What do you like and dislike about each language ?

Mzungu mchagga said:
The limit where to define a dialect or a language is often very fluid and socially constructed. For instance, when I listen to Swiss German I understand as much as when I listen to Dutch. Although Swiss German is considered a German dialect, while Dutch is considered a distinct western Germanic language. In fact, "High German" as it is widely spoken today in Germany, linguisticaly lies between the Alemanic (e.g. Swiss Dutch) and Netherlandic (e.g. Dutch) branch. However, Swiss Germans are also considered as ethnic Germans, while the Dutch are Dutch. So in the end the limit between dialect and language is about politics.
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Well, The Dutch are surely related to Rheinland people. Or you could better say Rheinland is Dutch. Köln is very Dutch.
 
Reinaert said:
Well, The Dutch are surely related to Rheinland people. Or you could better say Rheinland is Dutch. Köln is very Dutch.
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Here is a good map of dialects of West Germanic languages around Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. There is some spillover of Dutch into the area just north of Köln.

For what it's worth, my German-speaking ancestors would have spoken Alemannic & Franconian dialects. I actually find that I like the sound of those dialects rather well, better than standard German, or Saxon dialects, which I have also heard. Probably just bias from me, though.
 
sparkey said:
Here is a good map of dialects of West Germanic languages around Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. There is some spillover of Dutch into the area just north of Köln.

For what it's worth, my German-speaking ancestors would have spoken Alemannic & Franconian dialects. I actually find that I like the sound of those dialects rather well, better than standard German, or Saxon dialects, which I have also heard. Probably just bias from me, though.
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It's a good map.
I am from the south of the Netherlands, and I can understand the language of the Ripuarian Franks in the Rheinland without a problem.
The point is, my ancestors are partly Salian Franks or Salii.

I am a Celt from my father's side, and a Franc from my mother's side.
 
Unfortunatly I speak standard German only, and I do feel a little ashamed about it :ashamed2:

I grew up in the area where Hessian dialect is spoken, which to some degree is often considerd as the "in-between-dialect" of everything. Even though I don't speak it by myself I do understand it very well and also have no trouble with understanding most of all other dialects.
 
Mzungu mchagga said:
Unfortunatly I speak standard German only, and I do feel a little ashamed about it :ashamed2:

I grew up in the area where Hessian dialect is spoken, which to some degree is often considerd as the "in-between-dialect" of everything. Even though I don't speak it by myself I do understand it very well and also have no trouble with understanding most of all other dialects.
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I have taken a couple of classes where we were taught only standard German, but the place I think I'd most like to visit in the German-speaking world is Switzerland. How much would those classes actually help me? :embarassed:
 
sparkey said:
I have taken a couple of classes where we were taught only standard German, but the place I think I'd most like to visit in the German-speaking world is Switzerland. How much would those classes actually help me? :embarassed:
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That's no problem because everyone in Switzerland is able to speak standard German, and all the formal writing, also in shops, is in standard German, too. Only when they talk among themselves you probably won't understand a single word. :laughing:
 
Canek said:
probably beacuse they live near to spain, and are more used to the spanish accent... but people not related to spain or latin america usually prefers some latin american accents like colombian or peruvian..
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Its your opinion, to me spain´s spanish retains a certain solemnity that latinamerican hasn´t, you can call it harsh or monotony, as i can call the "sweetness" of latinamerican spanish lack of consistency, all depends on your prejudices. I love the way of speaking of colombian or venezuelan women (and i´m a woman too) for exemple, but i think the spanish in Latin America lost masculinity, I don´t know why intonation in Spain is much more masculine, more grave, so, for a woman, ok, i´m with you, maybe l.A spanish, for a man 100% spanish from Spain (except cuban, more masculine than the rest of LA).
 
True, the American people mens speak Spanish as well, as very little women, very sweet, short, is a problem, because you never know what your mood. Why men speak our language as schoolgirls or sweet princesses?
 
to me cuban accent is the worst of spanish accents. but for the rest of latin americans, they are ahead of spain's accent... in male or in female.
 
I really don't like the way the French 'R' sounds when they sing, it makes the language sound really ugly - which it of course is not!
 
I quite like English. Without actually knowing, I would simply guess that English has the widest vocabulary in the world. My friends in Serbia also like English (just phonetically), particularly with the American accent. Personally I find the American accent the nicest and definitely clearest of the English accents. However I can not stand when Europeans have an American accent. All Europeans somehow sound better with an English accent. The most disgusting language for me is Arabic, followed very closely by German. My God, German is just horrible. It sounds almost evil at times. I'm sure that Satan would be a German speaker.... Oh, and French is definitely the most beautiful sounding language overall. Most of the English world would definitely say that English spoken with a French accent is also the most beautiful. That language just sounds so beautiful. It's my dream to learn it. I also like Spanish but not Italian or Portuguese so much.
 
French - I can almost see why people think it's a 'beautiful' language but when it's sung, it sounds awful! It's something to do with that harsh 'R' sound and the way they pronounce their 'Es' it doesn't flow at all. Of course native French speakers won't notice this because they know the meaning behind the word. Just like I am sure English isn't everyones cup of tea in song but I personally think it sounds way better than any other language sung - apart from maybe Spanish, but Spanish just has this different quality.
 
Brett142 said:
French - I can almost see why people think it's a 'beautiful' language but when it's sung, it sounds awful!
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I am a native French speaker and I wholeheartedly agree with you. As a teenager many French songs got on my nerves (here is one that I particularly hated). I felt almost like an allergic reaction. That's partly why I never turned on the radio and was happy to go live in non-Francophone countries for nearly a decade. I am not saying that French songs have the monopoly of mediocrity. For example Japanese (and most East Asian) songs generally suck, but they don't get on my nerves in the same way. German, Dutch or Scandinavian languages sound terrible too in pop music (although German can sound good in folk music), but isn't annoying like French can be (ok, Dutch can be pretty irritating as well).

I think that English is the language that sounds best when sung, and it is surely when it is so popular, even among non-English speakers worldwide. Languages like Italian, Spanish, Russian and Hindi are also quite melodious. Hebrew and Arabic, which sound very harsh when spoken, can be quite nice when sung (especially by women).

It's something to do with that harsh 'R' sound and the way they pronounce their 'Es' it doesn't flow at all.
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The harsh 'r' and other consonants would be why German doesn't sound good when sung. The reason I don't like sung French is that it often sounds too high-pitched, soft, whiny, lamenting all at the same time (like a capricious little girl). The few French singers that I can tolerate all have low-pitched and very masculine voices by French standards and interestingly are all from my parents or grandparents' generation (like Michel Sardou, Serge Lama or Charles Aznavour, or even Edith Piaf who is low-pitched for a woman). I can't think of any French-speaking singer under 50 years old that I like.
 
The reason I don't like sung French is that it often sounds too high-pitched, soft, whiny, lamenting all at the same time (like a capricious little girl).
The few French singers that I can tolerate all have low-pitched and very masculine voices by French standards
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French standards?
Which one?
Polnareff?
Cristophe?
Patrique Juvet?
They stopped to sing since 30 years and they was not a "standard"...

like Michel Sardou, Serge Lama
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They are the worst singers, poor lyrics and poor music and sing for old women...
I can't think of any French-speaking singer under 50 years old that I like.
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Maybe because they are the only french singers you know...
 
Gavroche said:
They are the worst singers, poor lyrics and poor music
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I don't care much for music in general (except classical), much less for French songs... Songs lyrics are almost always stupid or shallow in any song. You can't convey anything deep or factual through a few sung words. You need to write a well researched book. In my eyes the most stupid and useless activity humans have ever created is poetry, which is completely devoid of hard facts. Songs come close to that.
 
I dislike the artificial language called Italian ( Italian a dialect of regional languages which are dialects of Latin ) that Dante created in the 13th Century, a language by which he toured around Italy gathering words from all the regional languages and creating this Italian. The problem/issue is not the way it was done, but what it has become now, a system where people from whichever region runs/work ( has the majority ) the media influences the "mode/type" of Italian spoken on the TV. By mode I mean , the regional linguistic influence comes out in the TV language.

The only true part of Italy that speaks the Italian created ( some say pure ) would be the southern Tuscan area of Siena.

Even to this day , movies are made in regional languages, which is not a bad thing as I believe a llanguage should never be lost.

Far better is to run the regional languages in primary school and Italian language in secondary school - people , young people have the capacity to learn many languages with ease.
 
Maciamo said:
I don't care much for music in general (except classical), much less for French songs... Songs lyrics are almost always stupid or shallow in any song. You can't convey anything deep or factual through a few sung words. You need to write a well researched book. In my eyes the most stupid and useless activity humans have ever created is poetry, which is completely devoid of hard facts. Songs come close to that.
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Maybe poetry and song lyrics are not only written to convey other people about some plain information, but also to evoke emotions. I like it for example when it's witty and humourous, but also when through a certain choice of words a previous plain information is transformed into a precisely targeted emotion. For me personally it is a wonderful type of art. When it's done well! On the other hand I agree that about 95% or more of all recent lyrics and poems are BS.
 
zanipolo said:
I dislike the artificial language called Italian ( Italian a dialect of regional languages which are dialects of Latin ) that Dante created in the 13th Century, a language by which he toured around Italy gathering words from all the regional languages and creating this Italian. The problem/issue is not the way it was done, but what it has become now, a system where people from whichever region runs/work ( has the majority ) the media influences the "mode/type" of Italian spoken on the TV. By mode I mean , the regional linguistic influence comes out in the TV language.

The only true part of Italy that speaks the Italian created ( some say pure ) would be the southern Tuscan area of Siena.

Even to this day , movies are made in regional languages, which is not a bad thing as I believe a llanguage should never be lost.

Far better is to run the regional languages in primary school and Italian language in secondary school - people , young people have the capacity to learn many languages with ease.
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i think langauge with accent on tv is fisologic

btw an off topic.. have you seen this video on italian dialects? :-) i like it

this spots are about italian with regional heavy cadence, not dialects

Roman

Turinese

Tuscan

Venetian

Milanese 1

Milanese 2

Sicilian

Calabrese

Bolognese
 
Speaking about romance langauages, i like spoken French mostly, then comes spanish, i don't like spoken portuguese or romanian.

In songs i don't like french, i like sometimes spanish mostly and portuguese, also romanian when sung is better than french
 
My favourite European languages are:

1. Italian
2. French
3. German
4. Portuguese
5. Dutch / Russian

Of all European languages I do speak Russian and Dutch like my own native language and a little bit of English, French and German...
 
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