Most beautiful (and ugliest) language you have heard

[Anonymous]

Most beautiful: Italian

Ugliest: Hebrew; English spoken by New Zealanders

[Anonymous]

Farsi is my favorite — I think it’s the combination of the longer vowel sounds and deeper consonants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I dislike the sound of Vietnamese even more than German.

+1

It is a tough language to listen to.

Agree with Vietnamese. It sounds like all vowels.

I grew up with a lot Vietnamese kids, and someone once said it sounded like pots and pans hitting the floor.

Just so you don't repeat this in the company of others, the "pots and pans" thing is the beginning of a well known racist joke. Often told in the 80s/90s.

I was a teen in the 80s so that makes sense.

[Anonymous]

If you heard my loud obnoxious neighbor speak in Spanish, you would say it’s the ugliest.

[Anonymous]

Not most beautiful, but most fascinating- Xhosa

[Anonymous]

Love Italian, Portuguese, Hebrew, French, Finnish (sounds like elves!), Persian, Hindi, Haitian creole. Hate Dutch, German, Afrikaans, Flemish, Igbo.

[Anonymous]

Mandarin Chinese is my favorite, especially when spoken by those who take the time to enunciate well.

Latin is actually my least favorite, although that may have something to do with my association with the Catholic masses I attended when growing up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mandarin Chinese is my favorite, especially when spoken by those who take the time to enunciate well.

Latin is actually my least favorite, although that may have something to do with my association with the Catholic masses I attended when growing up.

I've always loved the sound of ecclesiastical/church Latin. It sounds so elegant to me.

Classical Latin, which is the pronunciation I learned in school, is a different story; Caesar = "kye-zar" instead of "see-zer" and Veni Vidi Vici = "wenny weedy weeky." How are you supposed to strike fear into the hearts of your enemies with that!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mandarin Chinese is my favorite, especially when spoken by those who take the time to enunciate well.

Latin is actually my least favorite, although that may have something to do with my association with the Catholic masses I attended when growing up.

I've always loved the sound of ecclesiastical/church Latin. It sounds so elegant to me.

Classical Latin, which is the pronunciation I learned in school, is a different story; Caesar = "kye-zar" instead of "see-zer" and Veni Vidi Vici = "wenny weedy weeky." How are you supposed to strike fear into the hearts of your enemies with that!?

Thanks PP. I needed the laugh today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:French or Mandarin as the most beautiful.
German and Dutch sound harsh to me.

French or Mandarin? Really? Do they sound similar in anyway to you?

NP here. Why would they need to sound similar to both be considered beautiful? Beauty is not monolithic.

This is like someone saying that they thought Iman and Kendall Jenner were both beautiful and you wondering if they look at all the same to the person.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

If anyone calls dutch or german ugly one more time i will off myself i think they’re beautiful

[Anonymous]

I wonder what non-native English speakers generally think about English? Maybe it depends on the accent?

[Anonymous]

Listening to mandarin all day gives me a headache.

Thai also isn’t great. When they sing it just never sounds good simply because of the way they have to say words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Listening to mandarin all day gives me a headache.

Thai also isn’t great. When they sing it just never sounds good simply because of the way they have to say words.

Thai and Mandarin are both tonal languages. English obviously isn't. I know I can't differentiate tones very well and wonder whether maybe native speakers of non-tonal languages don't hear the subtleties and differences.