Excellent post!
I must say, in my life, I have found much humor in the way people make fun of of the sound of languages other than their native one.
I think every single person, in every single culture finds to one degree or another, humor in this.
I know a guy who does a drop dead Indian accent that has people falling on the floor (as much for the content, as the sound of it)
And there was NOBODY who could imitate (in utter phonetic gibberish) to an uninitiated ear the sound of other languages like Robin Williams! I swear I have heard him mimic with that gibberish a dozen other languages, and as an ignorant listener, could accurately identify every one of them! (Never mind the various American accents!)
But the one that tickled me more than any other and has stuck with me, is having this conversation with a German guy who confirmed the truth that all cultures do this, but his twist was:
“You know what Americans sound like to us Germans?” and followed that with a coarse, loud, abrupt “ARF ARF ARF ARF!” that made me spit my drink!
Funny, I have had Germans describe the sound of American English, as opposed to English English, much the same, as though we have no inflection in our voice whatsoever. I usually inform my German friends that it is for the same reason that they talk funny, they have no idea where to put the accent.
Thank you for commenting on the post, it is one of which I am very proud but I am curious to know how you ran across it eight months after the fact?
