainciusol" by Adriano Celentano.

about 2 years ago Sayuri responded:

Cliff, the point isn't that it sounds English...of course it does. The point is that you can't understand what they're saying. So as a foreigner you would hear this accent and it would all be jibberish. I think it's pretty cool trying to understand what he's saying and feeling like I can't understand English anymore.

about 2 years ago MK responded:

it sounds like... english to me...

It's really weird. Its like, "what did he say" as if I should understand it.

about 2 years ago redditor responded:

reddit approved!

about 2 years ago z responded:

sick dance moves!

about 2 years ago thegarse responded:

My mom and her grade school friends would say "whaddi machi peet eengli yuhnclei comb avei hega" my guess is that it was "What's a matter, you speak english? You can come over here."

about 2 years ago Alex responded:

It's so weird. I'm trying really hard -not- understand it, and it sounds like...Really mushy gibberish that kind of sounds like clicky-German. Does that make sense? I'm an American myself so this is really weird to listen to.

about 2 years ago Toonlad responded:

Aye, it sounds like proper American English like!
Would be canny funny if someone did something like this for the Geordie dialect of English (Newcastle/North East England) like, most the time people think we are speaking gibberish anyway!

about 2 years ago nilz responded:

thats an italian singer, entertainer and movie star who used to be quite big in the 80s in europe with his actually very, very funny movies.

he is, in italy, very well known for singin many songs in his fantasy english. if you like this, you should check the soundtrack for his movie "joan lui". it´s even stranger...;)

about 2 years ago Sightseer responded:

pretty interesting, personally from a foreigner's point of view, i think people don't understand English because they don't actually speak it, of course, this is a parody made for entertaining purposes...

about 2 years ago Passinthru responded:

This was very clever but the song itself drove me absolutely CRAZY by not resolving that chord. It just goes on and on and on, I was itching for it to go up a 3rd or 5th and burst out into something soulful, but it just never got there. I wonder if that was intentional. If so, tres evil. :P

about 2 years ago Herb Levy responded:

This is what English sounds like to Italians, not "foreigners."

Speakers of other languages will pick out other phonemes as characteristic of English, just as English-speaking Americans imitating Italian sound quite different from, say, speakers of Japanese, Urdu, German speakers.

Compare the sounds that various languages use to characterize animal noises. Dogs don't say "bowwow" or "arf" in every language.

about 2 years ago Milli responded:

This was interesting to listen to, but if you listen to the vowels, they're not quite right. I'm guessing this is because Italians would have a hard time hearing the differences in our vowel sounds in the same way that people from Mexico do. Perhaps it would be a better example of "how English sounds" if it were performed by Americans.

about 2 years ago Bob Dylan responded:

Sounds like me...

about 2 years ago orly? responded:

Someone started transcribing the lyrics

----

prisencolinensinainciusol

When they're saying the shoes now

a whole business scene

then a whole raid maybe if you come across side

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

take a some my happy he the coal baby

susta(in) yah miss joe oh

When they're saying the shoes now

a whole business scene

then a whole raid maybe if you come across side

whether ta see like you the coffee scene

you neva java neva just to called names a chance

you'd the comin' up juice my price but not sure

home hopin' to skin l'on cover of time

Home a dif'rence sustain white shoes ago my main

you'p a plus This is my comb brain to girls

oh some thing

[chorus]

my eyes my senseless any ghost would go it pees oh; eyes

to call me salem freezin' cold it estimate choose oh; all right

(female lead)

my eyes my senseless any ghost would go it pays oh; eyes

etc.

about 2 years ago Toberoni responded:

Here are some subtitles I did about 2 months ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S00Br2SSrY8

about 2 years ago Eric Barker responded:

I agree with the top comment on Reddit: "This hurt my head. I felt like I should have been able to understand what he was saying, but I couldn't."

http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/af3i2/what_english_sounds_like_to_foreigners/

about 2 years ago John responded:

Easier to understand this guy than Fallout Boy.

about 2 years ago Rich Roat responded:

Thanks for reminding us that American's are the only ones who speak English.

about 2 years ago Tabiji responded:

This reminds of a show from Hong Kong called Super Trio Supreme. One of the games played on the show involved non-Chinese people singing Chinese songs. We always think it's funny.

about 2 years ago benton responded:

It reminds me of this:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1455309/family_guy_speaking_italian/

about 2 years ago Johnston responded:

noooope you're wrong. This song was written to show americans what it sounds like to other people when they try to speak in fake languages.

Like when actors imitate French or Japanese and speak words that sound like French or Japanese but make no sense at all.

about 2 years ago toranosukev (Twitter) responded:

Seems a pretty good rendition to me. No worse, no more absurd or silly than anything we Americans come up with when pretending to speak fake French, Italian, or Chinese.

You want something really funny that indicates what some foreigners think Americans sound like, you need to check out Japanese TV. Like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJc9JKYhta4

about 2 years ago guesto responded:

wow. is that really what we sound like????

about 2 years ago Andrew Hazlett liked this post.

about 2 years ago Doz responded:

I understood every word... somebody help me...

about 2 years ago Hannah responded:

But if I didn't understand a language it would sound like gibberish to me too. For all I know they're singing in Swahili.

about 2 years ago Andrew responded:

Nobody has addressed the fact that this song is AWESOME. I had to plug the computer in to the stereo just so I could crank it up.

about 2 years ago Ady さん liked this post.

about 2 years ago john responded:

To my native English ears it sounds mostly like German with some Danish and Norwegian thrown in. Given the geographic origin of English, this makes sense. Every once in a while I noticed some French and Spanish sounds too.

about 2 years ago bitchinmona (Twitter) responded:

I expected a parody or exaggeration of American-style English. Instead, my mind is reeling. Like others, I experienced cognitive dissonance when listening; my brain felt as though it was *supposed* to understand what it was hearing. I actually felt some anxiety listening to the song, which I'm unsure whether is attributable to the inability to parse the words properly or if it's something in the music itself. The first time I listened, I didn't watch the video. The second time, though, I did - and the video seemed evocative as well. This was an AWESOME thing to stumble onto. Thanks!

about 2 years ago p responded:

started a translation... i am intrigued by the differences and similarities to someone else's translation (which I saw after I finished):

we were saying to choose my own hope
and just saying and that a whore rate
maybe it'd come across diet

rrrr

chance on mine to get a cold,
baby just stay, yeah bet your woah

about 2 years ago i.talian responded:

Here's the REAL story about "Prisencolinensinainciusol" by Adriano Celentano:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisencolinensinainciusol

about 2 years ago spiffy responded:

It's a fair cop.

about 2 years ago Dave liked this post.

about 2 years ago SSssspencer responded:

I heard that to Japanese, we sssound like we are ssspeaking like sssnakes with all of our "S"ssss.

about 2 years ago SSssspencer responded:

I wonder what it would come up with if you used an automated voice translator for English on that song.

about 2 years ago Adam responded:

Sounds like the Sims.

about 2 years ago CrisAintMarchin (Twitter) responded:

Don't care that it's fake English, it's just like the rest of Italian TV (tho not enuf naked women:

about 2 years ago Times Current responded:

Funny - this sounds exactly like a live Bob Dylan concert.

about 2 years ago mscommerce responded:

What is totally remarkable about this video is that it was made in 1970, long before Rap or Disco music were invented. Yet it could fit in either genre. This is a glimpse of godlike genius!

about 2 years ago Andi B. Goode responded:

This is pretty hilarious. It sounds just like gibberish to me but I find it difficult to understand a lot of Americans in TV shows, anyway.

about 2 years ago András responded:

It sounds like "good" English to me.:) (I'm native Hungarian.)

about 2 years ago Sharp responded:

This reminds me of Pooty Tang.

about 2 years ago dorothy parker responded:

I'd like to see the literal video of this. Nice that someone took the time to transcribe the lyrics.

about 2 years ago Veronica responded:

Can't say I'm surprised that someone can "fake" English. If it fits the phonotactics, it works for a song.

about 2 years ago Meushini responded:

am i the only one who totally understood all of that? ... this could be bad

about 2 years ago David responded:

@SSssspencer, probably end up like George Bush if you translated it using one of those automatic voice translators.

about 2 years ago Daisy Deadhead responded:

It's amazing how we "find words" to fit, when we can't figure them out. I thought I understood several sentences.... This is awesome, thanks.

about 2 years ago jennyjenjen (Twitter) responded:

Haha, totally funny. Thanks for posting!

about 2 years ago Josh responded:

Rock and roll is the universal language, baby!

about 2 years ago Ramon Fernandez responded:

If this is how we sound to Italians, then all I can say is that we sound pretty cool.

about 2 years ago Jonathan R liked this post.

almost 2 years ago Steve responded:

I agree with John - but to me this sounds very Scandinavian though even more than German. Interesting. I saw a comment on another site from another Italian who stated Eng. and Norwegian sounded similar to her ear, which kind of surprised me. Interesting perspective.

almost 2 years ago Steve responded:

Maybe some Dutch too without the gutterals. LOL I agree it sounds cool Ramon...

almost 2 years ago LetsDoHighTea (Twitter) responded:

I agree with Andrew. Never mind the lyrics, the beat to this song is seriously banging!!!

almost 2 years ago angie johnson responded:

great song - melody. But we who speak English cannot help its nasal quality and bruttish tones. We have no control over our native tongue. We were just born here.

almost 2 years ago Bezoeker responded:

LOL! Tried to understand it as well. Impossible!

over 1 year ago Lucia responded:

That is really impressive. I'm slightly deaf (and English) and this gives a very realistic impression of what I hear.

over 1 year ago erika liked this post.

over 1 year ago Peter Gallinari-Linari responded:

Everyone interested in languages and/or accents and dialects should watch this video several times because it gives us an insight into what others hear when we speak.

over 1 year ago david responded:

The irony is that this is the first Italian pop/rock song I've listened to that didn't really suck! Seems simplistic to say, but when you shuffle through the history of Italian pop/rock music, it's incredibly bad, and this is actually pretty catchy.

over 1 year ago Mari Ohira responded:

Yeah, English sung that fast does sound like that to me. I usually have to listen to the song a second time to figure out the lyrics. It is interesting that gibberish with just the right accent can sound much like an existing language. Like Era's many Latin-like songs.

I'm Brazilian, by the way.

about 1 year ago Vilma Garaycochea (Facebook) responded:

I am living 30 years in USA and some people still sound like that to me when they speak here in California. It's even worst with the people back east. lol

about 1 year ago Ranger Jim responded:

I'm a native speaker of American English (modified by about 40-something years of traveling the world as an Army dependent and later as a professional soldier myself). I also speak German (with a Bavarian accent). To me, as a 67-year old, this sounds like a cross between Rap and Hip-hop, run through perhaps Babelfish in an attempt to translate from ghetto-speak to someother language and then to English.

But then I find it rather hard to understand either Rap or Hip-hop, and I personally think that most modern American music has a beat like a badly loaded washing machine threatening to break its moorings and jutter across the laundry room floor spilling soapy water along the way....

8 months ago Ken responded:

It was apparently quite popular in its time. Popular enough to warrant a Russian disco remake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH0eau0L3Lg

8 months ago bhuto (Twitter) responded:

This ought to have a genre of its own. Faux-language songs.

2 months ago Rob responded:

The funny thing is that even though you realize it's gibberish, your mind wants so bad to hear words that random words pop into your consciousness the whole time, and you strain for meaning. Your brain doesn't want that to mean nothing because it does sound like english!

Barking up the wrong tree

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