The Last Person to Post in This Thread Wins

[zinniabooklover]

He is an actor? Shame on me, I did not know ...

I did think he might be, tbh. Normal peeps don't usually have such good timing. That said, I thought maybe he had trained as an actor but wasn't necessarily working as one.

I still think he's fab!!

omg!

Normally I can't stand these American chat shows but he's bringing fabulous crazy energy to something that is normally so ... meh!

Also, his NAME!!!?????!!! Flula? Really? wth? Awesome!

I'm pacing myself with this video. A little at a time, lol.

A deflated disco ball lmaoooooooo

 

[bluemoon7]

I did think he might be, tbh. Normal peeps don't usually have such good timing. That said, I thought maybe he had trained as an actor but wasn't necessarily working as one.

I still think he's fab!!

He apparently is well known in the USA
Flula Borg (German: [flʊla bɔɐ̯k]; born 28 March 1982), often known simply as Flula (sometimes stylized as f|u|a), is a German actor, comedian, and musician. Borg's acting career includes roles in feature films, including Pitch Perfect 2 and The Suicide Squad, as well as in a number of television shows, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Good Place, Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin, and The Rookie. He has made multiple appearances on Conan and has participated in a number of other collaborations with Conan O'Brien.

He is really funny though

omg!

Normally I can't stand these American chat shows but he's bringing fabulous crazy energy to something that is normally so ... meh!

Also, his NAME!!!?????!!! Flula? Really? wth? Awesome!

I'm pacing myself with this video. A little at a time, lol.

I am on a watching spree rn lolol

 

[zinniabooklover]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772634118892687753

 

[zinniabooklover]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772632768138093031

 

[ineverfelttheneedbut]

It's the thread that keeps on giving lol.

True.

 

[zinniabooklover]

Portuguese custard tarts (pastel de nata)

 

[Agonum]

Since I'm monolingual I can't do justice to this question. Although I did study Latin, French and Spanish at school. French for 10 years, ye gods!

Are we going by languages that we know / can speak? That's me disqualified, lol. Or are we going by how much we like the sound? In which case ...

German
Spanish
Scottish Gaelic
Russian
Swahili
Italian
French

I think we must make it so that it’s about to what degree we find the languages pleasing. Otherwise, as you allude to, we will be left with very short lists.

I notice an absence of English in your rankings?

 

[Agonum]

I will rank them by how much I like the sound and flow:

Italian
Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese
English and some dialects (I love how Adele speaks, for example )
French
Russian
Spanish

- ranking may change according to mood

Question: Is it just me or do Brazilian Portuguese and Russian sound a bit similar? I hear a simlarity, although they are very distinct from each other, of course.

Hey, where’s German?

 

[Agonum]

Question: Is it just me or do Brazilian Portuguese and Russian sound a bit similar? I hear a simlarity, although they are very distinct from each other, of course.

Hm. I say it must be a you thing. Portuguese have a boring yet distinct melody and exagerratedly open vowels; qualities which are not shared with any form of Russian I’ve ever heard. And these languages are as unrelated to one another as they come, wherefore I’m quite curious to hear in more detail where it is you sense that there are similarities.

 

[Agonum]

I've heard lots of people say this about Portuguese and Russian. Not sure I've heard the distinction being made about Brazilian Portuguese but, generally, yeah, loads of people say this. It's intriguing, what with Portuguese being one of the 'Romance' languages.

That’s really interesting. Makes it not a you (Bluemoon) but rather a them thing.

 

[Agonum]

brazilian Portuguese for example both have

fricatives /soft fricatives
rolled r
a very lively/ distinct melody that sounds similar to my ears

Rolled ‘r’ is a very common language trait.

Not sure where you going with the fricatives in regards to pointing out similarities between Portuguese Spanish and Russian?

As for the melody… I cannot understand how it is you find them similar! Russian can be melodic, but it’s not forced in every single sentence the way it is in Portuguese; meaning, it can also be quite subtle in a melodic regard. It’s also way more varied, whereas Portuguese has but a very few melodies (possibly only one) that is used over and over and over and over again (makes it a very monotonous language to listen to, in my opinion).

 

[zinniabooklover]

I think we must make it so that it’s about to what degree we find the languages pleasing. Otherwise, as you allude to, we will be left with very short lists.

I notice an absence of English in your rankings?

Where would I start, though? I love so many of the regional accents of the UK. The vocab. If I listen to a German speaker I can't tell one regional accent from another. It's just German and I love it but that's it. Would I be able to distinguish a Breton accent from a Parisian? Probably not. I don't have a problem with a Somerset accent - it's perfectly fine - but I would far rather listen to a Geordie accent, for example. Or someone from Donegal.

Having said all of that, I'm also doing that classic thing. Being blase about what's in your everyday life. In a way, the languages I listed are more enjoyable to listen to than English precisely bc I don't hear them in my normal life. So they are amazing and exciting to me. German is exciting and melodramatic to me in a way that English just isn't. It has loads of energy, as does Spanish, whereas English just sounds 'normal'.

 

[Agonum]

Wow!

I asked a Brazilian friend if she thinks there are similarities, and she was dumbfounded lol (LOVE the word dumbfounded, by the way). She said it never occured to her lol.

I guess she likes the idea of them being similar, because in reality they are nothing but, and consequently placed at opposite ends in my rankings!

 

[Agonum]

@zinniabooklover

IT DOES NOT!!!!!

 

[Agonum]

@bluemoon7: are there many dialects that are difficult to understand for non dialect speakers?

Someone I know has worked for several years in the 1990s in Germany and Switzerland. According to him (a non native speaker btw), during his stay in Switzerland he often used to ask the person he was talking with to speak in "hochdeutsch".

And here I was thinking I had your nationality figured out. This puts things in new light…

 

[Agonum]

No. Oh, hang on! Maybe - just maybe - a Glaswegian if he (trust me, it's nearly always 'he') has had one too many. Other than that, no.

With me it's more that some accents are hard to even hear. I'm not good at picking up a Kent accent. To my ears they don't seem to have one but I know they do. Same with Derbyshire. I can't seem to hear it. I'm not talking about local vocab. I mean, the actual sound of the voice.

But if, by dialect, you mean actual vocab. I can't think of anything, tbh, that confuses me. You'll see certain phrases mentioned as being specific to one region but I know from experience that those words and phrases were also common somewhere else entirely. There are phrases which are meant to be indigenous to the Black Country (West Midlands) which I know are common up North, also.

As usual, with the UK, so much of it is class based. A middle class person would be more confused by certain accents or dialects. For us plebs it's usually not so difficult. At least, that's been my experience and observation.

Interesting question.

Dang it. I forgot to put Scottish and Irish in my rankings. And let me tell you, they both go near the very top!

How is your understanding of these two very fine specimens, by the way?

 

[Agonum]

He apparently is well known in the USA
Flula Borg (German: [flʊla bɔɐ̯k]; born 28 March 1982), often known simply as Flula (sometimes stylized as f|u|a), is a German actor, comedian, and musician. Borg's acting career includes roles in feature films, including Pitch Perfect 2 and The Suicide Squad, as well as in a number of television shows, including Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Good Place, Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin, and The Rookie. He has made multiple appearances on Conan and has participated in a number of other collaborations with Conan O'Brien.

He is really funny though


I am on a watching spree rn lolol

I know him from Curb!

 

[zinniabooklover]

Dang it. I forgot to put Scottish and Irish in my rankings. And let me tell you, they both go near the very top!

Yes. I included Scottish Gaelic in my list but felt very mean leaving the Irish out. Even English with an Irish accent is a joy. But also Scottish. And Welsh. See my earlier post, lol. This is why I didn't include English in my list. Impossible!

The actual Welsh language is beautiful, very lilting. I didn't include it bc I was trying to be concise. Not that I'm suggesting I've ever been longwinded in my posts - the very idea, lol - but you have to draw the line somewhere. So Welsh was out but it's a lovely language.

How is your understanding of these two very fine specimens, by the way?

Confused. Do you mean do I understand / speak either Irish Gaelic or Scottish Gaelic (pronounced gallic)? Neither, unfortunately. As languages to listen to I don't get much chance to hear them. I've heard both but really only intermittently. They are not common even in their respective countries.

Welsh is quite widely spoken in Wales and there is Welsh language tv but outside of Wales you won't hear it.

 

[Agonum]

Yes. I included Scottish Gaelic in my list but felt very mean leaving the Irish out. Even English with an Irish accent is a joy. But also Scottish. And Welsh. See my earlier post, lol. This is why I didn't include English in my list. Impossible!

The actual Welsh language is beautiful, very lilting. I didn't include it bc I was trying to be concise. Not that I'm suggesting I've ever been longwinded in my posts - the very idea, lol - but you have to draw the line somewhere. So Welsh was out but it's a lovely language.


Confused. Do you mean do I understand / speak either Irish Gaelic or Scottish Gaelic (pronounced gallic)? Neither, unfortunately. As languages to listen to I don't get much chance to hear them. I've heard both but really only intermittently. They are not common even in their respective countries.

Welsh is quite widely spoken in Wales and there is Welsh language tv but outside of Wales you won't hear it.

Are we allowing Faroese?

 

[Fuzball]

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[Agonum]

By the way, I just saw, the other day, that Tórshavn has its own university!

It has to be one of the smallest universities in the world. I’d like to imagine it being attended by just a handful of students. What can they be studying? Perhaps they only write lengthy reports on Puffins? Perhaps meterology, too (they ought to be weather obsessed, like most islanders or northern people).

 

[Fuzball]

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[Agonum]

 

[hope]

I will rank them by how much I like the sound and flow:

Italian
Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese
English and some dialects (I love how Adele speaks, for example )
French
Russian
Spanish

- ranking may change according to mood

Question: Is it just me or do Brazilian Portuguese and Russian sound a bit similar? I hear a simlarity, although they are very distinct from each other, of course.

You surprised me. I never thought Portuguese and Russian were alike?!
But it turns out, for those who don't speak these languages, they do. They mention the similarity of vowel changes, some soft and hard consonants, and hisses))))

 

[hope]

I see you make ratings of languages I seriously don't learn any languages, so I can't estimate the difficulty in learning them. For me Russian seems difficult I've seen a lot of humorous videos from people who learn Russian as a foreign language.
I like it
The sound of many languages, but I'm afraid I can't make a rating☺
I like English. And for example of the two choices I can't stop loving you, I like French more.

Edit:
I like the sound of many languages, but I'm afraid I can't give a grade☺
I like English.
And for example, out of the three versions of I can't stop loving you, I like the English version best, then the French version and the Spanish version in 3rd place.

 

[zinniabooklover]

Are we allowing Faroese?

Well, I'm not but you can; after all, you started this.

I'm still dithering over whether to swap around Russian and Swahili. And wondering why Gaelic is pronounced 'gay-lik' in Irish but 'gallic' in Scottish.

 

[zinniabooklover]

@zinniabooklover, same question for you: any spoken dialect within the UK that is a challenge for you to understand?

OK, I lied. I would struggle to understand Scots. I forgot about it, shame on me!

Scots is a good example of a point I was making, though. In the poem I've posted here she uses the word 'scran' (= food). That word is common in Lancashire. So is it pure Scots? I have no idea. She uses the word 'hen' (an affectionate word used for women, instead of saying 'love'). 'Hen' is also part of the language of Geordies, people from Newcastle and around there. So there are some Scots words I'm familiar with but probably lots more that would be new to me. I know 'braw' means fab, excellent, good. I know this bc it's used in the North of England. But it's a Scots term, afaik.

Anyway, here's a Scots poem by Len Pennie. Very short, 1m 35s

 

[zinniabooklover]

Len Pennie again.

58s

 

[zinniabooklover]

You surprised me. I never thought Portuguese and Russian were alike?!
But it turns out, for those who don't speak these languages, they do. They mention the similarity of vowel changes, some soft and hard consonants, and hisses))))

I think you've made a really good point. For people who don't speak either of these languages maybe they are hearing a (superficial?) similarity.

 

[zinniabooklover]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772706452366316029