Is there any videos of people who can't speak a word of English doing an impression?

Not a racist thing, I'm just very curious to hear what sounds come out. Maybe slightly racist if you want to get technical and militant, but I promise only in the name of fun and discovery.

58 points · 42 comments · view on lemmy.world

42 Comments

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · 60 pts · 12d (8 replies)

I know there's a video floating around of an Italian (Maybe?) that wrote a song that sounds like English, but it's actually just gibberish.

Found it!

erusuoyera@sh.itjust.works · 30 pts · 12d (4 replies)

Ironicly, this was a protest song by an Italian artist who was annoyed that the Italian charts were being flooded with English language songs. He wrote it to point out that English songs sounded like gibberish to Italian speakers. It ended up being a huge hit.

TrickDacy@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 12d (3 replies)

That's awesome. I'm guessing most people didn't know the song was making a statement?

DaGeek247@fedia.io · 6 pts · 11d (1 reply)

I knew it was making a statement from the moment I first watched it.

This is the first time I've ever understood what that statement was.

TrickDacy@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 11d

I would imagine the 70s when I'm guessing this was new, it was heard on the radio more than any other medium.

Archimedes@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 8d

It's best not to take it literally

AcesFullOfKings@feddit.uk · 24 pts · 12d
[ removed ]
Okokimup@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 12d

Love this song, it's an actual bop.

skankhunt42@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 12d

This just reminds me of the style of music my dad listens too. Never understood that either.

onipa@feddit.org · 43 pts · 12d (6 replies)
yermaw@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 12d

Hell yes thank you this is exactly the sort of stuff I was after!

Goun@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 12d

Damn he's good

Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 12d (1 reply)

I'm guessing he used sports announcers as reference.

JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social · 8 pts · 12d

News correspondents talking in their typical Transatlantic accent.

schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 12d

Damn, we're never going to outlive the rhotic r, are we?

Redditmodstouchgrass@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 11d

I love how most of it is gibberish, but you clearly hear "rocket launcher" at one point. Thanks, America.

Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 22 pts · 11d (4 replies)

A song, intended to sound like an american english rock tune, but isn't. Allow me to share Adriano Celentano's world famous song, Prisencolinensinainciusol.

https://youtu.be/fU-wH8SrFro - yes, it plays on FreeTube.

Raiderkev@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 11d

I came here expecting to see this. What's wild is he has a video performing it semi recently ~(10 years ago?) It's wild that he remembered the not words to that song decades later.

https://youtu.be/5T5LFVLgET4

WatermelonPaloma@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 11d (1 reply)

My first thought when I read the question, such a fun song!

Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io · 5 pts · 11d

One day I hope to sing this a Karaoke, while everyone whose not in on the joke tries to understand what the heck I'm singing.

sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 11d

The funny thing to me is that song sounds closer to French ye-ye than it does any British or American music.

Menschlicher_Fehler@feddit.org · 17 pts · 12d

Not exactly what you are looking for, but the song is too fun not to post when even remotely relevant: Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol

A song made to sound like you can't understand English.

hanrahan@slrpnk.net · 16 pts · 12d

every speech by Trump

ajikeshi@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 11d (1 reply)

i think that Adriano Celentano - 'Prisencolinensinainciusol' comes closest.

jibberish english sounding italian singing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RObuKTeHoxo

Godric@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 11d

This instantly came to mind, certified bop

riot@fedia.io · 12 pts · 12d (1 reply)
Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 11d

I was hoping to see Ken Lee - truly inspirational.

raman_klogius@ani.social · 10 pts · 12d (1 reply)
DaGeek247@fedia.io · 2 pts · 11d

Yup. This is the one I thought of too. It uses all the English noises, but has none of the actual words. It's super trippy actually.

Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 11d

There's an old video of a South Korean stand-up comedian doing impressions of StarCraft unit voicelines.

Atherel@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 12d

Just listen to the Sims speaking, it's pretty close.

ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org · 5 pts · 12d

Actor Matěj Ruppert doing language impressions on a Czech talkshow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2-ZA4xkYaU

  • 🇲🇫 0:28 (pretending to be French to Czech tram ticket inspector)
  • 🇮🇹 0:59 (same as above)
  • 🇩🇪 1:36 (trying to impress a friend's visiting German relatives)
  • 🇬🇧 2:38 (trying to pass English at graduation when asked to speak on Weather in the UK)
  • 🇺🇲 2:58 (fluently continued with different accent, allegedly succeeding thanks to peer pressure from English teacher's colleagues who couldn't evaluate the words)
none@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 11d

Allow me to introduce you to Swedish Elvis impersonator, Eilert Pilarm: https://youtu.be/8MiJTxlEdtQ?is=XEWW6_ME8ybxBSaW

orgrinrt@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 10d

There’s these ones I remember from some time back that made the rounds at least here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybcvlxivscw

0:49 is uk english. They are short snippets but pretty fun for what they are

Senal@programming.dev · 2 pts · 11d
BlueOysterCultist@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 12d

Isn’t Dutch like that? Sounds like English until you pay attention

ILikeTraaaains@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 11d

Not doing an impression but trying to sing seriously.

https://youtu.be/QrTfYItDDwA

rajdidaj@ani.social · 2 pts · 10d

This is a music video from a swedish childrens programme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ocEFgU2YRQ

username_1@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 12d (2 replies)

Is there anything that US citizen can't call racist? Noodles? Maybe at least noodles can't be racist by Americans' opinion? :)

Not sure if I understood you correct. You want to hear how people who don't know English try to say something in it? Most people never lose their native accents though. So even those, who have learned English to some extent, still sound like they sounded before learning it. For the most classical example I can suggest you to listen to B.Lugosi (count Dracula) in the appropriate movie. At the moment of filming his English was rather bad.

Holytimes@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 12d

Noodles can definitely be called racist. My boss for examples swears olive garden is racist because it sells pasta to Americans.

Redditmodstouchgrass@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 11d

Oh, you have no idea. I had someone tell me that eating ramen noodles was "cultural appropriation". You'd think with all the actual racism in this country, they'd have their hands full already, but there's always some idiot that wants to get mad over normal human shit.

RotatingParts@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 12d

Search for "fake English" and you will find a bunch of what you are looking for.

schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de · -1 pts · 12d

There are many such videos, but I am not sure how many of them were made by people genuinely not speaking the language. Search on YouTube for terms like: what English sounds like to non speakers, or more generally: what languages sound like to non speakers.