Why some Asian accents swap Ls and Rs in English

A linguistic stereotype, explained.
This video is presented by Brilliant: brilliant.org/Vox/
Thank you the Video Lab members (Janet, Martian, and Mariko) who helped me with this video. To learn more about the Video Lab and sign up, visit bit.ly/video-lab
Check out Yuta’s KZbin channel here: / yplusshow
And browse Dr. Lawson’s ultrasound examples here: www.seeingspeech.ac.uk/r-and-...
A foreign accent is when someone speaks a second language with the rules of their first language, and one of the most persistent and well-studied foreign-accent features is a lack of L/R contrast among native Japanese speakers learning English.
It’s so well-known that American soldiers in World War II reportedly used codewords like “lallapalooza” to distinguish Japanese spies from Chinese allies. But American movies and TV shows have applied this linguistic stereotype to Korean and Chinese characters too, like Kim Jong Il in Team America: World Police, or Chinese restaurant employees singing “fa ra ra ra ra” in A Christmas Story.
However, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese are completely different languages that each handle L-sound and R-sounds differently. In this episode of Vox Observatory, we take a look at each language and how it affects pronunciation for English-language learners.
Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out www.vox.com.
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[@quitevice]

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

[@ZagdArts]

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

[@mjr2451]

Don’t laugh at anything.

[@bratzlover501]

@MJR well i just laughed at ur comment HA

[@eugeniovincenzo1621]

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]

Eugenio Vincenzo ok boomer

[@CH-vr2dl]

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

[@primodei]

Ah yes, imagine being a monolingual

[@wasserruebenvergilbungsvirus]

@@primodei Kann man sich kaum vorstellen

[@madrain3941]

i died

[@zackiechan2601]

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]

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

[@quotesandstuf]

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

[@DaniSC_real]

and cant talk to them

[@charliemilroy6497]

Most overrated movie ever

[@david2869]

I much prefer springy films, myself

[@bannanafruitsalad]

@@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

[@blakeestes]

@@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]

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]

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

[@frang340]

Hardest American English phrase to pronounce is affordable healthcare.

[@mark-ish]

No it ain't. "Obamacare" Easy 😁

[@jaojao1768]

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

[@christreloadedrevengeofthe7778]

That joke is funnier than aids

[@AlexisMaria]

lmao

[@yikyang3423]

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

[@johnpiers2786]

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.

[@eddvcr598]

That part!!

[@leonesperanza3672]

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

[@_skzstay1264]

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

[@UTU49]

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]

Ah, 终于有人开口了哈哈。

[@samplesample7178]

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]

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

[@petersmith2040]

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

[@mariustan9275]

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]

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]

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. 😅

[@kevintang9913]

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]

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

[@craazyy1]

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

[@cmolodiets]

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

[@linderoes7832]

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

[@linderoes7832]

They actually want to say thank you lol

[@johnmacasinag3996]

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

[@rikkowastaken]

Boi

[@krystalphan8871]

cool

[@colin3674]

Chuck Fina 🤣

[@user-cr3pn7rk2v]

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

[@xensonar9652]

@@user-cr3pn7rk2v Same difference.

[@hal8563]

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!

[@sanmaroo622]

Congratulations! それはすごいね！

[@pedropereira5043]

Great effort, terrible motivation 😅

[@arlynnecumberbatch1056]

@@pedropereira5043 you mean terrific

[@notafailure2138]

That sounds like it must have been really fun. Good for you !

[@demystifier8436]

i learry rike you

[@user-wh3kx8wy7h]

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]

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]

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]

banana

[@joeljentelson3810]

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.

[@RX1986]

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

[@fastdollar1]

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

[@grubbybum3614]

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

[@ShredST]

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

[@pepepepe5710]

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]

PePe Pepe How is 3 any different than three?

[@lilyraimey3499]

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

[@randonlando418]

Ty Thomas Boxing Training what

[@Shawsh2143]

Shes very condescending and shes judging the movie makers heavily.

[@webdevsam]

who cares? herro ho arrre yooo u?

[@error.418]

@Ty Thomas Boxing Training She's not condescending.

[@PragmaticDany]

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

[@Preposter]

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.

[@m0n0x]

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

[@initialdluvr]

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

[@DaigoParry]

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

[@EchoHeo]

@@DaigoParry those arent "tones"

[@Timothee_Chalamet_CMBYN]

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

[@eyes0nyu]

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

[@filipinojalapeno1527]

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

[@GlassFoxGear]

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

[@jenpenn22]

Riiight? My eyes were literally like ○.○

[@gregoryanto3673]

Haha me too.

[@angelgjr1999]

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

[@nathanf300]

Lol same

[@martinodonnell7096]

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. :-)

[@MEsmolinski1]

Presentation is excellent!! Very informative. Thank you.

[@n1msu]

Absolutely fantastic. Thanks for posting.

[@isaacmijangos]

can we please have more of this reporter ?! please

[@arcticbeak]

Joss Fong is incredibly beautiful

[@ItomanuId]

swegsweg yes yes yes

[@letbygonesbebygones4266]

She's as pretty as maggie q

[@TheAseanPrince]

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

[@nasirdjedi8962]

She has a subtle beauty

[@thatszion9234]

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

[@ZhangtheGreat]

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]

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]

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]

@@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]

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

[@hanifsulistiyo3559]

So that's why people gave me weird looks when I said "I have a lot of rice".

[@rachelkokomaung6908]

lol

[@AnhHoang-mm7sz]

lol good one

[@StevenLarson]

This video was so interesting, very well done, and I learned so much - Thank you! Plus Joss is so beautiful & sweet!

[@szc13]

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]

at least they try....

[@billyma6]

Oh absolutely

[@katherineheasley6196]

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]

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

[@erdniealinik]

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

[@tokm5555]

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

[@Hypie582]

@@senazumi3472 spanish in general.

[@anorexorcist4472]

English language in Indonesian: Bahasa InggRis

[@raushanaljufri]

@@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]

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

[@tokm5555]

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

[@AngelaSealana]

Would love more about languages!! This was wonderful.

[@UXtatic]

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

[@spivel6742]

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

[@Schocam]

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

[@PlanetYokoshima]

Bacon on the BaAbie.

[@optillian4182]

@@PlanetYokoshima *_C R I K E Y_*

[@another90daystochangethis34]

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

[@nelsonta00]

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.

[@yiqiwang4506]

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

[@miranx5735]

What is her name?

[@julesmapatac]

@@miranx5735 Joss Fong

[@nomdeplume2213]

I dnt think she works there anymore 😣

[@Pierfy]

Dylan Visser who cares doe

[@Phoenix_The_HeroHater]

Nice 👌

[@whatthehell469]

this video is really educating me!

[@nzarthal]

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

[@matthe6114]

When American try to learn chinese, it s even worse

[@mrnoggg]

xiaoma nyc is pretty good

[@candypop217]

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

[@emily.7668]

@@mrnoggg lol

[@noclue4210]

oof yea

[@Ravist-P]

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

[@NateandNoahTryLife]

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

[@ahmadsheikhali6177]

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]

This video is so racist

[@Craznar]

@@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]

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

[@prim16]

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

[@longhairedchild1]

amazing!!!!!!!! brilliantly done. THANKS

[@Nuffsaid22]

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

[@meezookee8491]

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]

But have you tried to say ‘Parallelogram”?

[@meezookee8491]

@@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]

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]

@@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]

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 ;-)

[@hereinmyRedJar]

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

[@SidV101]

So succinct and so accurate xD

[@billyhuang6648]

Lmao

[@billyhuang6648]

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

[@rainmaker5910]

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

[@1gorSouz4]

And yet i loved watching that movie

[@Foreignmonk34]

Very interesting video! Learning a new language definitely makes you more humble

[@Maiasgameroom]

This is the best explanation of this concept. I have always wondered why specifically. 😁❤️

[@Eggmancan]

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]

m YESSS!

[@Ravie1]

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

[@miniguyw]

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]

Ravie i know what tones are

[@HomingFung]

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.

[@eddvcr598]

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]

Sorry to hear :( Thank you for sharing

[@kyu-1004]

@agg kos what were the facts here??

[@FronkieTheSaltyRat]

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

[@eddvcr598]

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

[@OzCroc]

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

[@brendangoosen]

Great video thank you!

[@FayqHamdy]

I'm in love with Joss Fong

[@ArchOfWinter]

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]

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

[@jlhabitan50]

@@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]

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

[@pp20001148]

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

[@grubbybum3614]

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

[@troys1426]

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]

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

[@troys1426]

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

[@Me-da-Ghost]

@@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]

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

[@Gabriel-ir1zt]

Not only Americans but also British

[@RubenRodriguez-fp8di]

Please Please Please make more videos like this one! Please!

[@Sarah-re7cg]

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

[@ngflycloud]

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

[@JamesRJKR]

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

[@miaumiau679]

obsessed with* not in obsession

[@noralasiah5623]

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

[@hualunshi6849]

ngflycloud hhhhhhjhhhj made my day

[@mischievousgoblin4727]

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.

[@yaboirairai]

Omg the “WIFI IS UNBREAKABLE” meme is hilarious.

[@samuelvavia8920]

Rai Butera Secret sequel to Diamond is Unbreakable BREAKDOWN BREAKDOWN

[@jasonharvote4093]

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

[@sombradude2725]

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

[@Runningbowels]

Very interesting and informational!

[@MG-dl3cg]

Such a great video!!!!

[@ferociousbiscuit]

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

[@poikakrichiey6063]

I can. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Jason06245]

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]

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]

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]

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

[@josephm.6453]

You see joss fong in thumbnail you click

[@sbellaharris]

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

[@ZectonplaysMC]

Too bad she works for the vox

[@franciscoacevedo3036]

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

[@jyotiprakash3423]

we need a vox video on what makes joss fong attractive

[@TELEVISIBLE]

She is the best !

[@shangobunni5]

Fascinating! Thank you.

[@marzioalunni]

Loved this video ❤

[@samiikai]

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

[@xaisthoj]

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

[@TeutaTheQueen]

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

[@theloniousm4337]

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

[@samiikai]

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]

So true!

[@TommoCarroll]

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.]

@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]

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]

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

[@TommoCarroll]

@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 :)

[@_tanitani_]

Thank you so much!! After having taught English for years, I learned something fundamental.

[@carolnorton2551]

Mind blown. Thank you.

[@adireloaded]

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

[@JackTristao]

And she's gorgeous 😁😊

[@daemonace5910]

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

[@franciscoacevedo3036]

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

[@just4fun607]

i've never learned anyway

[@nrghd8890]

that's big bs.....

[@DreamRealityMix]

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]

SUUUUUUUUUCKKKERRRRR haha

[@jacobdanz2492]

WiFi Butt Poe

[@TheIllegalGuy]

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

[@grubbybum3614]

They do speak that way tho.

[@DreamRealityMix]

@@grubbybum3614 have you not watch this video dawg

[@reigee2869]

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]

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....

[@Snow-ej5fm]

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

[@fredricknietzsche7316]

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

[@luuketaylor]

Happy to see ㄹ getting the attention it deserves!

[@NICHOLSON7777]

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

[@luuketaylor]

@@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]

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

[@ellak1889]

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]

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

[@quincyquincy4764]

This is so fascinating.

[@gbrookes7827]

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

[@alex0589]

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]

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

[@aLwE17]

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

[@ANTSEMUT1]

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

[@irvinclemente2368]

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

[@valhum]

I know! she is so pretty

[@zanaxjinx3068]

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

[@Tylerevan12]

@@davidaIano damn

[@hibye-by3yb]

@@davidaIano I both love and detest this comment

[@nelsonth]

@@davidaIano your imagination is not strong enough?

[@MihilRanathunga1990]

one of the most fascinating videos :D

[@SIJSeller]

There is no "R" sound in Thailand. Everyone using "L"

[@puga4202]

I remember that when I was travelling in thailand, a taxi driver asked me, you wan taan lef or laii? I said, right please. Then he ask laii? I was like....yea...this way using hand gesture. lol.

[@aunchaleek7120]

That is not true. We do have the R sound. We just don’t normally pronounce it. Only people working in media industries eg. singers, news reporters, actors and so on. So basically whoever appears on the national tv has to pronounce R correctly.

[@Adamr1337]

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

[@PuzzleMessage]

What kind of job is that? :)

[@mistersquirrel0]

PuzzleMessage a doctor or a congressman?

[@NathanNGM]

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

[@JLee-xl4dt]

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

[@wangruochuan]

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]

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

[@wangruochuan]

@@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]

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

[@wangruochuan]

@@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

[@changwilliamwang]

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

[@amylau4086]

This video helped explained a lot to me! My first language was Cantonese, but I forgot a lot of it when I started school. I retained some, but now I know why I hear some small variations of pronunciations all the time thanks to this video! I think it was a little harder for me to hear the difference because I hear them pronounced that way pretty often.

[@karimshebeika8010]

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

[@nanamacapagal8342]

Maybe because I don't pronounce it at all

[@Matty002]

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]

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

[@MSTURF]

The dark L is really hard to notice for me

[@bethswann8289]

Plz make more videos about languages because this one was amazing

[@AndiTheValkyrie]

Very helpful! I'm doing a TEFL course to become an English teacher and it was mentioned that L's and R's get mixed due to "in between" sounds, like in Japan with the rolling R sound being closer to an L (same in Finnish). I just didn't quite understand what an in between sound meant but now I do! Thanks :D

[@xuedi]

You had Yuta in the video awesome :-)

[@shybutopinionated1428]

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

[@Antropovich]

herro to you too!

[@pussyeater69]

Yoooooooo LMAO

[@paddyl.886]

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

[@LeandroFTW]

Damn! 🤣

[@fruitoson4227]

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

[@shelbot]

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]

Shelbot S. Thats a misses degree.

[@jacobk846]

@@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.

[@27haad]

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.

[@gmarchenko]

Thanks, I was wondering about that too

[@kelinsey]

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]

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

[@lelechim]

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]

@@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]

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]

Ur English is quite good

[@Marvel2328]

As an Asian, I was scared to click on this video and see how badly they mix up the different Asian languages. Was very pleasantly surprised, this was super well done

[@tianwang]

Vox is pretty high quality, the moment I see they put the word “some” in title I know this video is going to be a well researched and factual one.

[@remconet]

This was SO interesting!

[@H64.]

Awesome editing

[@JOHNY0]

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

[@gagandeepsingh7789]

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]

Get them to follow Eminem by Manama.

[@sovietmarshmallow1283]

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]

I've known Iminim since we were sivin.

[@gibbsm]

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

[@danielx40]

Slim Shidy

[@peterpenhk]

Hey Maggie, love your performance in the Designated Survivor!

[@danialhussin7747]

Magnificent video.

[@TilmanBaumann]

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]

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]

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

[@m_uz1244]

@@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]

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]

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

[@gensour6266]

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

[@lemmuelcastro5224]

i feel you, hahaha

[@thefarceurone392]

Vavae or Fafa

[@lemmuelcastro5224]

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

[@davidjacobs8558]

Europeans do to.

[@voldemortthenoselessfreak2126]

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.

[@domonicsdaniel4497]

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

[@EdenMisc.]

This is reaaallly good content.

[@hulagu3068]

Old Chinese proverb - my wifi is unbreakable.

[@_marimopeace]

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]

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]

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

[@abdaias]

@@grubbybum3614 no shut up u

[@yuenhai]

@@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]

@@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.

[@Silver803]

This is fascinating.