Do Japanese Mix Up "L" and "R" When Speaking English? | ASIAN BOSS

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[@hirokotv1602]

What do you think of Japanglish? What kind of accents does your country have?

[@Andi_0429]

I would have shown them "rice" and "lice" or "lake" and "rake". I bet they would have caught themselves and laughed.

[@hirokotv1602]

Carnage Talks OMG I should have brought lice LOL Thanks for the feedback!!!! I told almost everyone what lice is though, your comment motivated me to improve hehe

[@mikicerise6250]

B and V are homophonic in modern Spanish. But we have more R sounds than English.

[@FOLIPE]

In Brazil we mostly put an y at the end of words if the final sound is a consonant (except r, s, l, m, n if I'm not missing any one out). Like, we say kitty katty for kit kat, and macky donaudys (the l turns into a u if not followed by a vowel) for McDonald's.

[@tarmaque]

There are a number of fairly extreme accents in the United States, from Cajun to upper midwest to Boston to extreme southern. I predict that a typical Japanese native speaker would have trouble with something like a Cajun accent even if they were fairly fluent in _Educated General North American_ which is the accent you mostly hear on TV and in movies.

[@ssssssppppaaaccceeee]

Japanese people speaking english is nothing compared to the garbled mess of me trying to speak japanese

Just eliminate long vowels, but use the long o. English has many more vowel sounds than Japanese.

[@RockZerr]

to be fair japanese is a pretty messed up language

[@tFighterPilot]

I don't speak any Japanese (except a few words I know) but I have no problem pronouncing any word, because Japanese phonology is very simple. The only unusual features are the Japanese R\L (Which is neither R nor L) and their u vowel (which is like normal u but without rounding your lips)

[@doughnut5945]

I have lived in England my whole life so I struggle to pronounce R's

[@jonsena6yearsagoand949]

*Me who is a grammar Nazi nerd* It's Japanese and English not japanese and english you- *JonSena.exe has suddenly stopped working*

[@nitroortin6053]

Foreigner: where is the train station? Japanese: Police!!Police!! 😂🎌✌️

[@blueeyedbaer]

Immagine asking where a bank is :)

[@user-yk1ft2wc4g]

I'm dead🤣🤣🤣

[@Gyudles]

In Japan the police are commonly used for directions. I’ve lived here four years now, a Japanese person can correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that Japanese people don’t often approach strangers on the street for advice like foreigners do. They don’t like to intrude into the lives of strangers. This is one of the reasons why it’s perfectly normal to find a policeman or visit a police box to get directions.

[@tanixtx3max118]

pretty sure i´d die if they did that to me

[@unknownherrscher]

i willbe a nervous wreck if that happens to me 😂

[@nada-wd3zr]

*Kit-kat* “Kito-kato” AHAHAHA THATS SO CUTE IMMA START SAYING KITO KATO LMAO

[@user-cv2vo5wn9m]

.. BULLYYY 😂😂🤣💗💗💗

[@anomalousdelirium]

They (mostly the female ones) are "supposed" to debunk the "myth". Not to confirm it with confidence. Lol But yes, it actually sounds cute the way they say it (no bully).

[@fragileword6189]

weeaboo

[@inactive.5680]

@@anomalousdelirium She/he was hocking around when she/he said *"bully"*

[@vanillacherub6847]

@@user-cv2vo5wn9m ikr? It's so cute.😄

[@bryansamson2962]

Nice

[@birdsarentreal784]

Bryan Samson if your first language is English it kinda does

[@bobduncan7642]

@@birdsarentreal784 don't you mean if it isn't your first language?

[@pauline-ev2hb]

@@birdsarentreal784 AGAIN, how well you speak English DOES NOT REFLECT YOUR INTELLIGENCE

[@TheRealReTox]

@@birdsarentreal784 Unless you're a mute.

[@yousnortthedsnotofdirtyric3382]

@@bobduncan7642 no, he said it right.

[@jenna_maria]

Both the guy who said his English was only a 3.5 actually and the guy in the grey sweater with a pattern on it did very well on the pronounciation part. 💪🏻

[@juli-fz7ep]

also the dude with the school uniform 4:25

[@NJDJ1986]

I agree, that 3.5 guy's pronunciation was just fine to me

[@user-kb6vo3rl7m]

He's pronunciation is fine, at least I can understand what he said without subtitles

[@bluesailormercury]

@KvAT And the other way around!

[@yousnortthedsnotofdirtyric3382]

Lol yeah he straight up said "rice"

[@zanzaboonda]

I'm a flight attendant. I look younger than I am. A Japanese acquaintance said, "That's great!" I said, "It is, but a lot of the pilots don't respect me." She was extremely confused because she couldn't figure out why I would want "pirates" to respect me. I try to enunciate more when talking to non-native speakers, now. Lol

[@Hwan.421]

What the what!?

[@Medivh73]

@Ken Lompart I see what you did here xD

[@zanzaboonda]

@OGAquaranus I have no idea what her level of vocabulary exposure was or where it came from. It was during a language exchange meeting. Could very easily be related to pop culture. (E.g., Pirates of the Caribbean).

[@fauzanoka9258]

@OGAquaranus what was that "electo every morning" things?..do u where's the show it come from?..

[@Flippityflap]

@OGAquaranus thats cause the storyteller said pirate instead of pilot and its a pretty weird context. Maybe the story receiver didnt know japanese people mix up l'r and r's.

[@myob2dac]

I dont judge accents in a bad way. i find them adorable and would like to meet more people with slightly broken english

[@financialcrisis3538]

Go to detroit youll find alot of that there

[@denznoah8740]

Then come to our country Malaysia. We have the clear English pronunciation in our accents

[@sicals1720]

Tbh scouse or geordie is not exactly proper english

[@roxxxydubois]

KFP

[@syaredzaashrafi1101]

@@denznoah8740 ehh really? my friend from kelantan can't speak a single english word correctly. are you sure you're from Malaysia? hmm sus

[@yandynestorperez7501]

"Kito-Kato" is even cuter than "Kit-Kat"

[@zia5151]

Yeah I agree

[@disneydisney1490]

Their entire accent is so cute to me

[@picckolllo3400]

Yes it's cute but funny

[@eliri412]

The last guy is 100% right about a new world opening in front of you. It is true that I do not need English in my country, but once I learnt English quite well, I was able to get access to an incredible amount of information on the internet + to communicate with people all around the world. Learning English is vital, people all around the world should put effort in it and native English speakers should learn a second language

[@sarcosmic6982]

Hold up, you're NOT a native speaker? Impressive! You're absolutely right about that last point, in particular. English is indeed a great language to learn because it's so widely used as a second language throughout various countries and there's a lot of information shared in it, but it's definitely important for native English speakers to not limit themselves to just English. :)

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

It's funny and cruel irony that I know English quite good for the standarts of my country, but I'm shut-in looser that can't communicate with actual people in real life T____T

[@Reicha]

Sarcosmic Definitely! And native English speakers have the huge benefit of being able to become incredibly proficient in all three of the largest languages, should they start learning Chinese or Spanish as toddlers or preschoolers and then take up the other in secondary school. The way many other countries tackle English and then third language studies. Something which would give huge benfits in communication and career possibilities.

[@eliri412]

Sarcosmic Thank you! I am not native, actually I am not as good at it as it might seem. I still struggle with speaking, I guess because I get nervous... I am not sure. But yeah, learning a second language would be great for English native speakers, I wonder why few of them are interested in learning another one beside their language.

[@FOLIPE]

While I think you are right, and I'm here consuming this content in english so yeah, there's that, I think English is often overrated and is not for everyone. If someone wants to learn another second language that isn't English, great for them, and you can live a great fulfilling life speaking only your native language, if you can't learn others anyway. That doesn't mean learning other languages isn't cool - it is - but it isn't that necessary. Now, on the accent part. I Asian accents are probably really worse because east Asian languages are just so different from english, unlike Indo-European languages which are all related. So it is bound to be harder for native speakers pf those languages to learn and correctly pronounce English, mostly, just as the reciprocate is also true. Besides that, I don't think Mandarin is amongst the best languages to learn, but that's just my personal opinion (I'd go for French, which is easier once you have a grasp of Spanish and is also an Indo-European language that shares a lot of vocab and grammar with English).

[@CorpseTongji]

japanese accents are interesting , since theyre really not pronouncing or reading the words incorrectly per se , theyre just using japanese syllables since japanese is actually super simple pronunciation wise if i had to go to france , im sure my speaking would be completely unintelligible regardless of how much vocab i knew because the pronunciation is so fundamentally different from english , whereas japanglish is pretty intelligible if youre familiar with the japanese syllabary

[@xoqvuz]

Except certain syllables Japanese barely pronounce sometimes: su, n, chi, etc

[@HylianDakota]

I feel the same way, but I think that's just from watching too much anime and comedy shows like gaki no tsukai over the years, so I'm very adjusted to hearing those syllables. For anyone who's a complete stranger to hearing japanese speech, I can still somewhat understand why it'd sound incomprehensible. The pronunciation you expect to hear from a native speaker compared to the way they pronounce it with their syllabary, it's like they change the words/make them longer and sound more complicated to speak

[@RubyTwilite]

In French you have gutteral sounds, like German and Hebrew.

[@asheiou]

@@RubyTwilite like r

[@RubyTwilite]

@@asheiou like rrr!

[@idahagglund524]

0:12 "Do they really mix up their Rls and Els." Yes.

[@nippon2003]

Reporter: Do you have elections in your country? Japanese guy: Every morning.

[@d.jbatman4996]

😂😂😂💯

[@eyon7630]

LMFAO

[@masta.k]

I actually laughed out loud. LOL😂

[@bungeegum520]

IM CRYIGNF

[@karnea2627]

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

[@Eleriol84]

"i dont know how to help them so i took the mto the police station" I can only imagine what that foreigner was thinking hahahaha.

[@Beastmodeon666]

Dumbest thing ever

[@seherling207]

@@Beastmodeon666 not really. It's common in Japan to go to one of those small police stations (police box) called kouban eg when you are lost, need directions, if you lost something. You can also get maps and recommendations for restaurants, hotels or other businesses there

[@RasPutintheGreat]

It was actually a generous move, sharing time.

[@cee_el]

Einzbernねこ nope

[@Name-jw4sj]

Especially if that foreigner is American. American's are not to fond of the police.

[@fk3239]

"Do they really mix up their Rl's and L's?" Well that answered that.

[@wayner396]

Hahaha, I noticed that too and was going to say the same thing 😂

[@rinkoshirokane8263]

Figgus Klondike I didn’t even notice that but wow I can’t stop un hearing it now it sounds weird 😭

[@Yukke91]

Hiroko

[@BiBi-mc9dj]

when he said "R sound doesn't exist, so we can say Brack, but not Rice " ????

[@ViickyGar]

Bi Bi I think he meant the English “R”, other languages “R” are different, kinda like Spanish R. I do know that the Japanese pronounce any word with L or R with a mix of pronunciation of these two letters. I think they have only one letter for the sound of L/R

[@joycelinlgbtq]

"We've got the Tokyo Olympics coming up." 2020: hold my beeru.

[@astarvelia1186]

😭

[@user-uk8hy3ln1d]

Horudo mai beeru

[@jutau]

Sounds like it might be happening now for 2021, if it doesn't get cancelled again.

[@sjgjne]

Still holding the beer

[@imblind217]

Beerus sama?

[@user-pk4hh7ke5b]

1:47 time traveller getting vanished😮

[@akitha_eo_aeri4074]

😂😂

[@Little1Cave]

It’s the girl who leapt through time!

[@Medbread]

“3.5” *Three point five??* That guys English was hella good, especially his pronunciation

[@666HeroHero]

@Nitty Gritty Just for the record. Nihongo jin doesn't make a whole lot of sense. "Nihon" is the country of Japan. "Nihongo" is the language, And "nihonjin" is the japanese people.

[@christopherstein2024]

If you look up you will feel small, if you look down you will feel tall.

[@dantedash]

🚬

[@sunderdog4477]

I'm Japanese and I've met a bunch of English speakers who despised and mocked Japanese people speaking English with a heavy Japanese accent aka "Katakana Eigo(カタカナ英語)", saying "oh u guys speak Engrish" on the internet. I'm already tired of getting triggered over them cuz there are always some Japanese people who speak English pretty well and I'm just trying my best to be as fluent as them. Every non native English speaker has their own unique accents to their home countries, even in the slightest, which is totally okay and i personally think it's really fun to see how we all speak differently in multiple ways, even though we speak the same language! PS: Tbh, I didn't imagine getting all those replies and reactions from you guys at all after a whole year! I really appreciate that you take notice of this situation and have your own opinions about it. Whenever I have time to spare I'll make sure to read through them. Thanks :)

[@suzunome47]

Challenge them to speak Japanese and laugh at their faces if they can't do it properly. Give 'em a dose of their own medicine.

[@khofie6319]

Give her medal

[@manansharma9872]

As an Indian, I can definitely relate to that. Even though our accent isn't that bad.

[@alaah4183]

I speak english fluently but i don't care about my accent as long as I pronounce the words correctly.

[@user-fo7bx5zp9v]

Even as a native English speaker you can still get a lot of negative reactions from other native English speakers over your dialect or accent (I'm Irish and I have had people act like Im stupid due to how I speak). It seems like if you don't speak with a standard American accent your English is going to be made fun of on the Internet 😡 so frustrating

[@EleanorShellsdrop]

4:21 actually the “L” sound does not exist in Japanese, only “R” sound. But weirdly tho they sometimes mix the two sounds especially in Japanese songs

[@kuma-kun9777]

The way they pronounce "L" and "R" is basically somewhere around the middle. Their toungue usually hovers somewhere between both pronunciation so they just speak with whichever letter that flows better with the sentence

[@tanixtx3max118]

thank you! I was confused about what he was saying

[@michaelmacdonald2907]

What i hear, i mean personally hear, is Chinese use L's for R's, and Japanese use R's for L's - always thought that was interesting. Then there's Bruce Lee !?! Anyway, to my ear, Japanese a very pleasant and articulate language, while America is sorta sloppy. -- but i've been wrong before

[@kuma-kun9777]

@@michaelmacdonald2907 chinese don't really make mistakes like that since I am a chinese myself. Since both letters are present in pretty much most if noy all of the conversations we have in chinese, it's important to be precise or else we would be saying another word with completely different meaning instead.

[@TheBaegislash]

The "R" in Japanese isn't the same as the R in English, it's more like the R in italian or Spanish. But the L sound exists, much like Kuma-kun said above. I can totally understand why you would say our R doesn't exist in Japanese

[@Skindoggiedog]

00:12 "Do they really mix up their 'R-Ls' and 'Ls'"? Yes. You just did.

[@kyh148]

“arls”

[@jrwitdog8814]

Many Japanese students learned English pronunciation through transforming English words into Japanese alphabet. That why the pronunciation has been totally changed somehow.

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

Yea, in Japanise there is only 1 single sound silable - N. All others are combination of 2 sounds.

[@BeyondFables]

ScienceDiscoverer Not including the vowels

[@lilyblack1979]

True, I think this is where it is not really effective in learning english

[@dickiewongtk]

That, is the worst way to learn a foreign language... :'(

[@ranxu9832]

That's what most non-english speaking country do. Some countries speaks better english because all syllables of english can be found in their own language.

[@gavinlam3286]

5:18 rip the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

[@user-xw5xo3bv1n]

Weeeell, they'll get it next year. I guess.

[@TA-ew9bi]

“Do they really mess up their arels and ells?” Mystery solved folks let’s go home

[@petecarter5170]

Underrated comment

[@-jiyuujin-]

"The L sound exists in Japanese whereas the R sound doesn't. So we can pronounce BRACK!" I think he got the two sounds mixed up 😂

[@dallysloe9789]

His pronunciation was fine

[@dallysloe9789]

Most English dialects also don't use tap or trill sounds, so saying 'black' with a Japanese 'r' would be infinitely less noticeable than saying 'rice' with a Japanese 'r'.

[@MCA0090]

I see that they have a hard time hearing the L sound, altough they can pronounce this sound... At least when I saw japanese people speaking my native language (Portuguese) they all pronounce the R perfectly and they don't recognize the L so well, they just replace it by an R instead. I already talked about it with two japanese girls and I figured out that they can't hear the L properly, I pointed out some words that they replaced L by R and they were surprised that they didn't notice it altough in their mind they thought they pronounced those words correctly, lol.

[@charlzlardizabal5544]

it's the other way around, /L/ sound is not present in Japanese Language.

[@abdallababikir4473]

@@NJDJ1986 lool

[@GrannySingaporePVP]

As an American I do my best to meet any person where they are with their English. As a person deeply interested in foreign language, I know how hard it is to learn second languages and beyond, so I dare not judge a person who struggles. Also I must add that I believe if you are in a country such as Japan, you should at least make SOME effort to communicate in their language first and only default to English if that fails.

[@samuraisharkie]

HopeAfterDope I so agree with this!! And English speakers probably shouldn’t judge accents like that since most can barely speak their own language let alone another one lol

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

There are examples of people speaking 20+ languages. Just shows giant potential of brain that most people don't use!

[@FOLIPE]

I have never been to Japan, but trying to communicate in the local language is something quite hard, specially if that language is very complex and different from yours.

[@GrannySingaporePVP]

F. OPE I get that, but before traveling to a country it is a good idea to teach yourself basic expressions and words. You dont have to be fluent to ask for help. They'll likely understand that you dont speak the language well and if they speak English, will probably offer to speak it and will respect the fact that you made some effort to speak their language.

[@FOLIPE]

HopeAfterDope Well, call me skeptic but when I went to Germany trying to speak the language didn't work very well for me. I guess it depends on the fluency level of the local population, because in Latin America, in comparison, you'd mostly not even get the chance to try to speak English... So, take the language into consideration when planning to travel and plan according to your level of fluency and knowledge accounting for the local situation, I guess?

[@vn773]

Damn I could see it in there faces struggling to say "black"

[@maximum-oversaiyan]

ブラック

[@michaelhoffmann2891]

And yet, those notoriously abusive and exploitative Japanese Black Companies are called ブラックきぎょう. "Burakku kigyou"

[@4ksandknives]

Friend in highschool immigrated from Iran, very good friend. He spoken broken English. Never had a problem understanding him nor did we have misunderstandings. 7 years later, his English is completely fluent and it was eerie to hear him again speaking so fluently xD. We shouldn't judge others, but work harder on our empathy and attempts to understand each other.

[@yichen1273]

1. If more and more foreigners start to work in Japan, they should learn Japanese not the other way around. 2. It's hard to learn a foreign language in the first place. if there's no need for them to use said language it's just gonna be harder. So don't take any one speaking a foreign language for granted. Foreigners speaking Japanese or Japanese speaking English. 3. Making fun of people because of their accents is a dick move.

[@FOLIPE]

I agree with number one but, then, you they have Japanese companies all over world so at least people who work for those companies should learn English and the local languages.

[@muratakburakma]

Dude I agree except the first one. Learning a language takes so much time, you cant learn the language of all the countries you will work. English comes up as an international language here.

[@FOLIPE]

Mehmet Murat Akburak That's why people usually focus their career in some parts of the world and learn their languages. Of course the higher-ups move a lot, but most people don't move that much, and then English is useful, but if you want to do business in places like Latin America you should speak either Portuguese or Spanish or hire someone who does.

[@muratakburakma]

F. OPE Yea it depends on the country and the industry. I am a cs student and I think english is quite sufficient for working in tech offices.

[@FOLIPE]

Mehmet Murat Akburak Really? I guess it does vary by area, but I think that here unless you are really high up in a company's hierarchy you will need to speak portuguese.

[@BH-ix7nq]

The guy with the red tinted hair spoke very very well. He's so humble lol

[@cryptotharg7400]

@ 4:14, that guy had his "L" pronunciation pretty much spot on!

[@nebelung1]

The last sentence about languages opening up a whole new world is so true, I think this is actually the truly fantastic thing about learning new languages. Many school students often see language classes as chore and don't even realize this aspect of language learning. Learning a new language is like watching the world through a new pair of glasses.

[@rachaelmin4234]

I don't have an issue with japanglish at all because I can understand what they mean,like when they pronounced kit kat,or milk;it isn't that hard if you just listen closely before responding

[@ScienceDiscoverer]

Yes, to prononce it correctly they need to be constantly in English field, like me, watching youtube all day and listening audiobooks... But most people are not loosers like me and have better things to do ( .___.)

[@rachaelmin4234]

ScienceDiscoverer No you're not a loser if you do those things at all,LOVE YOURSELF 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@diogoepronto]

You're probably used to japanglish, that's why you don't have a problem with it, but it would probably be frustrating for someone who isn't used to it. I'm also used to it and don't mind, but I can see why someone would have an issue with it.

[@OjaysReel]

I reckon anyone with some level of Nihongo proficiency will easily understand Japanglish.

[@jbech5473]

Kiteh Kat/Kato xD

[@-FermatsletzterSatz-]

I love this channel. It's does such a great work on addressing stereotypes and teaching how the asian people really think. Great work by everyone of you, im already looking forward to future videos.

[@painterguylincs]

There are some sound combinations in English that apparently don't exist in Japanese. Generally it seems to me that consonants are always separated by vowels in Japanese, whereas in English it's common to have several consonants running together. For example, I presume "str" and "cr" don't exist in Japanese because I've noticed many Japanese speakers find them so strange they usually don't even attempt them, they break them up with short vowels so that strawberry ice cream becomes "SuToRoberry aisu CuRemo". I think also there are fewer consonants on which a word is allowed to end in Japanese: M and T seem to be sounds that don't occur at the end of Japanese words so when they encounter such a word in another language they usually add a vowel, as in CatO for cat, and as already mentioned, CuRemO for cream. (Something similar happens in Spanish but at the beginning of a word: There are few if any words in Spanish beginning with an S that isn't immediately followed by a vowel so they insert one when they encounter a S+consonant word in English... except they add it before rather than after, hence words like strange and space and Scotland become Estrange and Espace and Escotland.) I don't speak a word of Japanese, but English in a Japanese accent is quite easy to follow once you figure out the rules, and I personally think it's extremely sexy, whereas English in a Spanish accent really annoys me. Go figure.. Incidentally the L/R transposition thing is a myth, for which we have mainly Hollywood to blame - Mickey Rooney being the most horrendous culprit. Actually they pronounce them both almost the same way, which is a kind of a cross between the two.

[@rm9308]

3:08 "I can speak English!" Well, thank god I found you!

[@rubyia312]

Huh, I've actually seen that video they showed in the beginning several times. It's honestly very catchy and the Japanese way of saying loan words were actually very helpful when I visited the country. Knowing zero Japanese but knowing how to "japanify" some english words in conjunction with gesturing allowed me to communicate enough to get by.

[@DSHndmn]

Exactly! That was the whole point of that video, not to mock or ridicule the Japanese accent, to teach foreigners the proper Japanese pronunciation of loanwords.

[@funcats1999]

I want a video of borrowed words in asia. Bc a lot of it's new words (in english too) and proper nouns aka google, mcd's.

[@samuraisharkie]

I never understand why people make fun of accents like that. People that judge non-native English speakers for not speaking good English are completely taking for granted their own native language and how hard it really is to learn English. They take advantage of the fact that English is a widespread language and assume people need to learn THEIRS and not the other way around. I personally think that’s ridiculous. We should celebrate languages and not judge or mock them. It’s understandable that Japanese natives would have trouble pronouncing something that doesn’t appear in their own language, and isn’t pronounced even in the written romanji language, where the the letter 'r' appears. And since it’s still pretty easy to understand what they are saying, the 'l' and 'r' mixup shouldn’t be such a big deal. I think one of the reasons Asian languages (especially East Asian languages) are made fun of for their accents is because of the racism that still underhandedly survives and thrives in English cultures like America or Britain. There’s a whole subset of issues and reasons connected to racism against Asians and how it connects to some people teasing the language, but this comment is getting long lol, so for another time.

[@calforrai]

English is a mandatory part of the curriculum since grade 1 in most countries around the world. I hated English for quite some time and blamed the British imperialism/colonialism for popularizing English LOL. Europeans are often praised for having beautiful or sexy accent. I know people laugh at Spanish/Italian etc accent too but nobody ever says anything good about Asian or other accents.

[@zodek11]

I mean, is just comedy, is like the korean guy in the movie hangover or like Apu in the Simpsons, or like someone making fun of americans because a lot of them are fat, is just making fun of people stereotypes just the sake of comedy, although i cant deny that some people use these things with the intent to offend people or to feel superior than them, and that of course is wrong.

[@Sha-Ne-Ru]

I never understood it either, until I learnt that many People, not just English speakers, find entertainment in foreigners trying to speak their language. Whether they find it cute, funny or something ~

[@betsywilliams3666]

I feel as a native English speaker I have English privilege. I have been to other countries in Asia, and everything will be announced in English or at least Romanized. Whereas if someone who goes to an English speaking country they will have to know some English.

[@Sha-Ne-Ru]

Betsy it's good you're aware of that though👏🏾 A lot of English speakers don't realise how easy they've got it as most countries cater to them. I've seen plenty of English speakers getting upset when a non native English speaker can't understand them 🤣😅😅😅

[@angieh1337]

When I was younger, I worked with an asian lady (never asked her specific ethnicity because I didn't want to come across as rude) and she would always ask me how to say certain English words; I loved helping. It would make me angry when customers were rude with her because English wasn't her first language. We worked great together; she always tried getting me to date her son, but I already had a boyfriend at the time lol.

[@cygil1]

She was definitely Asian then. They always have a son/daughter who they're -desperate to unload- eager to introduce to someone new.

[@a64738]

@@cygil1 LOL that "desperate to unload" gave me a good laugh :)

[@vhsdxzl]

These type of videos are amazing, ty

[@multeyemeteor]

The student isn't entirely correct. There is no consonant in the Japanese language that is entirely the same as the English "L", and neither do the English have an "L" or an "R" that 100% equates to the Japanese "R/L". The English "L"-sound is made by slightly touching the area directly behind your teeth with your tongue, while the Japanese "R/L"-sound is made a little further back by flicking the tip of your tongue against the bump behind your teeth. In the case of the English "R"-sound, the tongue sort of retracts and doesn't touch any part of the inside of your mouth, and if you want to make an American "R"-sound you also have to pull back your tongue even further, while inhaling a bit, creating a retroflex sound. The Japanese "H"-sound is also tricky to master. In terms of most interesting or "funniest" English accents (no disrespect intended!), I find the Cantonese/Hong Kongnese accent to be adorable and kind of hillarious. It's the tonal system that intrudes on the pronounciation, and it turns an otherwise flat language (English) into a wildly staccato verbal ping-pong match. I hope I don't offend anyone by saying that, but that's one of my favorite accents for that reason.

[@sarcosmic6982]

"A wildly staccato verbal ping-pong match" is perhaps the funniest way I've heard yet to describe that sort of accent, thank you for that mental image. 😂

[@Reicha]

What a perfect explanation of how the different sounds are created! :D On the subject, I grew up in Sweden hearing that Japanese couldn't pronounce (our) Ls (almost an english L), and the Chinese couldn't say R (which vibrates like "actors' Rs"). As a child I speculated they had divvied up the two letters in a war...

[@multeyemeteor]

That's a brilliant guess! =) Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your stance), this is not exactly how it works, but it's a really interesting idea that someone should find a way to work into fiction. I know a good bit of Chinese, and as you may now know, the Chinese "R" is made in the middle of your mouth by pulling back your tongue and creating a vibrating, buzzing noise right behind your teeth, and the closest related consonant that I know of, might be the "swirling R" in Slovenian or another Eastern European language (I can't remember which), yet this sound is still quite different. However, you may also know that Mandarin has an "L"-sound that's pretty identical to the "L" in languages like English and Swedish (or my own native Danish ;) ...). However, there are even quite significant differences between the Germanic "L"'s. E.g. the American "L" is pronounced with the sides of your tongue and your lower lip spread out wide, while the German, Swedish, and Danish "L" is pronounced with your tongue being more narrow and your mouth being less wide, but slightly more open. Speaking of Scandinavian languages, one of the sounds that foreigners in Denmark struggle with, is the Danish "R", which is a low, guttural trill, which is sort of like the French "R", created in the back of your throat. It's probably more related to a "G"-sound (which is also made without the tongue touching the roof of your mouth or the area behind your teeth) than "R"-sounds like the latin ones or the Japanese one. I guess the Swedish "R" is similar, right? It just goes to show that there is no universal way of pronouncing roman letters, even though most modern societies make some sort of use of them. Recently, I've found Korean sounds to be super interesting. E.g. their "M" is often somewhere in between an "M" and a "B", which is kinda sounds like you have a stuffy nose. [/linguistic nerd mode off]

[@multeyemeteor]

Lol, my pleasure. XD

[@adhddhdh3572]

multeyemeteor I’m sorry, but have you ever been to Hong Kong? Their English is really good in the areas that I visited and stayed in. And I mean 90% of the Chinese people there spoke really good English. It was even better when someone spoke Cantonese and some locals translated it to us in English perfectly. I don’t agree with your opinion of how they talk because they sound just like native speakers

[@wilfredbao9998]

I think most Asian languages do not have the “th” sound as well

[@Gabriel-l]

Wilfred Bao thats quite true. In Singapore and Malaysia. The 'th' sounds come out sounding like a 't' instead. So we get words like 'tree' instead of 'three' and 'true' instead of 'through'

[@nikobellic3716]

Wilfred Bao well Indian languages had all sounds but some indian sounds don't have in English like Buddha(normal English speaker pronounce it's Buda).....

[@Gabriel-l]

Niko Bellic but buddha was an indian guy. So you guys are getting the pronunciation right anyways.

[@sarcosmic6982]

Vietnamese does, sorta?

[@conho4898]

nope. Th in Vietnamese and Th in English are completely different sounds. Vietnamese did have the English Th sound in Middle Vietnamese (recorded as D), but not anymore.

[@mahoushoujo7278]

Repeat after me: *GUrGL* lol sorry

[@rimumbengia379]

😂

[@AbishekNADAR]

Repeatu aftheru mee Googuroo.. Oru.. Guruguru..! Lol

[@newg6135]

1:44 Guy in the back ground: *IM SPEED*

[@samizin911]

I'm japanese but I live in Brazil so I'm a portuguese native speaker but I've learned english by watching videos on youtube and stuffs. I can speak portuguese fluently because it's my mother tonge, english (decent) and a little bit of japanese but I'm struggling with russian pronounciation this language is hard, damit. My granny used to mix up L's and R's when she was alive and this video kinda made me remember her, cool vid.

[@panadaol9373]

Sam that’s cool dude, I’m also pretty westernised as well having lived outside Japan since like the age of 8. I’m fluent in English, no accent but I find it rather hard to speak a conversational level of Japanese

[@hexyko4850]

Russo não é tão difícil, apesar de que eu não aprendi tanto assim. Creio que coreano seria mais complicado. Eu sugiro que você veja bastante filmes em russo e ouça música. Eu preciso voltar a aprender a língua...

[@bimomuzakki9379]

french is really hard too

[@ArchHeretic1]

brazilians have difficulty with R's an H's tho.

[@lelechim]

Are you from São Paulo? My mom's side of the family is from there but unfortunately, my Portuguese is nearly nonexistent.

[@michelle8265]

I'm a native Spanish speaker and currently learning American English pronunciation and it's kinda hard for me too to pronounce some words in English because Spanish and Eng don't share the same vowel/consonant sounds. For example it's hard for me to make the /z/ /d3/ sounds, so i understand the struggle Japanese ppl have when it comes to pronounce /l/ and /r/

[@Yusuf1187]

From what I've seen, Spanish speakers tend to learn English pretty well. And the only pronunciation difficulties they sometimes have don't make it hard to understand them - and in fact it can actually be a very appealing accent.

[@silohkrunordneh]

Why it has to be American accent tho? unless you now living or plan to live in America maybe it'd necessary. But for me as non english native as well Juan Mata's english is much more pleasing to hear than american teenagers on REACT channel

[@BlackHoleSpain]

We spanish only have 5 vowels, so it's quite hard to match the 12 (14?) vowels used in English. With years of practice and listening you can do it, but it's difficult since language teachers here don't ever use the phonetic alphabet to teach. 25 years after I finished HS, I still learn things at SuperHolly and English with Lucy channels.

[@rburk854]

almost every teen on the React channel is going to be speaking a western American accent, but there are many others

[@jayc1139]

Yep, you're gonna have a hell of a time trying to make sounds that don't exist in your native language. For at least the Japanese, it's TH, R, and L. The R itself isn't a common sound in most of the worlds language, especially the TH sound.

[@mcm95403]

Very informative!

[@mkip2147]

This video sums up my PhD thesis on English learning in Japan. Thank you!

[@tiffany_shimizu]

If Japan is confused with their L's and R's, the Philippines on the other hand, is also confused, on their F's and P's & V's and B's lol,

[@janssenblack1579]

We know. Also "T and TH" but that's not a thing to laugh at.

[@needmeachillplaylistforstu3495]

to be fair, letters like f, v, c, q, etc. don't exist naturally in the filipino language and have only been introduced to us through spain.

[@kai-fc1ny]

Oohh

[@KPopEtSuteki]

Your comment reminds me of the half Filipino comedian (Jo Koy i think is his name) and when he says the way his mother (Filipina) pronounces his name JoseP! Still gets me every time 😂 Not mocking but I think it’s cute.

[@lillyie]

and I's and E's as well. the bisaya people invert them

[@brinlov]

One reason for that native Japanese speakers cannot pronounce "r" and "l" like in English is because they are not considered different "phonemes" in Japanese, meaning a word can be pronounced "biru" or "bilu" and mean the same (roughly put). In English, r and l are clear different phonemes, like, say the k sound and t sound are ("back" changes meaning when replacing the k sound with a t, like "bat"). Also, the Japanese "r" is technically classified as a "mix" between l and r, to make it worse. Lastly, it seems like pronouncing words with many consonant clusters (black, milk etc) is hard because of how Japanese is constructed, having almost only CVC structure (consonant vocal consonant), and rarely, it seems (not an expert here), two consonants next to each other. A reverse example for English speakers would be aspirated p and unaspirated p like they have in Thai (think the difference between the p in "pound" (asp.) vs "space" (not asp.)

[@RonaldoTalison]

Nailed it

[@vladprus4019]

It is like "th" in English for me (I'm from Poland). In Polish we do not have "th" sound so we usually pronounce "th" in English words as either "t", "d" or "f". I've heard that Germans often pronounce "th" as "z".

[@twb0109]

The guy that looks like a Slytherin sounds so proud of being a student, so wholesome

[@IvyFox1]

Love this, thank you! Makes me feel less scared speaking Japanese when I go to Japan.

[@dadcelo]

You guys rock! Mastering a foreign language isn't easy, especially when there are sounds you've never made/heard in the other language. Most of my friends here in America cannot do the "nh" sound in Portuguese (like in Espanhol).

DadCelo we have that sound in Vietnamese and it is a very common sound.

[@enginerd80]

DadCelo Isn't it the same as the 'ñ' in Spanish? Kind of like pronouncing it as 'espanyol', just rhythming it as 'Espa-Nyol' instead of 'Espan-Yol'. At least that's how I've understood the 'ñ', and when checking how Google Translate pronounces the 'nh' in Portuguese, they sound the same to me.

[@FOLIPE]

Pauli Vaara It is the same as the ñ, ny in Catalan and gn in French and Italian, but in Portuguese it does not sound exactly like that because we nasalize the sound before making it something like cataluin-ia)

[@rogelindo]

"But if you can speak English yourself, you open yourself up to a whole new world." This is why Ensligh is so important in the world. The amount of opportunities and paths you can choose just grow so big when you know english.

[@wolfgangsmidt9312]

enjoyed your video

[@DarkKnightMare]

Great video as always, love how you sometimes dare to tackle what can seem as taboo questions. In regards to this topic, i think it would be interesting if you interviewed people working at the stations in and around Tokyo. As their bound to run into a lot of questions from foreigners. How mandatory is English when applying for the job? How good is their English now? What's the rudest/weirdest thing they've wit nest in regards to foreigners? and so forth. Could be cool, but then again they might not wanna speak on in cause it could endanger their employment. But cool to see if some would be willing to talk :)

[@ladysouldja]

I would love to see how naive English speakers mess up Japanese.

[@MistressTarantula]

seriously though

[@Xynteon]

LadySOULdja 99% of the western part of the world can’t speak japanese because they can’t read kanji .

[@wheresmyrooptoff4056]

I'm korean-american, don't know how to speak anything other than english, but my pronunciation for korean and japanese is at least half decent i can't imagine it's different for most other people unless they already have heavy accents themselves like blacks or southern people

[@wheresmyrooptoff4056]

+Warped Exactly, let alone teach it. Whereas Japan and many other first world countries teach English since it's an important language anywhere.

[@tarmaque]

I can speak individual Japanese words with a fairly decent accent, but unlike most Nihonjin with English, my grammar is terrible. Like most things, if you don't use it you lose it. Mostly I'm just delighted when I understand a complete sentence in Japanese media.

[@JohnRyder-]

I love the way Japanese pronounced english or foreign words. And if you know kana, it makes perfect sense

[@xsteveconwayx]

My ex-wife was Chinese and it was really easy to communicate with her because she spoke English pretty well. She had an accent, but it didn't make it difficult to understand once you got used to it. Her grammar was also bad, but that didn't matter in conversation, because her vocabulary was correct and we had no issues understanding each other. I think focusing so much on grammar is going to make it more difficult to communicate freely in other languages. As long as you can speak like a caveman in English, I can understand you just fine.

[@nikolaynadtochiy7125]

Your ex-wife? Are you divorced? An irredeemable clash of cultures, I presume?

[@AxionSmurf]

Ahh Hiroko, such a beauty

[@Kjtravels40]

Great interview Hiroko!!!!

[@anne-em1ji]

I kinda feel lucky now that I learned English when I was little. That really helped me to have correct L, R, TH or other pronunciations that the Japanese language doesn’t have.

[@humanwithamission3205]

They are not mocking your languange, but they excited to how cuteness your languange and pronunciation

[@clovernhorndestroyerofmars3765]

Hiroko is my favourite interviewer man

[@hoangkimviet8545]

Many Vietnamese people are confused between "L" and "N" when they speak English. They are from North Vietnam mainly :-0

[@jrwitdog8814]

I am from south China and I sometimes mix up "L" and "N" as well, even when I speak Mandarin

[@shooter5503]

I noticed that especially the Hard “R” used in American is something Burmese have a hard time pronouncing.

[@summerisdisgusting6026]

Sailus Do you mean English? American isn't a language.

[@wheresmyrooptoff4056]

Now I just imagine Vietnamese people pronouncing "North Vietnam" as "LNorth Vietnlam"

[@tigoid]

Summer is disgusting think they're referring to the American accent of English

[@renegadescout]

I am an older American that went to very small rural schools when I was a student. I never had the opportunity to study any language other than English.I think that anyone that is a non native English speaker and attempts to speak the language should be given respect for trying.I'm quite happy that so many people study the English language in addition to their native languages.

[@rossmanbonifacio2430]

1:44 " *Why are you running?* "

[@puc2792]

Their pronounciations are so adorable actually🥰

[@lessigh2691]

The man in suit is handsome 😍😂

[@a.holland2262]

Being able to speak a second language at any level of pronunciation is really impressive. Whenever I hear an immigrant or refugee speak Norwegian I'm always really impressed. Not only because moving to a different country is really stressful, but because I always think about how much better they are at Norwegian than I would be at their language. Having a quirky accent is just part of who you are, where you came from. It's much more charming than it is funny

[@jamsaresurpercalifragilist936]

there English is just ADORABLE 🥺💙

[@Jesusandbible]

A velly velly intelesting video. Thank you.

[@alkestro]

Living in Mexico, I've studied English since primary school but didn't take it seriously until middle school. It's true learning English opened many doors for me, especially while diving in the Web. But I think learning just about any new language opens your heart and mind to other experiences so I'd like to learn more. I actually studied Japanese for 3 years and I'm still learning so I figured Japanese accent while talking in English is closer to the British version of the language.

[@benjaminkleile4490]

[l] and [ɹ] are very similar in terms of how it’s formed in the mouth, they are both voiced alveolar glides. The only way to differentiate the two sounds is that [l] is lateral, and [ɹ] is retroflex, so I understand why one could possible mix these two up. (Note, all IPA Symbols above were retrieved from Canadian English)

[@benjaminkleile4490]

@@sus-kupp it is an alveolar glide that is retroflex

[@TheSabbirShow]

They Are Unique I love them

[@lapisstories]

They are so adorable.

[@playerguy2]

4:16 these 2 responses make sense. However, I found it interesting that he said Ls are easy while Rs aren't usually used in japanese before proceeding to say "Brako" instead of black.

[@Dia690]

Please do have interview of Indonesian people trying foreign languages~ As an Indonesian myself, I somehow think that we (Indonesian) are having somewhat of an advantage with 'neutral' accent language, so that we "easily" learn foreign pronunciation. It's not that I'm trying to be overproud or putting down other languages, I'm just curious on what's the public view towards this.

[@manayeager1384]

I think that for those whose first language is Indonesian, it's easier for them to speak foreign languages without heavy accent like the Indians or the Chinese stereotypical accents. But if Indonesian was their second language... well, it would be a different story. Just... look at Jokowi. Sorry for any grammatical errors, I didn't use English for awhile.

[@dietcoke8114]

im always watching anime and im used to hearing them saying english words with o or to sound at the end .i think it sounds unique and made animes more awesome to watch

[@c.lyttle3017]

I found these interviews to be so interesting. Japan's culture is quite distinct in the world, but people are wonderful everywhere. Cheers, from Canada.

[@tokamohamed3122]

1:44 Look who is running😂😂😂

[@empress8971]

😀

[@dansky03]

Yes I might feel awkward talking to a non english person. Like how they pronounce the word and for me trying to understand what they want to convey using bad english or sign language. But when I’m travelling, the eagerness to help me though they don’t speak the language well is enough. It is really overwhelming. I mean the willingness more than the english language itself. Character really defines the person and not the language. This will make your vacation extra special. ♥️♥️

[@adamlozano3226]

I LOVE Japanese people and their culture! I sometimes wish I was born from another lifetime in Japan. Such graceful, respectful and amazing people. Edit: Their pronunciations were very good!

[@homonovus6]

I love that song

[@Nunexx97]

3:04 "ssrori ssori" ahahah

[@Subjectivity13]

When I was learning Japanese, we were confused by trying to combine R and L into the same sound, since they seem like two totally different sounds to us. So, it's just as difficult in the opposite direction as well.

[@Ginzumae]

Hiroko sensei 😆

[@bobby24love]

Great video! In Europe, Europeans also make mistakes with pronunciation but even more with grammar. I try to be patient and listen and answer the best I can and I only give corrections when I’m asked. Be respectful and friendly

[@lizlovely6367]

okay, first of all: HELLO to the attractive gentleman who pronounced the words flawlessly secondly, as a person who loves studying other languages, accents are definitely the hardest part, and the part that i am always the most insecure about. maybe because one of my korean friends always makes fun of my korean pronunciation lol

[@aspiringscientist1616]

What's your Nationality, though? American?

[@r.v.b.4153]

For me, accents are commonly the easiest part. It depends on you, me or others as individuals.

[@Abdulrahman_Hi]

0:12 how I heard it: "Do they really mix up their arels and l's?"

[@AmuroGermany]

Hiroko will be our Nr.1 forever ❤

[@darochavitor]

I simply love each and every characterics and nuances from different accents in English because it just shows people's background, culture and influences. It's just awful when someone gets mocked by their accent or their mistakes in a language other than their native one.

[@nickkuroshi0]

R's and L's in English are pretty close in the mouth, I sometimes forget I use a Japanese r for my L sounds sometimes. R's and L's have multiple unique sounds in English which further complicates things and the American r is weird even to the British. English would probably be easier for foreigners if we expanded the alphabet to be phonetically distinct.

[@user-tv4rq9qh9y]

This reminds me one song of Love Live "Are you ready (leady), I'm lady"😂

[@ssatriyaa]

I recently listening to Japanese Rock band and their pronunciation for an English words just unique and interesting to listen then the native English said, especially those L and R thing.

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

I agree with the statement from the one guy that translation apps have gotten much better over the years. This is absolutely true, and I used mine a few times a week dealing with tourists from all over the world. It may not be 100% (google translate), but it definitely gets you in the ballpark and is much better than winging it with hand gestures!

[@ChuckyBrideHobita]

I think Japanese accent is the most cutest accent I ever heard 😭😍 how sweet. ❤️

[@dhairya6357]

Japanese are good the way they are😃😃

[@demef758]

True, but they are also slowly coming to grips that they are doing themselves no favors by remaining a closed-off society. Personally, I think the tech revolution has convinced them that they had better learn the English language or they will soon be completely isolated again while the rest of the world marches on without them.

[@Majeed.]

@@demef758 I disagree. Not being fluent in a language doesn't make anyone "closed-off" and as they mentioned they already learn English in school but for them it's not necessary and they don't use it

[@AS-ke6co]

They sound so cute. Don't feel pressed to change a thing guys. You all are perfect.

[@alienparrot3680]

I almost memorized this songs. Byw, its one of my fave songs