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I always thought that, to. But I Google-translated a sentence into Afrikaans, then translated that into Dutch, and almost every word was different. Mostly spelling differences, but I would assume significant differences in the sound of the spoken language, which is the topic of this thread. Just as English would sound very different in Jamaica than in Edinburgh. Or French in Senegal or Quebec. One might be pleasing to a foreigner's ear, and the other not.
I see your point but those dialects in English and French you mentioned are still considered English and French.
A lot of Afrikaans, is "archaic" Dutch, held over from the 17th century. Google translate doesn't always nail it.
To me, the Romance languages sound lovely to the ear. Much more so than any Germanic language. So I am not surprised that Germanic languages sound harsh to those people.
I think both sound nice but in different ways. Romance languages are very melodic where as Germanic languages tend to be rhythmic.
I read that German and Dutch are very gutteral and harsh languages, and that English is soft spoken. I think English will get alot of votes, but i am not sure, i don't know how non-english speakers hear English.
Well anyways that is it for me, i personally won't vote and will only read what other says.
I once came across a reference that surprised me-that English has a whistling sound. Due to the use of "s" for plural words.
I read that German and Dutch are very gutteral and harsh languages, and that English is soft spoken. I think English will get alot of votes, but i am not sure, i don't know how non-english speakers hear English.
Well anyways that is it for me, i personally won't vote and will only read what other says.
Dutch really sounds guttural. German, depends on the accent. The German as spoken in Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland don't sound me harsh at all.
I just went through the Scandinavian countries, last year, and the sound of Swedish didn't strike me as all that pretty. Actually I didn't like the sound of it. It reminded me of the way that the English-speakers make fun of it, and kind of exaggerate it. I could see why they make fun of it, basically.
When I went to Germany though, I was expecting it to be grate on my nerves. I hardly noticed the language having any effect on me whatsoever.
I don't have any opinion on Danish, although it sounded fine to me, and when I went into Sweden, I didn't like it. So, I guess Danish must have had a very neutral effect on me, or a good one. But, in contrast, I can easily say that Danish sounded more pleasant to me than Swedish.
Just out of curiosity, do people who don't speak German hear any differences between those dialects?
The first two sounded very similar to me.
The third had a very different feel, but I couldn't tell you in what way. I liked that one though. But I couldn't tell if that was the manner of the person, as it was so much more informal than the others, and more casual.
The fourth was formal, and that took away from me from trying to find any regional dialect.
As another aside, the girl in the first one was hot. The accent was not a 'hot' accent though. The accent of the third would probably be interesting to hear on a female that looks like #1 though.
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