Why some Asian accents swap Ls and Rs in English

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  • Опубликовано: 22 дек 2024

Комментарии • 9 тыс.

  • @quitevice
    @quitevice 5 лет назад +15327

    And don't laugh at people with accents. Accents means that the person knows more than one language.

    • @ZagdArts
      @ZagdArts 5 лет назад +1043

      what no it doesnt. americans have american accents, english people have english accents.

    • @mjr2451
      @mjr2451 5 лет назад +452

      Don’t laugh at anything.

    • @bratzlover501
      @bratzlover501 5 лет назад +220

      @MJR well i just laughed at ur comment HA

    • @eugeniovincenzo1621
      @eugeniovincenzo1621 5 лет назад +61

      Yes you can laugh at them...it means they are too lazy to study first week of pronunciation when learning a foreign language...Edited

    • @IsaiahAudelo2442
      @IsaiahAudelo2442 5 лет назад +535

      Eugenio Vincenzo ok boomer

  • @hal8563
    @hal8563 4 года назад +3699

    I’m Japanese. When I was a high school student, I practiced English L and R sounds hard because I wanted to sing Carly Rae Jepsen’s ”I really like you.” I mastered them at last!

  • @quotesandstuf
    @quotesandstuf 4 года назад +2804

    "Two Americans who are sad in japan" The best summery for a film I ever heard.

    • @DaniSC_l1
      @DaniSC_l1 3 года назад +17

      and cant talk to them

    • @charliemilroy6497
      @charliemilroy6497 3 года назад +34

      Most overrated movie ever

    • @david2869
      @david2869 2 года назад +6

      I much prefer springy films, myself

    • @bannanafruitsalad
      @bannanafruitsalad 2 года назад +15

      @@charliemilroy6497 hard disagree, it's very of the time and white-centric, but the characters are so well developed. Hits hard with that in mind imho

    • @sromnorba
      @sromnorba 2 года назад +9

      @@bannanafruitsalad I think we have a hard time keeping these things in context. We're all so quick to discredit everything with new information and then retroactively apply it. Especially when we're calling it out almost 20 years after the production.

  • @bernardoguimaraes7992
    @bernardoguimaraes7992 3 года назад +68

    This was one of the best videos I've ever seen. Empowering accents, understanding language, the whole package without losing the entertainment of the video. Great job! We should embrace whenever someone is talking in our language, even more so if they are struggling to do that!

    • @CedricThePlaystation
      @CedricThePlaystation 3 года назад +5

      If anything, I find accents to be quite unique and charming.

  • @initialdluvr
    @initialdluvr 5 лет назад +1309

    As a Korean-American, those Chinese tones is like entering the fourth dimension.

    • @DaigoParry
      @DaigoParry 5 лет назад +78

      But for every Asian, those gutteral German, Dutch tones for Rs. Maybe even Arabic.
      Khrrrr. Completely nonexistent. That is fourth dimension for me.

    • @EchoHeo
      @EchoHeo 5 лет назад +27

      @@DaigoParry those arent "tones"

    • @Timothee_Chalamet_CMBYN
      @Timothee_Chalamet_CMBYN 5 лет назад +11

      12x12surface every Asian, speak for yourself. Thailand has lots of R’s, even rolling R’s

    • @eyes0nyu
      @eyes0nyu 5 лет назад +32

      @@DaigoParry Not applicable to Indonesia or the Philippines, at least. Lots of rolling Rs in both languages.

    • @filipinojalapeno1527
      @filipinojalapeno1527 5 лет назад +3

      @@eyes0nyu ok but the german/dutch/french r sounds like the letter g but trilled

  • @yiqiwang4506
    @yiqiwang4506 5 лет назад +1601

    Please let her produce more videos. One of the best, if not the best producer at Vox.

  • @NateandNoahTryLife
    @NateandNoahTryLife 5 лет назад +1427

    This is a great video Joss! It’d be cool to see more linguistic videos.

    • @ahmadsheikhali6177
      @ahmadsheikhali6177 5 лет назад +6

      posted 40 mins ago; commented 35 mins ago; video 9 mins long. watch the video first then decide on whether it's a great video or not- VOX

    • @marselvitti
      @marselvitti 5 лет назад

      This video is so racist

    • @Craznar
      @Craznar 5 лет назад +11

      @@ahmadsheikhali6177 wanting a particular genre of content can be determined at the start, I too want more linguistics videos because I think they are great.

    • @franciscoacevedo3036
      @franciscoacevedo3036 5 лет назад

      Now lets discuss why south asians mix up their Rs and Ds

    • @prim16
      @prim16 5 лет назад +3

      As a graduating student in Linguistics, this video put me in such a good mood.

  • @Preposter
    @Preposter 3 года назад +20

    I started speaking English and Korean around the same time and learned both at the same pace.
    I always knew about this but the video took it to a whole new level. Good job.

  • @RX1986
    @RX1986 5 лет назад +4152

    Finally a non-judgmental way of learning from other cultures, by not treating differences as weaknesses!

    • @fastdollar1
      @fastdollar1 5 лет назад +45

      @IamMe Literally no one thinks that way though, so...

    • @grubbybum3614
      @grubbybum3614 5 лет назад +17

      Tbh, Mike Tyson can't even pronounce English words correctly. He's a meme here too.

    • @ShredST
      @ShredST 5 лет назад +1

      @IamMe lol you managed to make it about you. congratz. "they are not better than me!" okay. nobody said they were.

    • @pepepepe5710
      @pepepepe5710 5 лет назад +5

      U rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr extremely RIGHT...ask me! Am from Cuba and this video is so identical of what I went through 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I used to say 3 instead of three, Banessa instead of Vanessa and the list goes on and on and on,,😂😂😂😂😂

    • @havenmirabella3003
      @havenmirabella3003 5 лет назад +1

      PePe Pepe How is 3 any different than three?

  • @lilyraimey3499
    @lilyraimey3499 5 лет назад +3977

    What a progressive video. Not condescending, or judgmental- purely educational.

    • @randonlando418
      @randonlando418 5 лет назад +58

      Ty Thomas Boxing Training what

    • @Shawsh2143
      @Shawsh2143 5 лет назад +61

      Shes very condescending and shes judging the movie makers heavily.

    • @webdevsam
      @webdevsam 5 лет назад +1

      who cares? herro ho arrre yooo u?

    • @error.418
      @error.418 5 лет назад +107

      @Ty Thomas Boxing Training She's not condescending.

    • @PragmaticDany
      @PragmaticDany 5 лет назад +19

      She judged and gave her political opinion on a racial situation within a movie, so yeah, she was condescending.

  • @johnmacasinag3996
    @johnmacasinag3996 5 лет назад +4517

    Accent is just your language with the rules of their language. -Trevor Noah 2018

    • @rikkowastaken
      @rikkowastaken 5 лет назад +21

      Boi

    • @krystalphan8871
      @krystalphan8871 5 лет назад +2

      cool

    • @colin3674
      @colin3674 5 лет назад +3

      Chuck Fina 🤣

    • @烏梨師斂
      @烏梨師斂 5 лет назад +138

      I thought he said:
      "accent is speaking a foreign language with the rules of your own language"

    • @xensonar9652
      @xensonar9652 5 лет назад +19

      @@烏梨師斂 Same difference.

  • @samplesample7178
    @samplesample7178 2 года назад +165

    I have the biggest trouble in English with s and z. My native dialect of German does not distinguish them, we only have s, and it's really difficult sometimes to pronounce the z for me.

    • @amayafarki
      @amayafarki 2 года назад +5

      What dialect do you speak I am more able to speak in Schwäbisch

    • @petersmith2040
      @petersmith2040 Год назад +2

      One psychopathic German comm1e have been telling the world “You will eat ze bugs.”

    • @mariustan9275
      @mariustan9275 Год назад

      I don't think anybody cares if you speak English with a few more z's than normal. At most they'll think it's funny but I think thats it.

    • @randybugger3006
      @randybugger3006 Год назад +2

      I might look at you funny when, after you have petted my cat, you say in German accented English, "your cat is fussy!" Meanwhile, I'm thinking, no, he's quite calm!
      I think the French have the tick of sticking Zs in where Th should be. Of course, English speakers are fairly familiar with both German and French accented English, so it's not hard for us to understand.

    • @MaskedBishop
      @MaskedBishop Год назад +1

      Indeed. I'm 36 now, German as well and only learned last year by coincidence that "price" and "prize" are supposed to be pronounced differently. 😅

  • @CH-vr2dl
    @CH-vr2dl 4 года назад +16192

    americans mocking asian's capability to learn other language is like laughing at themselves for knowing only one.

    • @primodei
      @primodei 4 года назад +1175

      Ah yes, imagine being a monolingual

    • @wasserruebenvergilbungsvirus
      @wasserruebenvergilbungsvirus 4 года назад +189

      @@primodei Kann man sich kaum vorstellen

    • @madrain3941
      @madrain3941 4 года назад +18

      i died

    • @zackiechan2601
      @zackiechan2601 4 года назад +198

      Most Americans are very lucky to know English as a first language, but we don't really have any use for a second language, English is enough to get by pretty much anywhere on earth.

    • @madrain3941
      @madrain3941 4 года назад +1171

      @@zackiechan2601 just shows you really know nothing about the world...

  • @GlassFoxGear
    @GlassFoxGear 5 лет назад +2547

    I was smugly cruising through the video until I got wrecked by the tones at the end

    • @jenpenn22
      @jenpenn22 5 лет назад +97

      Riiight? My eyes were literally like ○.○

    • @gregoryanto3673
      @gregoryanto3673 5 лет назад +10

      Haha me too.

    • @angelgjr1999
      @angelgjr1999 5 лет назад +66

      I want to learn an Asain language. But it’s too difficult for us who speak Romance language. :(

    • @nathanf300
      @nathanf300 5 лет назад +1

      Lol same

    • @martinodonnell7096
      @martinodonnell7096 5 лет назад +155

      My tone work is not that great but most Chinese people can understand your meaning based on the context of the situation if you don't strike the correct tone. For example, if your ma (the word used to mean you're asking a question) comes at the end of your sentence, even if you say ma (horse) they will probably understand that you are asking for their name and not telling them that their name is horse. :-)

  • @Eggmancan
    @Eggmancan 5 лет назад +363

    This was great, and I'd like more linguistics videos. Could you do one on tones? The Chinese tones here are presented without explanation, but I wish someone could break down exactly what Chinese speakers do with their voice the way you broke down how the different r and l sounds are made in the mouth.

    • @LoserBroProductions
      @LoserBroProductions 5 лет назад

      m YESSS!

    • @Ravie1
      @Ravie1 5 лет назад

      @@LoserBroProductions They are tones, the changes are made in your voice box not your mouth.... I think.

    • @miniguyw
      @miniguyw 5 лет назад +15

      As a person with Chinese parents and with Chinese as a second language, I'd say the tones are mainly about the voice box, not the mouth. There are four, technically five tones, which change how you say it. The first one, a straight line, makes you pronounce the character in a "flat" way. The second tone, the one that looks like a forward slash, makes you raise your pitch at the end like it's a question. The fourth tone, the one that looks like a backslash, makes you say the word with force and sort of fast. The third tone, a "V" shaped one, sort of combines the fourth and second ones. The fifth tone, is a lack of a tone on the pinyin, resembles the first tone, but it's slightly different in a way i can't really explain. Sometimes, the pronunciation of the vowels themselves change with the tone change.

    • @LoserBroProductions
      @LoserBroProductions 5 лет назад

      Ravie i know what tones are

    • @HomingFung
      @HomingFung 5 лет назад +11

      FYI "Chinese" is not a singular language. The official language Mandarin are spoken very differently in different area in China. Southern Chinese languages have more tones than the Northern Language (eg. 9 tones in Cantonese vs just 4 in Mandarin). Many regional languages or dialect are even mutually unintelligible, even though they can all be written in the same word. The South languages have actually retained tones and vocabularies found in ancient writings, songs and poems that are otherwise not used in Mandarin.

  • @domonicsdaniel4497
    @domonicsdaniel4497 Год назад +6

    For that English R, as a Hungarian, I can assure you, we all struggle with it even if our language has a distinction between L-R, since that specific R is not within our consonant inventory at all. In fact, most indo-european and some Asian langauges wither only have trilled or flapped R's, but that "slurred" English R is very rarely present. I have a friend who has a speech impediment in that he cannot roll his R's, but slurs them, this is why he was able to "learn " to pronounce this variant, and he always joked with "I didn't even have to learn the sound, I just spoke normally" XD

  • @isaacmijangos
    @isaacmijangos 5 лет назад +4471

    can we please have more of this reporter ?! please

    • @ItomanuId
      @ItomanuId 5 лет назад +16

      swegsweg yes yes yes

    • @letbygonesbebygones4266
      @letbygonesbebygones4266 5 лет назад +58

      She's as pretty as maggie q

    • @TheAseanPrince
      @TheAseanPrince 5 лет назад +26

      @@letbygonesbebygones4266 yes, you are right and Joss Fong is equally as stunning as Gemma Chan~

    • @pititbossou
      @pititbossou 5 лет назад +53

      She has a subtle beauty

    • @pititbossou
      @pititbossou 5 лет назад +43

      @Boxing Bro was that meant to be an insult?

  • @thatszion9234
    @thatszion9234 5 лет назад +570

    I've never been more confused with the sound 'Ma' in my life.

    • @ZhangtheGreat
      @ZhangtheGreat 5 лет назад +45

      If you're unfamiliar with tonal languages, you really have to concentrate to hear the tone differences. Even those of us who speak a tonal language can get confused when listening to another tonal language.

    • @randomco.9349
      @randomco.9349 4 года назад +23

      I think it's a lot easier to understand tones when you know what they are, though. Tones are just a change in pitch. In Mandarin, tones either are high, go from low to high, go from high(ish) to low then to high again, or go from high to low. Listen for the pitch, and you might be able to distinguish them.

    • @sarielle85
      @sarielle85 4 года назад +14

      I already knew the different mas from university studying linguistics and so I encoutered first in written form, before actually hearing them. I'm a completely unmusical person and neither can I imagine what eg a "falling-rising" tone actually sounds like nor can say that a tone is falling-rising when I hear it. But there is a difference between the mas that usually Westerners unbeknownst of tonal languages will notice. It is a lot easier to dinguish the Mandarin sounds if you connect then not with abstract pitch changes, but with emotions or communicative intents. For me they are like
      normal 'ma'
      ma? (I guess that's the easiest)
      grumpy 'ma'
      shrugging/that's it 'ma'

    • @ilikedota5
      @ilikedota5 4 года назад

      @@randomco.9349 its the 3rd one that is the hardest imo. Because the second and fourth tones, (rising and falling) are both given the same large degree of pitch change

    • @nuanil
      @nuanil 4 года назад

      @@randomco.9349 Have to wonder how many Chinese people are tone deaf....

  • @TommoCarroll
    @TommoCarroll 5 лет назад +298

    Oh man! That new Observatory intro is sweet! Who knew that R's could be so interesting!? The whole idea with telling people what shape to make with their tongue is kind of like trying to describe a colour...kind of!

    • @likebot.
      @likebot. 5 лет назад +3

      @Ahmad Ali I'll tell you what, I'll give you a _like_ now go bounce a ball somewhere. (34 minutes in and you're trolling smh).

    • @Vox
      @Vox  5 лет назад +4

      yesss! The new Observatory intro was made by our team's wonderful art director Dion Lee (also featured in this video!). She's the best 🤘

    • @TommoCarroll
      @TommoCarroll 5 лет назад

      @@Vox That Dion can't be stopped! Sooo good! (plus she was great within the episode too!) 🙌

    • @TommoCarroll
      @TommoCarroll 5 лет назад

      @Justin O'Brien more fun than a pub crawl? That's some pretty bold claims right there Justin! I'll check them out! Thanks a lot bud :)

  • @joeljentelson3810
    @joeljentelson3810 4 года назад +11

    Excellent video! It explains a question I've been asking for decades. I love foreign languages and accents. I want to know why it is so hard for me to pronounce words using other accents. The fact that it takes up to 5 years to understand the difference between W and R makes me wish I was exposed to more languages as a kid. I hope more videos like this one come up in my feed.

  • @EddVCR
    @EddVCR 4 года назад +1293

    THANK YOU for producing this video!
    I grew up as a Japanese immigrant in a small town in Midwest, and bullies and ignorant people alike “imitating” my family and me by speaking with l’s and r’s mixed up really got on my nerves.
    I’ve also been told by friends who would watch movies like “Lost in Translation” and tell me that it’s so hilarious, I HAVE to watch it. They don’t get how the bullying hurt me so badly when I was growing up as the only nonwhite kid in town.

    • @OrlyYahalom
      @OrlyYahalom 4 года назад +56

      Sorry to hear :(
      Thank you for sharing

    • @kyu-1004
      @kyu-1004 4 года назад +30

      @agg kos what were the facts here??

    • @FronkieTheSaltyRat
      @FronkieTheSaltyRat 4 года назад +20

      Same, dude. It's a struggle but you're not alone!

    • @EddVCR
      @EddVCR 4 года назад +14

      @Bexx Chin Thanks, man! That means a lot to me.

    • @OzCroc
      @OzCroc 4 года назад +6

      @k a What does this have anything to do with what they said?

  • @adireloaded
    @adireloaded 5 лет назад +560

    Joss Fong's videos are literally some of the best, informative and interesting ones on this channel !

    • @JackTristao
      @JackTristao 5 лет назад +21

      And she's gorgeous 😁😊

    • @daemonace5910
      @daemonace5910 5 лет назад +4

      When I see her face as I scroll my feed.
      "Yes, you(video)"

    • @franciscoacevedo3036
      @franciscoacevedo3036 5 лет назад +2

      Now lets discuss why south asians mix up their Rs and Ds

    • @just4fun607
      @just4fun607 5 лет назад

      i've never learned anyway

    • @nrghd8890
      @nrghd8890 5 лет назад

      that's big bs.....

  • @meezookee8491
    @meezookee8491 5 лет назад +1331

    As a Japanese speaker, the hardest English word to pronounce is: parallel.
    French and German "R" is harder though.
    Edit: I am surprised that so many reactions there are! And it reminded me again that I should not be having fear of bad pronounciation, but should speak with courage. Thank you guys, and Vox!

    • @QuantumEcho7
      @QuantumEcho7 5 лет назад +108

      But have you tried to say ‘Parallelogram”?

    • @meezookee8491
      @meezookee8491 5 лет назад +23

      @@QuantumEcho7 That is indeed difficult one that has an extra R, but has no "dark L" sounds, which I cannot manage even if I try to pronounce them so slowly :)

    • @QuantumEcho7
      @QuantumEcho7 5 лет назад +10

      Mizuki Hagimoto You know, something I noticed in this video is how they refer to ‘fur’ pronouncing the R in particular - but the two people discussing that are American and Scottish, they would lol - as for an RP accent, the R is often glossed over in a dark sense, and is probably harder for you to pronounce in a similar way? “Fur” not “Ferrr” lol

    • @meezookee8491
      @meezookee8491 5 лет назад +5

      @@QuantumEcho7 Ah, dialects make problem complicated and funny:) For me, "fur" isn't so hard to just pronounce because Japanese has no similar sound (I find it completely different from L or R). Of course I often don't get which sound I should pronounce though.

    • @tavdy79
      @tavdy79 5 лет назад +9

      An easy trick with dark L's: pronounce them as W's. That's how they're pronounced across much of England, and if anyone protests you can just point out that they're claiming the English don't know how to pronounce English ;-)

  • @Snow-ej5fm
    @Snow-ej5fm 3 года назад +1

    this always shows up in my recommendations and i’ve never failed to ignore it. this video’s just too good

  • @ArchOfWinter
    @ArchOfWinter 5 лет назад +257

    When I was younger, I used to get really confused by the Ra Ra Ra jokes directed at Chinese. I speak Cantonese natively and we freaking put 'la' after every other sentence.

    • @kurosujiomake
      @kurosujiomake 5 лет назад +19

      Huh and I thought it was only Singaporeans and filipinos that keep adding la after everything. Guess it was a canto trait

    • @jlhabitan50
      @jlhabitan50 5 лет назад +6

      @@kurosujiomake Filipinos don't add "la" after ever sentence. Just "eh", and "ah". Also depends on the native language we're speaking and the locality.

    • @Robinsekto
      @Robinsekto 5 лет назад +5

      @@jlhabitan50@kurosuijomake we also use 'na' but unlike eh and ah, it gives meaning, depending on context. It may mean time, emotion, etc

    • @pp20001148
      @pp20001148 5 лет назад

      Exactly! We MERE more than LA! (Just joking:-D)

    • @grubbybum3614
      @grubbybum3614 5 лет назад +1

      Because it came from the Japanese. The Chinese meme is "it cost 2 dollar!!!".

  • @frang340
    @frang340 5 лет назад +14386

    Hardest American English phrase to pronounce is affordable healthcare.

    • @mark-ish
      @mark-ish 5 лет назад +434

      No it ain't.
      "Obamacare"
      Easy 😁

    • @jaojao1768
      @jaojao1768 5 лет назад +93

      Lol I really like the poem Kubla Khan but I couldn't pronounce "ceaseless turmoil seething" correctly for my life

    • @christreloadedrevengeofthe7778
      @christreloadedrevengeofthe7778 5 лет назад +94

      That joke is funnier than aids

    • @AlexisMaria
      @AlexisMaria 5 лет назад +3

      lmao

    • @yikyang3423
      @yikyang3423 5 лет назад +79

      Wait I actually read it out loud in front of computer, then I realize what you did there... haha

  • @fredricknietzsche7316
    @fredricknietzsche7316 5 лет назад +279

    I want to see more of Joss Fong!
    oh and great ear rings!

  • @szc13
    @szc13 4 года назад +2333

    As a person who speaks both english and mandarin, trust me it's way funnier hearing native english speakers speak madarin than the other way around

    • @miatazi
      @miatazi 4 года назад +76

      at least they try....

    • @billyma6
      @billyma6 4 года назад +17

      Oh absolutely

    • @katherineheasley6196
      @katherineheasley6196 3 года назад +108

      I tried, I really did! So many sounds in Mandarin are unlike anything in English. Japanese was way simpler to speak so far as the phonetics are concerned.

    • @miguelvina7188
      @miguelvina7188 3 года назад +58

      i am more comfortable hearing a chinese speaking english than an american trying to speak my language xDDDDD

    • @erdniealinik
      @erdniealinik 3 года назад +11

      except the fact that no english speaker would bother learning chinese
      so while you got only handful of people to laugh at
      there are flooding chinese immigrants that americans can make fun of

  • @luuketaylor
    @luuketaylor 5 лет назад +665

    Happy to see ㄹ getting the attention it deserves!

    • @NICHOLSON7777
      @NICHOLSON7777 5 лет назад +8

      I've been learning Korean for a couple years now. I still mangle it.

    • @luuketaylor
      @luuketaylor 5 лет назад +8

      @@NICHOLSON7777 my friends say I'm fine with ㄹ at this point but I'm still a bit iffy on the double consonants. It's been 2 years and the struggle continues!

    • @JustinK0
      @JustinK0 5 лет назад +10

      i found Korean pronunciation to not be that difficult, I just do a lot of listening and practice.

    • @ellak1889
      @ellak1889 5 лет назад +7

      Ohh wowww it is so great to see people around the world learning Korean..I’m Korean and I’m proud of it thanks to you💜 Lov y’all 🎉🎉

    • @roytzhao
      @roytzhao 5 лет назад +7

      I feel as if the reason she messed up on Rieul is the "eu" (으) part.

  • @ngflycloud
    @ngflycloud 5 лет назад +1138

    I am a Chinese in obsession with Irish accent, talk about hopeless love.

    • @JamesRJKR
      @JamesRJKR 5 лет назад +43

      ngflycloud have fun! I’m Canadian and I have no idea what they say sometimes with out subtitles

    • @miaumiau679
      @miaumiau679 5 лет назад +22

      obsessed with* not in obsession

    • @noralasiah5623
      @noralasiah5623 5 лет назад +17

      I am a Malay in obsession with a British accent, talk about hopeless love.

    • @hualunshi6849
      @hualunshi6849 5 лет назад

      ngflycloud hhhhhhjhhhj made my day

    • @mischievousgoblin4727
      @mischievousgoblin4727 5 лет назад +10

      There's a Chinese man who works near my house with a perfect Dublin accent, a Dublin accent maybe isn't as cute as a more Hollywood 'Irish accent' - but with time anyone will develop the accent.

  • @kevintang9913
    @kevintang9913 4 года назад +204

    Replacing "r" with "l" is actually most common in the southern part of China.
    But replacing "th" with "s", that's the most common mistake we make

    • @samplesample7178
      @samplesample7178 2 года назад +8

      oh we also replace the th with an s in German.

    • @craazyy1
      @craazyy1 Год назад +11

      @@samplesample7178 haha, I think us norwegians tend to replace them with T or D instead

    • @cmolodiets
      @cmolodiets Год назад +3

      no other country can pronounce th like the english. It's a sound that requires that you splutter

    • @Esquelan
      @Esquelan Год назад +2

      @@cmolodiets Even England itself…When I arrived at London,someone said Fank you to me 😂

    • @Esquelan
      @Esquelan Год назад

      They actually want to say thank you lol

  • @Adamr1337
    @Adamr1337 5 лет назад +101

    Wow! As a phonetician, I was really impressed with this video! Very well made and well researched

    • @PuzzleMessage
      @PuzzleMessage 5 лет назад +1

      What kind of job is that? :)

    • @mistersquirrel0
      @mistersquirrel0 5 лет назад

      PuzzleMessage a doctor or a congressman?

    • @NathanNGM
      @NathanNGM 5 лет назад

      "People from Phoenix are called Phoenicians" ~Louis C.K.

  • @hereinmyRedJar
    @hereinmyRedJar 5 лет назад +378

    Lost in Translation (2003): Two Americans are sad in Japan.

    • @SidV101
      @SidV101 5 лет назад +13

      So succinct and so accurate xD

    • @billyhuang6648
      @billyhuang6648 5 лет назад +1

      Lmao

    • @billyhuang6648
      @billyhuang6648 5 лет назад +13

      look me a famous movie star who should be doing theater but im doing whiskey commercials for millions of dollars I'm sad

    • @rainmaker5910
      @rainmaker5910 5 лет назад +28

      “sad in japan” sounds like a lofi hip hop mix

    • @1gorSouz4
      @1gorSouz4 5 лет назад +5

      And yet i loved watching that movie

  • @JOHNY0
    @JOHNY0 5 лет назад +56

    Happy to see Joss is doing videos again, she usually does some of the best content on this channel

  • @reigee2869
    @reigee2869 3 года назад +33

    I’m teaching English in Japan and this always throws me off. I can speak Spanish and English (the kids go wild when I speak in Spanish and roll my Rs), but I don’t see how R and L are similar, so I never know how to explain the difference to my students. It just came up recently too when we were teaching our third graders the English alphabet. I wrote my name (which has an L and an R) and the first question we got almost immediately was from a kid who asked why two different letters were being used to represent the same sound and why I wasn’t using an R in both places. It broke my brain because I don’t see how the sound is similar at all. Even his teacher didn’t know what to say (she’s fluent in English) and she just dismissed it and told him it was advanced English and he would learn about it later.

    • @a64738
      @a64738 7 месяцев назад +1

      Here we roll the R letter and thinking L and R is same letter seems absurd lol ;) But it explains a lot why Japanese and similar is so bad at speaking English and specially the Japanese keep inserting R where there is non....

  • @tokm5555
    @tokm5555 4 года назад +3124

    Filipinos and Indonesians: **laughs in trilled R's**

    • @Hypie582
      @Hypie582 4 года назад +126

      @@senazumi3472 spanish in general.

    • @anorexorcist4472
      @anorexorcist4472 4 года назад +136

      English language in Indonesian: Bahasa InggRis

    • @raushanaljufri
      @raushanaljufri 4 года назад +244

      @@anorexorcist4472 funnily enough, the Indonesian word 'Inggris' (meaning England) was a loanword from Japanese, which is why there is an 'r' where 'L' should be. This happened during the japanese occupation of Indonesia during 1942-1945. Before the occupation, some Indonesian texts used the word 'Inglandia' instead of 'Inggris' to call the English/British (yes, indonesian does not make a distinction between those two things). That's why Indonesians call england 'Inggris' despite the fact that Indonesian distinguishes between L and R quite easily.

    • @iqbalmuhammad2920
      @iqbalmuhammad2920 4 года назад +52

      Northern Malaysia Malays: spit out all standard r, Rolled r & Guttural R

    • @tokm5555
      @tokm5555 4 года назад +61

      @@iqbalmuhammad2920 Well most Austronesian languages do have trilled R's

  • @ferociousbiscuit
    @ferociousbiscuit 5 лет назад +619

    The part at 7:36 just blows my mind. I can't even begin to hear the difference.

    • @poikakrichiey6063
      @poikakrichiey6063 5 лет назад +20

      I can. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    • @Jason06245
      @Jason06245 5 лет назад +11

      im taiwanese and the way those chinese pronounce is very inaccurate, they totally pronounce characters wrong
      some people from PRC dont really have good education and Vox put them into the video just because they're native speakers? what a joke !
      for instance 7:38 靚 零 嶺 she pronounces those all wrong !

    • @levynguyen572
      @levynguyen572 5 лет назад +26

      It's the tone like when you go upwards, higher if it's a question (/)and down when you end a sentence (\). For example No? No. you would say those same words differently. Only in Chinese or Vietnamese too (I'm Vietnamese) the tone would make another word even if it is spelt with the same letters but then again it still wouldn't be the same word because in Vietnamese you write the tone accents (è,é) and you must not forget them because they're essential for understanding

    • @mahathirmukti6695
      @mahathirmukti6695 5 лет назад +9

      I learnt Chinese language when i was small, its hard to learn and distinguish that sound. As i communicate with my friend informally, they dont seem really care. As long as they understand the sentence and context.

    • @andrewc3430
      @andrewc3430 5 лет назад +69

      @@Jason06245 I'm admittedly not an expert, but it sounds like you're expecting Mandarin when she's giving Cantonese examples.

  • @spivel6742
    @spivel6742 5 лет назад +2067

    When you're English and don't even pronounce the r at the end of words
    -_-

    • @Schocam
      @Schocam 5 лет назад +43

      Let's say the word smart. English is just smart. American is you have to roll the r. Try it now.

    • @YokoshimaSTAR
      @YokoshimaSTAR 5 лет назад +53

      Bacon on the BaAbie.

    • @optillian4182
      @optillian4182 5 лет назад +43

      @@YokoshimaSTAR *_C R I K E Y_*

    • @another90daystochangethis34
      @another90daystochangethis34 5 лет назад +22

      But add an invisible R at the end of a word with a vowel with a following word beginning with a vowel.

    • @nelsonta00
      @nelsonta00 5 лет назад +42

      Most people in US choose to pronounce 'd' over 't' just for the sake of flow. Its usually the Brits that bite their "t's" sharply.

  • @nzarthal
    @nzarthal 4 года назад +36

    When I studied Cantonese, I learned tones as how much air you breathe out.

  • @samiikai
    @samiikai 5 лет назад +821

    After taking a year of linguistics courses, a vox video explains laterals and flaps better than my professors 😂😂😂

    • @xaisthoj
      @xaisthoj 5 лет назад +11

      Joss is good, she's real good; even with the science and engineering topics. What isn't she good at?

    • @TeutaTheQueen
      @TeutaTheQueen 5 лет назад +2

      same here, there are great YT videos on linguistics (e.g. on variants of English, the linking /r/ etc.)

    • @theloniousm4337
      @theloniousm4337 5 лет назад +9

      Joss is good but you must have had some seriously bad professors or you were in the wrong class.

    • @samiikai
      @samiikai 5 лет назад +5

      Thelonious M it’s more due to the fact that I seriously hate phonetics (no shade to anyone that enjoys phonetics but it’s just not for me)

    • @UnicornsPoopRainbows
      @UnicornsPoopRainbows 5 лет назад

      So true!

  • @johnpiers2786
    @johnpiers2786 4 года назад +7447

    So in conclusion,it is ironic that English speakers laugh at people who make a lot of effort to learn other languages while they themselves cant complete one Chinese phrase.

    • @EddVCR
      @EddVCR 4 года назад +30

      That part!!

    • @leonesperanza3672
      @leonesperanza3672 4 года назад +141

      They don't need too. While the rest of the world is forced to learn english

    • @_skzstay1264
      @_skzstay1264 4 года назад +240

      You know why some English speakers don't learn other languages? Cause apparently, Wi-fi *IS* breakable

    • @UTU49
      @UTU49 4 года назад +253

      Many Americans probably can't say a single sentence in ANY other language. Much of the rest of the world speaks 2 languages or more.
      This is similar to the Americans interviewed in the street who can not identify a single country on a map of the world. Not even the United States.

    • @jeremyjensonchoong4534
      @jeremyjensonchoong4534 4 года назад +22

      Ah, 终于有人开口了哈哈。

  • @bethswann8289
    @bethswann8289 5 лет назад +216

    Plz make more videos about languages because this one was amazing

  • @바나나-x5h
    @바나나-x5h 4 года назад +59

    Me, Korean, having difficulty in distinguishing L at last.
    Furry Tail vs Fairy Tale
    Word vs World
    It sounds kinda hilarious, but im sooo serious...

    • @rjfaber1991
      @rjfaber1991 3 года назад

      I believe the variety of English taught in Korean schools is American English, isn't it? That certainly doesn't make it any easier to pronounce 'world', because you actually have to pronounce both the R and the L, which non-Rhotic varieties like British or Australian English don't do; they only pronounce the L in 'world'.

    • @tsunetasora
      @tsunetasora 3 года назад

      6:05 저, 중국인, 받침 'ㄹ' sounds more like English 'r' to me while ㄹ in the beginning of a word sounds closer to English 'l'

    • @aguwokie6421
      @aguwokie6421 3 года назад

      banana

    • @oddzzyy5649
      @oddzzyy5649 4 месяца назад

      and me: fairy tail !

  • @yaboirairai
    @yaboirairai 5 лет назад +722

    Omg the “WIFI IS UNBREAKABLE” meme is hilarious.

    • @samuelvavia8920
      @samuelvavia8920 5 лет назад +11

      Rai Butera Secret sequel to Diamond is Unbreakable
      BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN

    • @jasonharvote4093
      @jasonharvote4093 5 лет назад +1

      First time i heard that its hilarious now that i knew the error.

    • @sombradude2725
      @sombradude2725 5 лет назад +7

      @@samuelvavia8920 「KILLER QUEEN」 DAISAN NO BAKUDAN「BITES ZA DUSTO」

    • @Jakepearl13
      @Jakepearl13 5 месяцев назад

      It’s so hilarious that I’ve adopted it as an in-joke

  • @JLee-xl4dt
    @JLee-xl4dt 5 лет назад +650

    I am so happy that people are still care about Cantonese.

    • @wangruochuan
      @wangruochuan 5 лет назад +20

      what do you mean still care bout Cantonese? c'mon man, we mainland chinese needs it to survival in chinatown in canada and murica. also Cantonese songs are great!

    • @JLee-xl4dt
      @JLee-xl4dt 5 лет назад +71

      @@wangruochuan because the Chinese government keep suppressing Cantonese in China… 😥 you can search it in Google, it's a real thing.

    • @wangruochuan
      @wangruochuan 5 лет назад +3

      @@JLee-xl4dt Im not going to start a fight here with you but here is a thing, do you really trust media information that comes from a .com?
      not saying the government wasnt forcing the mandarin but the first few search result are some of those sketchy web that trying to poke around for attention

    • @JLee-xl4dt
      @JLee-xl4dt 5 лет назад +56

      well I am living in Hong Kong, I trust what I see.

    • @wangruochuan
      @wangruochuan 5 лет назад +3

      @@JLee-xl4dt you see what your government wants you to see (vice versa). your media is filtered thru google.com.HK
      not saying HK media is bad, Im on neither side. I have a lot of HK friends here in US. most of them admit that people in HK are quite obnoxious about mainland chinese goverment. and thats one way to grafting your domestic depressions to a imaginary enemy. in this case, not imaginary, the evil guys in Beijing. I dont like chinese government as well. But hey, we dont have a choice, aint we?
      I never worried about the suppressing Cantonese thing at all and never will be. As a HongKong local, you should know that Cantonese is not just a language, its a big fat bag of culture that roots deep in hundreds of millions of people. you really think this class of government can take away your dim sum or washing your cup and bowls with fresh tea in front of surprised non-locals? or change everything you do as a cool Cantonese? you can read some history. the whole Chinese history is about some outside power came in tryna assimilate us but got bent around. they all became one of us....
      I really hate talking about politics. and please forgive my trashy english. French is not my first language

  • @karimshebeika8010
    @karimshebeika8010 5 лет назад +292

    I didnt even know the dark L existed. Just upgraded my English!

    • @nanamacapagal8342
      @nanamacapagal8342 4 года назад +4

      Maybe because I don't pronounce it at all

    • @Matty002
      @Matty002 4 года назад +5

      she also just barely forgot to mention that not all english speakers have dark L, and that some speakers have NO light L, just dark L's

    • @imhungry9110
      @imhungry9110 4 года назад

      @@Matty002 Light and L, why does this sound like a Death Note joke?

    • @MSTURF
      @MSTURF 4 года назад +1

      The dark L is really hard to notice for me

  • @whatthehell469
    @whatthehell469 2 года назад +3

    this video is really educating me!

  • @DreamRealityMix
    @DreamRealityMix 5 лет назад +1388

    This video needs to go to the top so Hollywood stop misconstruing Asian Accents
    But... that's okay because my wifi is unbreakable.

    • @Half_Finis
      @Half_Finis 5 лет назад +1

      SUUUUUUUUUCKKKERRRRR
      haha

    • @jacobdanz2492
      @jacobdanz2492 5 лет назад +7

      WiFi Butt Poe

    • @TheIllegalGuy
      @TheIllegalGuy 5 лет назад

      Your wifi may be unbreakable but how easy is it to break the freeman's mind?

    • @grubbybum3614
      @grubbybum3614 5 лет назад +2

      They do speak that way tho.

    • @DreamRealityMix
      @DreamRealityMix 5 лет назад +12

      @@grubbybum3614
      have you not watch this video dawg

  • @gagandeepsingh7789
    @gagandeepsingh7789 5 лет назад +901

    When a New Zealand person calls Eminem "iminim" it just makes my day.
    Not related to this video but still... wanted to get my point across somehow

    • @TheNewGreenIsBlue
      @TheNewGreenIsBlue 4 года назад +9

      Get them to follow Eminem by Manama.

    • @sovietmarshmallow1283
      @sovietmarshmallow1283 4 года назад +37

      Can confirm: Am kiwi and tried saying this about twenty times and always said it as emenem or iminim.
      Edit!: I’ve made a breakthrough! Emmernim

    • @gibbsm
      @gibbsm 4 года назад +17

      I've known Iminim since we were sivin.

    • @gibbsm
      @gibbsm 4 года назад +6

      @@sovietmarshmallow1283 as a Yank, I can spot Kiwis from Ozzies, by "E-heavy" words.

    • @danielx40
      @danielx40 4 года назад +3

      Slim Shidy

  • @kelinsey
    @kelinsey 5 лет назад +468

    Let me put it simply as a Korean:
    라면(ramen) and 레몬(lemon) have 'ㄹ' at the beginning. The 'l' or 'r' sound in English is automatically converted into 'ㄹ' in Korean. (Well there is no sound in Korean that is equivalent to 'r' in English. So 'r' is converted into 'ㄹ' which sounds almost the same to 'l.')

    • @SomeRandomHobo44
      @SomeRandomHobo44 5 лет назад +26

      As an American with Korean immigrant parents, I can say with confidence Korean is a hard language.

    • @lelechim
      @lelechim 5 лет назад +13

      Is it "ramyun" or "lamyun" in Korean? I used to have a Korean friend who said "lamyun", which goes against the language rules of Korean.

    • @EchoHeo
      @EchoHeo 5 лет назад +10

      @@lelechim depends, id say its a free variation (both r and l are valid) since words that begin with ㄹs are relatively rare.

    • @milky_quartz
      @milky_quartz 5 лет назад +15

      reminds me of twice song "candy pop" where theres an english line saying "lemon mint chocolate" but they say "remon" for lemon when singing

    • @cam0987
      @cam0987 5 лет назад

      Ur English is quite good

  • @FayqHamdy
    @FayqHamdy 4 года назад +19

    I'm in love with Joss Fong

  • @alex0589
    @alex0589 5 лет назад +264

    To a non-native speaker, learning mandarin looks like learning to play the harp,
    backwards
    only through sign language
    in the dark
    with ear plugs in.

    • @amylee9
      @amylee9 5 лет назад +8

      Alex funny. But once you start to learn, you realize mandarin is easier than it seems

    • @aLwE17
      @aLwE17 5 лет назад +4

      clicking 'show more' for the "with ear plugs in" of your comment was totally worth it.

    • @ANTSEMUT1
      @ANTSEMUT1 4 года назад

      It gets a whole easier if you also learn the Mandarin phonetics system AKA hanyin pinying.

  • @2nd3rd1st
    @2nd3rd1st 5 лет назад +174

    This is the ultimate guide to this age old misunderstanding! Saved for future smartassery.

    • @ZhangtheGreat
      @ZhangtheGreat 5 лет назад

      Sadly, too many people will continue to be smartasses because it's simply easier to mock someone than understand them

  • @whereisamine
    @whereisamine 5 лет назад +88

    Omg Joss you're brilliant at teaching us linguistics! We need more of these!

  • @johnchessant3012
    @johnchessant3012 2 года назад +2

    This is so interesting, learning things about other languages from their accents when they speak English

  • @oledshwfgk3068
    @oledshwfgk3068 5 лет назад +85

    Old Chinese proverb - my wifi is unbreakable.

  • @heychrisfox
    @heychrisfox 5 лет назад +154

    AYYYY, it's my boy Yuta! :D

    • @flightgeekyuta
      @flightgeekyuta 5 лет назад +1

      heychrisfox my name is Yuta....

    • @wistful4684
      @wistful4684 5 лет назад

      Yuta bruh

    • @flightgeekyuta
      @flightgeekyuta 5 лет назад

      Aesthetic _Remi lol

    • @jaymor8442
      @jaymor8442 5 лет назад

      Read this comment right when he appeared

    • @RobinStarrTV
      @RobinStarrTV 5 лет назад

      Is that actually Yuta?? I thought it looked like him lol

  • @josephm.6453
    @josephm.6453 5 лет назад +1181

    You see joss fong in thumbnail you click

    • @sbellaharris
      @sbellaharris 5 лет назад +36

      But you can have a good face and make people forget about your good face with with you do. That's Joss.

    • @ZectonplaysMC
      @ZectonplaysMC 5 лет назад +17

      Too bad she works for the vox

    • @franciscoacevedo3036
      @franciscoacevedo3036 5 лет назад +1

      Now lets discuss why south asians mix up their Rs and Ds

    • @jyotiprakash3423
      @jyotiprakash3423 5 лет назад +35

      we need a vox video on what makes joss fong attractive

    • @TELEVISIBLE
      @TELEVISIBLE 5 лет назад +13

      She is the best !

  • @27haad
    @27haad Год назад +1

    I am late to the party but this was very well explained video. The visuals helped a lot. While I still don't fully comprehend, how languages evolved in different parts of the world is so fascinating. The first time I heard about the l/r swap, was that the lululemon founder intentionally named his brand with lot's of L's so it would be hard for folks from eastern asian to pronounce it. If you work or live in a space with a variety of accents somehow mind trains after a while to just understand without really crystallizing rules like mentioned here in the video.

  • @shybutopinionated1428
    @shybutopinionated1428 5 лет назад +711

    happy to see our beloved asian actress Scarlett Johansson being featured here in Vox 😆

    • @Antropovich
      @Antropovich 5 лет назад +5

      herro to you too!

    • @pussyeater69
      @pussyeater69 5 лет назад +4

      Yoooooooo LMAO

    • @paddyl.886
      @paddyl.886 5 лет назад +2

      Yunho Nam girl speak for yourself, I love my prius.

    • @LeandroFTW
      @LeandroFTW 5 лет назад

      Damn! 🤣

    • @fruitoson4227
      @fruitoson4227 5 лет назад +12

      she’s an inspiration to asian children everywhere 😔🤧🤧

  • @smithwill9006
    @smithwill9006 5 лет назад +767

    I remember when my Japanese uncle wants to play games, he said "let's pray" he recently changed religion so I thought he wanted me to teach him how to pray I was walking to get the equipment but then he has this confused look and I realized he meant play because he was holding a controller

    • @ghettomarc50
      @ghettomarc50 4 года назад +39

      What equipment do you need for prayer?

    • @matiaq2629
      @matiaq2629 4 года назад +29

      @@ghettomarc50 maybe he's Muslim

    • @ThoseWhiteWhales
      @ThoseWhiteWhales 4 года назад +60

      beaniebabie there are many religions that use equipment for ritual prayer

    • @SpectraVV
      @SpectraVV 4 года назад +2

      @@matiaq2629 but we don't use equipments to pray either :/

    • @matiaq2629
      @matiaq2629 4 года назад +47

      @@SpectraVV I'd say the prayer rug counts as equipment

  • @unreal-the-ethan
    @unreal-the-ethan 5 лет назад +914

    1:08
    This movie might be a bit...
    rrrrrr... -racist- *rude*

  • @m0n0x
    @m0n0x Год назад

    This was so fascinating, especially trying to mimic all the vocalisations; thank you so much!

  • @_marimopeace
    @_marimopeace 5 лет назад +159

    as an east asian girl who struggles with diction on a daily basis + a linguistics nerd i LOVE this video sm omg my tuesday has been made
    *edit:* also these graphics are so good!! much appreciation 😍

    • @yuenhai
      @yuenhai 5 лет назад +2

      When the listener has trouble understanding you, why do you automatically assume the problem is with your diction?
      If you speak English with a thick accent, then that's just how you speak English
      When an English/Russian man speaks with a thick Cockney/Russian accent, do you see them apologizing to the listener?
      Do you see any listener telling them they need to learn to speak better English?
      No, they just accept that's how they speak, because they are an English/Russian, and the listener just have to put in more effort if they want to understand what they are saying
      In fact some listener might even find their accent sexy or attractive
      So why is it OK when they speak with a thick accent, but when you, an East Asian girl, do the same, it becomes a problem?
      People who make fun of your accent or think that you need to learn to speak "better" English are just closeted racists, who are low-key hating on your origin
      If they can put in the effort to understand someone with a thick French/German/Italian/Russian/whatever accent, they can certainly put in the same effort to understand you
      Wake up girl

    • @grubbybum3614
      @grubbybum3614 5 лет назад +1

      @@yuenhai. Lol, shut up. That's how you improve linguistics.

    • @abdaias
      @abdaias 5 лет назад +1

      @@grubbybum3614 no shut up u

    • @yuenhai
      @yuenhai 5 лет назад +1

      @@grubbybum3614
      If someone cannot even string together a cohesive sentence that makes sense, for sure, I would say that person need to improve his or her command of the language
      But judging by the OP's post, you can tell that her command of the language is just fine, perhaps even better than most native English speakers
      What she seems to struggle with is the perception that her English does not "sound right"
      But Aussies, Brits, Americans, they all sound vastly different and easily distinguishable when speaking English - whose accent is "correct"?
      Obvious answer is none - they are all acceptable
      And you have other Europeans like the Italians, French, Germans, Russians, who often speak with heavy and very recognizable accents as well - and their accents are sometimes even portrayed as a desirable thing
      So why is it when an East Asian girl speaks with an East Asian accent, she needs to "LOL improve her English"?
      Like I said, it's just the closeted racists trying to use her accent in an attempt to degrade her and mock her for her origins

    • @grubbybum3614
      @grubbybum3614 5 лет назад

      @@yuenhai. When we talk about Aussies, Kiwi's etc it's not that other nations perceive them as not speaking English correctly. IE. Accents aren't the issue.
      If somebody says "2 dollar" instead of "2 dollars", or "impossibru" instead of "impossible" - those are issues with control of the language. And they can be improved with professional help.
      I take it that you think somebody who stutters shouldn't see a speech pathologist, either? A speech therapist would also help a foreigner pronounce English words correctly.

  • @shelbot
    @shelbot 5 лет назад +120

    I have masters degrees in linguistics and speech-language pathology, and I thought this video was very well done! The visuals were excellent, and the examples were on point!! 👏👏👍👍💖💖

    • @mandykillriff6854
      @mandykillriff6854 5 лет назад

      Shelbot S. Thats a misses degree.

    • @jacobk846
      @jacobk846 5 лет назад +4

      @@mandykillriff6854 misses degrees don't go on to get a master's too. Your median Speech Language Pathologist salary in the US is $80K, well above average. So nope sorry.

  • @nagasesanagasesa7026
    @nagasesanagasesa7026 4 года назад +110

    actually the korean draw the tounge position,
    like ㄱㅋㄴㅅㅈㅊ, or mouth shape like ㅂㅍㅁㅎ,
    so u might understand, why the 'r' is so complicated, because they draw it like this: ㄹ

    • @sparkriel4997
      @sparkriel4997 4 года назад +14

      That’s so cool!! I’ve been learning korean for a while and I had no idea, that is such a clever idea for an alphabet omg

    • @iain3713
      @iain3713 4 года назад +9

      Sparkriel the Korean alphabet is incredibly intuitive, it’s really smart

    • @Andrea-xs4ny
      @Andrea-xs4ny 4 года назад +6

      @@iain3713 - If you don't know the origin of the Korean alphabet, look it up! It's quite fascinating.

    • @moresoulthanasockwithahole3493
      @moresoulthanasockwithahole3493 4 года назад

      what mouth shape is this -ㅎ

    • @infiresmaaan4360
      @infiresmaaan4360 4 года назад +1

      @@moresoulthanasockwithahole3493 its the extra "breath" to the sound ㅇ which is the empty consonant. So basically h

  • @changwilliamwang
    @changwilliamwang Год назад

    This is so interesting and informational!! I grinned when Kong Yu showed up speaking English hahaha

  • @TilmanBaumann
    @TilmanBaumann 5 лет назад +245

    Haha, no surprise you had to find a Scottish Scientist to explain R's. Scots have a chance. The rest of the anglophones are pretty much hopeless with R

    • @vickymc9695
      @vickymc9695 5 лет назад +15

      Scottish rolled Rs are just fairly uncommon R sound. Even in English received pronunciation, it more likely to be a soft R sound.
      My dad (who's from Glasgow) thought me and my brother has a speech impediment when we couldn't do it. It's just a very different phoneme.

    • @DDD033
      @DDD033 5 лет назад +4

      This conversation is to smart for my tiny brain. Whats an anglophone? How do the scottish understand?

    • @m_uz1244
      @m_uz1244 5 лет назад +7

      @@DDD033 Anglophone:
      1. Adjective:
      English speaking i.e. "The population is largely anglophile"
      2. Noun:
      An english speaking person.
      Scottish people have the ability to make a specific spiky r sound much more commonly than native english people due to Scottish english having been influenced a fair bit by scottish gaelic (The language of scottish highlanders). This is why Tilman was saying a Scot was the best person to explain the 'r' sound, as they have a superior ability or proficiency in producing all the different 'r's.

    • @keller109
      @keller109 5 лет назад +11

      The R in English is actually one of the most uncommon consonant sounds in the entire IPA. Your mouth does this weird thing that isn't even close to any other sound. That's why children and foreign speakers have the hardest time with that letter. It's interesting to note that this sound is even somewhat uncommon among English speakers. An American says "color" and someone from England pronounces it like "coluh." In the Harry Potter movies, the pronunciation of Harry's name is always open: "Ha-ree." But us Americans say "Hair-ee"- once again using that strong awkward R..... An R so awkward you don't realize how awkward it is until you notice that, despite it being a very English-y sound, most English speakers don't even pronounce it 👀

    • @Udontkno7
      @Udontkno7 5 лет назад +2

      @@keller109 how did rhoticism become such a staple throughout America? Even colonists had it.

  • @karines1856
    @karines1856 4 года назад +38

    Thanks for this explanation, it makes a lot of sense. I'm an Spanish native speaker and it's very difficult for me to differentiate the tones in different vowels from Japanese, Korean and Mandarin. I love those languages for how complex and poetic they can be.

    • @Moodboard39
      @Moodboard39 Год назад

      Me too ...pretty hard..but they sound very different

  • @candacelee3974
    @candacelee3974 5 лет назад +445

    And then there’s the dreaded “th”...it took me so long to actually get it. Even as I spoke English quite fluently (it was my second language) it took me time

    • @cerealis_5432
      @cerealis_5432 5 лет назад

      whats your native language?

    • @withastone
      @withastone 5 лет назад +34

      There are two 'th' sounds and they are some of the very last sounds learned by English speaking children, at around age 5. Some children need the help of speech therapists to finally make them.

    • @yllejord
      @yllejord 4 года назад +8

      Some of us are lucky to have a native language with both the th sounds in it. Unfortunately, we also have only 5 vowel sounds and that's it.

    • @ilikedota5
      @ilikedota5 4 года назад +1

      @@yllejord which language is that?

    • @yllejord
      @yllejord 4 года назад +2

      @@ilikedota5 Greek.

  • @gbrookes7827
    @gbrookes7827 Год назад

    Languages and accents are so beautiful!!! This video was so cool

  • @euianque8492
    @euianque8492 4 года назад +50

    According to phonetics/phonology, the English language also have a "flap R" sound, which is - a little - similar to the japanese R sound in some ways. It is really common in the American English Dialect and can be found in words such as "waTer", "naTive", "meTal", "meDal", "moDel", "coDing", "weirDest", "sturDy", etc. (Mostly, T and D between vowels or after a bunched/retroflex R sound.) Native speakers usually say it is a "D sound", if asked about it or when explaining it.

    • @honka4ever
      @honka4ever 2 года назад +1

      Is that just dialect? Because when I watch American movie they almost all speak that way

    • @muizzsiddique
      @muizzsiddique Год назад +3

      @@honka4ever Out of the CANZUK coutries, only the UK doesn't have that. Then again, we have been influenced by American media enough that we are beginning to.

  • @yellownotsus7538
    @yellownotsus7538 4 года назад +647

    I Burmese but when I speak English I sound like a British grandma who having a tea with her mate back in 80s centuries 🤣

    • @sporgiii
      @sporgiii 4 года назад +23

      YOOO BURMESE GANG

    • @biclikesvegetables6940
      @biclikesvegetables6940 4 года назад +12

      I mean-we were once conquered by the Brits...

    • @TCWG87
      @TCWG87 4 года назад +1

      I really don't think so lol

    • @biclikesvegetables6940
      @biclikesvegetables6940 4 года назад +11

      Plus the types of accents Burmese people use when speaking in English are:
      1. You stop at every one or two words (Mostly boys ig since the boys in my class are always like this)
      2. You try really hard to sound fluent. But put emphasis at many words, mostly on r’s.
      3. The good one. You don’t really sound fluent but you ain’t bad either. A+ for effort

    • @floresto
      @floresto 4 года назад +4

      you are genuinely the first person ive seen on the internet from myanmar

  • @irvinclemente2368
    @irvinclemente2368 5 лет назад +1502

    next video: why putting Joss Fong in the thumbnail increases views count

    • @valhum
      @valhum 5 лет назад +121

      I know! she is so pretty

    • @zanaxjinx3068
      @zanaxjinx3068 5 лет назад +99

      joss fong is the solution destroying every white supremacists arguments against mix racing

    • @Tylerevan12
      @Tylerevan12 5 лет назад +42

      @@davidaIano damn

    • @hibye-by3yb
      @hibye-by3yb 5 лет назад +67

      @@davidaIano I both love and detest this comment

    • @nelsonth
      @nelsonth 5 лет назад +16

      @@davidaIano your imagination is not strong enough?

  • @Nuffsaid22
    @Nuffsaid22 4 года назад +1

    Great content. I'd wondered about this before, glad I'm informed now

  • @joannakokoshka4139
    @joannakokoshka4139 5 лет назад +153

    I just love the intro - Wifi is unbreakable... don't we all want that?

  • @demantim
    @demantim 5 лет назад +74

    Those (for me as a Dutch cheese head) VERY similar sounding Cantonese and mandarin words at the end put the entire video into perspective. Was hoping that'd go on for a few minutes straight! xD

    • @wareflorida
      @wareflorida 5 лет назад +2

      There are thousands of videos on RUclips about introductions to Chinese tones.

  • @mishagelenava2962
    @mishagelenava2962 5 лет назад +397

    I totally agree that you don't need to sound like a native speaker, but accent must not be too heavy, because at the end of the day you want to be understood. For example, if I learnt Mandarin, I want to make sure when I want to say mom, I don't say horse.

    • @tinaloye2014
      @tinaloye2014 5 лет назад +55

      Me: Hey horse? I need some money ... horse? Horse!? Why are you throwing a shoe at me?!

    • @talkingkangaroo4934
      @talkingkangaroo4934 5 лет назад +71

      Actually many people do not speak with the right tones and are still understood by the context in which words are used. That is true for most non-native speakers of Chinese languages. What is more important to be comprehensible is the consistency of the deviation from the standard. If I say lice every time I mean rice, or if I say there are tree children in the playground, you should catch on to what I mean pretty soon.

    • @mishagelenava2962
      @mishagelenava2962 5 лет назад +8

      @@talkingkangaroo4934 that makes sense

    • @shaharipudding9453
      @shaharipudding9453 5 лет назад +17

      In my experience, Chinese people try their best to understand because they know tones are hard! Though they may giggle at you

    • @zhewu9052
      @zhewu9052 5 лет назад +1

      Never mind,my friend. practice makes perfect. we can distingwish them from the context.

  • @LearningSoldier-eb8wn
    @LearningSoldier-eb8wn Год назад +2

    1:54 ‘you can probably hear my tapped R sound, “ara~”’ 😂

  • @CheeseTruffles
    @CheeseTruffles 5 лет назад +80

    I have never doubted my English-speaking skills so much before

  • @matthe6114
    @matthe6114 4 года назад +2676

    When American try to learn chinese, it s even worse

    • @mrnoggg
      @mrnoggg 4 года назад +34

      xiaoma nyc is pretty good

    • @candypop217
      @candypop217 4 года назад +146

      Hey, at least they tried which is better than nothing :)

    • @emily.7668
      @emily.7668 4 года назад +2

      @@mrnoggg lol

    • @noclue4210
      @noclue4210 4 года назад

      oof yea

    • @Ravist-P
      @Ravist-P 4 года назад +75

      Chinese:shí shí shï shį
      Americans:shi shi shi shi

  • @wangzhiyuan1466
    @wangzhiyuan1466 5 лет назад +444

    As a mandarin speaker, I can't distinguish the tones in Cantonese really well either.

    • @merkymurk7534
      @merkymurk7534 4 года назад +36

      sup, cantonese here. Yea we got really similar tones, i believe we have 9 tones in total

    • @henrywong2725
      @henrywong2725 4 года назад +13

      Merkymurk 理論上,係六聲加三個入聲
      7,8,9 係 1,3,6 加 p/t/k 尾

    • @wangzhiyuan1466
      @wangzhiyuan1466 4 года назад +2

      @@henrywong2725 哦⊙∀⊙原来每个入声也算一个音调 谢谢!

    • @the-bruh.cum5
      @the-bruh.cum5 4 года назад +3

      But you can do the tones in madrarin right

    • @reneelaicecreamxx4179
      @reneelaicecreamxx4179 4 года назад

      theres like 9 so good luck lol

  • @n1msu
    @n1msu Год назад

    Absolutely fantastic. Thanks for posting.

  • @roymantic1833
    @roymantic1833 5 лет назад +71

    7:42 1st tone: mā
    2nd tone: má
    3rd tone mǎ
    4th tone: mà / each tone represents if your tone goes higher or lower. 2nd tone your 'a' goes up. 3rd tone your 'a' goes down and back up.

    • @SaunterVaguelyDown
      @SaunterVaguelyDown 5 лет назад +4

      Why would a language make different words so similar?? I know English has several words that are basically said the same way but spelled different, but at least we don’t try to say they sound different. 🤷🏻‍♀️

    • @GaleAeras
      @GaleAeras 5 лет назад +56

      @@SaunterVaguelyDown But they do sound different, you're just not used to telling the difference between them. It's similar to how a white person might think all east Asians look the same, and how I think all white people look the same. It's just a lack of exposure.

    • @hirokokueh3541
      @hirokokueh3541 5 лет назад +10

      ​@@SaunterVaguelyDown think about this : if English now use a new character system, which each syllable is a word.
      you get this : [ if Eng lish now use a new cha rac ter sys tem, which each sy lla ble is a wor d. ]
      then one day, the government want to reduce the number of words, then you get : [ i i li no us a ne ka ra te sy te, wi e sy la ble i a wo d. ]
      this is what happened in Chinese, it got simplified many times, finally became Mandarin.

    • @roryschussler
      @roryschussler 5 лет назад +4

      @@SaunterVaguelyDown yeah, those words sound just as obviously different to a native speaker of Chinese as the words "rice" and "lice" sound different to an English speaker (or Mandarin speaker too, actually.)

    • @Ealsante
      @Ealsante 5 лет назад +9

      @@SaunterVaguelyDown They sound different to the ones who speak and hear them. And where languages (any language) is concerned, that's really all that matters. That's the key thing - just as our views on 'due', 'do' and 'dew' don't matter to an English speaker who can distinguish the three easily, so your views on 'ma1', 'ma2' and 'ma3' don't matter to a Mandarin speaker who gets it.

  • @유투브자제운동
    @유투브자제운동 5 лет назад +390

    Im Korean 16 yrs old and speak 4 languages. Im decent only in Korean and still learning the others(English,Japanese, and Spanish). This video was extremely helpful for me!! I thought English L sound, Korean ㄹ sound, Japanese ら、り、る、れ、ろ sound and Spanish R sound were almost the same and pronounced it same. But I cant still distinguish rrr and lll well and have no idea about how to distinguish Chinese tones... I know there is difference but I cant hear it and pronounce it accurately.

    • @kendrithsuero9924
      @kendrithsuero9924 5 лет назад +18

      Ikr! I'm a Spanish (from my family) and English speaker (living in US) . And I'm teaching myself Korean. But the r and l in Korean is so hard to differentiate like it sounds the same to me especially other letters in the Korean alphabet. But I'm fully aware they're not! But I'm still interested in learning Korean and korean culture to give up :)

    • @Mila-dt6se
      @Mila-dt6se 5 лет назад +3

      @@kendrithsuero9924 yup me too! Spanish is my mother tongue, but my brain works in Spanglish and I'm trying to learn korean by myself too. And yes.. It is hard. Lots of different sounds

    • @AirKangLocker
      @AirKangLocker 5 лет назад +2

      Same with P,F all being pronounced by ㅍ so i hear many times koreans saying fizza and fineapple while say presh and plute. When i teach them how to use their tongues for the accents, usually it solves the problem. 3.5개국어 하는 사람으로서 4개국어 부럽네

    • @ryanw8509
      @ryanw8509 5 лет назад +5

      많이 연습하면, 할 수 있을까요! 저 1년 동안 한국말 공부해요. ㄹ의 소리 가끔 어려웠지만, 많이 공부하면, 저 말할수 있어요
      화이팅!!
      If you practice a lot, you can do it. I have studied Korean for 1 year. The sound of ㄹ is often hard, but if I practice, I can do it.

    • @danieljune6803
      @danieljune6803 5 лет назад +2

      @@ryanw8509 이미 잘하고 있어요. ㄹ 소리가 어떻게 어려운지 설명해 주실 수 있나요?

  • @Dawt_Calm
    @Dawt_Calm 5 лет назад +338

    Heah in Massachusetts we just do away with the R altogethah.

    • @ChaossX77
      @ChaossX77 5 лет назад +37

      Taking ya cah ta get some wata.

    • @SteelJM1
      @SteelJM1 5 лет назад +25

      Only at the end or middle of words, otherwise you couldn't ROOT FOR THE RED SOX AT REVEAH BEACH!

    • @clockworkgamerguy
      @clockworkgamerguy 5 лет назад +10

      ahs a fah losahs!

    • @panduwidagdo7051
      @panduwidagdo7051 5 лет назад +4

      I read it in Bernie Sanders' voice.

    • @jaojao1768
      @jaojao1768 5 лет назад +1

      Kind of like in British RP

  • @Sarah-re7cg
    @Sarah-re7cg Год назад

    This video brings me so much happiness and curiosity. Thank you.

  • @troys1426
    @troys1426 4 года назад +1689

    Americans: *Makes fun of Chinese for their Ls and Rs*
    Also Americans: *Mess up all the sounds supposed to be produced when saying certain pinyin*

    • @adamhau9336
      @adamhau9336 4 года назад +69

      Egh, actually Chinese people have no difficulties to pronounce r's and l's, ur talking about Japanese people 😅

    • @troys1426
      @troys1426 4 года назад +2

      @@adamhau9336 Don't you get it? It has a meaning. I will let you think about it.

    • @Me-da-Ghost
      @Me-da-Ghost 4 года назад +44

      @@troys1426 ??? Do you mean that the joke was that Chinese people don't have difficulties pronouncing r's and l's? If it was, then it was a pretty bad joke.

    • @michaelaousterhout7093
      @michaelaousterhout7093 4 года назад +14

      I love watching people mispronounce names of characters in genshin impact with names spelled out in pinyin (no romanization) - they fail miserably

    • @Gabriel-ir1zt
      @Gabriel-ir1zt 4 года назад +4

      Not only Americans but also British

  • @EbbnFlow_Design
    @EbbnFlow_Design 5 лет назад +10

    Learning Korean has been the most fascinating and enlightening experience for me. It's not only made me understand why others struggle pronouncing english but its also made me appreciate how unique Korean is when it comes to pronunciation. Learning entirely new mouth sounds and tongue positions has been such a fun challenge for me. It makes me want to try learning even more languages :)

    • @JLynnEchelon
      @JLynnEchelon 5 лет назад +1

      I teach English in Korea and holy hell, it's hard to teach vowels. R and L isn't that hard in comparison. It takes a lot of practice, but students who try can do a clear "rice" vs. "lice". Korean has no r sound at all and I wish people would stop saying that. It's a modified L and not an r.

    • @lovetheory
      @lovetheory 5 лет назад

      I agree, I mean I know my native language and english, and when I learned french the "r" sound was hard, and I wasn't sure what to expect in korean, but it's a whole new world of sounds and at start it took me weeks to learn how to pronounce words like 선생님 or 화장실 (my tounge was just tired at the middle of them lol)

  • @gensour6266
    @gensour6266 4 года назад +242

    Filipinos switch "f" and p, "v" and "b"

    • @lemmuelcastro5224
      @lemmuelcastro5224 4 года назад +6

      i feel you, hahaha

    • @thefarceurone392
      @thefarceurone392 4 года назад +8

      Vavae or Fafa

    • @lemmuelcastro5224
      @lemmuelcastro5224 4 года назад +27

      @@thefarceurone392 no, like Pamily instead of Family, Binegar instead of Vinegar, Pace instead of Face and so on

    • @davidjacobs8558
      @davidjacobs8558 4 года назад +2

      Europeans do to.

    • @voldemortthenoselessfreak2126
      @voldemortthenoselessfreak2126 4 года назад +32

      That's because the letter F and V doesn't exist in our original alphabet or especifically in Baybayin. that's why we switch to Roman Alphabet since the Spaniards are having a hard time using Baybayin to try to communicate with our ancestors.

  • @MEsmolinski1
    @MEsmolinski1 2 года назад

    Presentation is excellent!! Very informative. Thank you.

  • @katzap4494
    @katzap4494 5 лет назад +18

    This video did such a great job of helping me understand this phenomenon. Thanks, Vox!

  • @x.kyss07
    @x.kyss07 4 года назад +50

    Friend: Why didnt you finish your homework?
    Me: I was learning Different Kinds of R and L

  • @loonmanding8628
    @loonmanding8628 5 лет назад +48

    Amazing video . please try and venture into more linguistic topics. Its so interesting.

  • @UXtatic
    @UXtatic 3 года назад

    Well done. Flipping the ability to differentiate tone. 👍🏽❤️❤️❤️

  • @HitomiNoRyu
    @HitomiNoRyu 5 лет назад +18

    I remember in Spanish class, I wrote out a lot of vocabulary words in katakana in order to pronounce those words correctly. Sometimes I would even combine English syllables with the katakana to fill the gaps...I did very well on the listening portions of that class as a result.

  • @wb8695
    @wb8695 5 лет назад +16

    Oh my God this was so amazing.. Do this with other languages as well!

  • @austinheath9739
    @austinheath9739 5 лет назад +6

    This has to be one of my favorite Vox videos. So informative and well presented, keep it up. Joss did an amazing job narrating!
    Side note, my mouth is sore from trying to imitate all of the tongue movements.

  • @laughingvampire7555
    @laughingvampire7555 2 года назад +4

    some dialects in China roll the r's pretty strong.
    and for the Japanese like Yuta the ra, ri, ru, re, ro, sound similar to L because they don't have any L is like for people of indoeuropean languages tones sound confusing but for people with tones in their language they are very distinctive sounds. For a Japanese saying hola and hora sounds similar but for Spanish sounds very different and there are two different concepts, one is hello=hola and the other is hour=hora, and if you spell it ora, then is a contraction of "ahora" in Mexican spanish, and depending on the context of orale. So the L and R are very different sounds.