A casual conversation in German usually starts with the swelling of your carotid artery. This is a tradition and at the same time shows your "opponent" that you are to be taken seriously. The important thing is that both parties remain more or less calm during the encounter 😁
Being able to laugh at ourselves, and each other, is what binds us as brothers and sisters. Regardless of language, or location.
There is a difference between a stereotype meant to be derogatory, and that which is meant in gentle humour. I saddened you cant see the difference, or that your sense of self importance, means your ego is so easily bruised.
The best joke I've heard about Russian language (and it's my native language) that makes all other Russian speaking people I've told it too laugh is this: When Russians speak it sounds like somebody is playing a cassette tape backwards.
For any Slavs any other Slavic language sounds funny, by some unknown reason. Does Dutch sound funny for English speakers as most close to English language?
No idea, but I've heard some Spanish speaking people imitate English by saying wiki waka wookoo waka. Apparently the "w" sounds very distinct to them and is used a lot: "While I was walking with my wife".
Anyway, I believe that the beauty of a language is in the mouth of a bespeaker and in the ears of a belistener XD
There's an interesting short film that allows Americans to understand what English sounds like to foreigners without ever being able to understand what the actors are saying.
Totally wrong if you're seriously thinking or stating the closest language to Dutch would be English. Dutch is if course closest to German, because it is a Germanic language, too. In fact Dutch only developed around 500 years ago from the German spoken on both sides of the border. Martin Luther e.g. spoke the very same ancient version of German. So nowadays Dutch is mostly based on 500yo German with simplified grammar and filled up with quite a bunch of English words.
From my own experience of learning English I found that only about 15 percent of the people are capable of learning another language as their 2nd one. May be the rest part is just having fun from comparison of the sounds. On the other hand, for me personally Japanese sounds totally European, and Chinese - like alien extraterrestrial communication.
It's just the same old same old and once again same old over and over.... 😫😖
"This is the way" (Mandalorian)
There is a difference between a stereotype meant to be derogatory, and that which is meant in gentle humour. I saddened you cant see the difference, or that your sense of self importance, means your ego is so easily bruised.
When Russians speak it sounds like somebody is playing a cassette tape backwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtMd6PbscwE
Anyway, I believe that the beauty of a language is in the mouth of a bespeaker and in the ears of a belistener XD
There's an interesting short film that allows Americans to understand what English sounds like to foreigners without ever being able to understand what the actors are saying.
Here's the video if anybody's interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt4Dfa4fOEY
So nowadays Dutch is mostly based on 500yo German with simplified grammar and filled up with quite a bunch of English words.