Which is the nicest language in the world?
nicest language in the world
I find Swedish the most beautiful language.
There are too many ugly languages to pick out a single one.
There are too many ugly languages to pick out a single one.
Jasper,
That is interesting. You like Swedish. It is kind of soothing to hear.
Do you speak it?
That is interesting. You like Swedish. It is kind of soothing to hear.
Do you speak it?
I wish I knew, KT, why I think Swedish is so beautiful. I think that it is a soft, smooth flowing language--the linguistic equivalent of a flowing brook, at the risk of sounding melodramatic.
Sadly, I don't speak a single word, unless you count "ya" (or is it"ja"?)
Sadly, I don't speak a single word, unless you count "ya" (or is it"ja"?)
As far as I know, it's spelled "ja", but pronounced something like "yaa". From the little I know of it, it has a lot of cognates in English, so you probably wouldn't find it difficult-especially as you seem to like it already.
Words you already know: aspirin, kaffe (coffee),te (tea), lunch, rum (room), juice (said with a 'y' sound), etc. Of course, they don't sound exactly like English, but close enough.
Words you already know: aspirin, kaffe (coffee),te (tea), lunch, rum (room), juice (said with a 'y' sound), etc. Of course, they don't sound exactly like English, but close enough.
I wonder what future threads we will see here.
"Friendliest Language"
"Kindest Language"
"Bravest Language"
"Most Thoughtful Language"
"Language with the Biggest Feet"
"Friendliest Language"
"Kindest Language"
"Bravest Language"
"Most Thoughtful Language"
"Language with the Biggest Feet"
During a shortish stay in Copenhagen some time back I took a ferry ride from Helsingor..... (or, if you prefer - Elsinore, the setting for Shakespeare's castle in "Hamlet") ......for a short hop over to nearby Sweden....to the town of Helsingborg.
It was a very short stay on Swedish soil - just over four hours - but long enough for me to form the opinion that Swedish is definitely easier on the ear of your average British person than is Danish. The latter does tend to sound harsher than Swedish, and our Swedish fellow Europeans speak in quite a melodious up-and-down sing-song fashion which is a target either for mockery or appreciation.
Nothing on either will divert me away from my own particular viewpoint on what is the "nicest" language....to me this will always be the one I was born into and have used ever since. Anyway, in this context what does "nicest" mean exactly?
I've just returned from Libya* and I still have the sound of Arabic ringing in my ears.......all the Libyans I met were great people but I will reserve judgment on their language and how it sounds. All I will say that it is delivered at quite some rate of knots, but apparently they thought the same way about my Scottish form of English. I've been told before to slow down my delivery of English by people of other nationalities who were/are learners of our language.
*Libya - a truly astonishing country in so many ways.
It was a very short stay on Swedish soil - just over four hours - but long enough for me to form the opinion that Swedish is definitely easier on the ear of your average British person than is Danish. The latter does tend to sound harsher than Swedish, and our Swedish fellow Europeans speak in quite a melodious up-and-down sing-song fashion which is a target either for mockery or appreciation.
Nothing on either will divert me away from my own particular viewpoint on what is the "nicest" language....to me this will always be the one I was born into and have used ever since. Anyway, in this context what does "nicest" mean exactly?
I've just returned from Libya* and I still have the sound of Arabic ringing in my ears.......all the Libyans I met were great people but I will reserve judgment on their language and how it sounds. All I will say that it is delivered at quite some rate of knots, but apparently they thought the same way about my Scottish form of English. I've been told before to slow down my delivery of English by people of other nationalities who were/are learners of our language.
*Libya - a truly astonishing country in so many ways.
Damian: are you referring to Scottish English?
I agree with you—to my ears, it's a very pleasant tongue, especially on a female speaker (with all due respect to you personally as a male, Damian.) Scottish on a female speaker is warm and "cozy", if that makes any sense.
In fact, I think I can say it definitively: Scottish English is probably the most pleasant variety of English I know.
I agree with you—to my ears, it's a very pleasant tongue, especially on a female speaker (with all due respect to you personally as a male, Damian.) Scottish on a female speaker is warm and "cozy", if that makes any sense.
In fact, I think I can say it definitively: Scottish English is probably the most pleasant variety of English I know.
Yes, Jasper......my form of spoken English is Scottish English, Edinburgh variety, as distinct from the Scots lied ("language") which I am certain you would find incomprehensible for the most part. I could confuse you with that should we ever be in the position to converse face to face, but I really don't think I would do that to you! Unless you wanted to know what true Scots is really like, but if you ever saw "Trainspotting" you would know anyway, wouldn't you?
English people, especially, find the Edinburgh accent the easiest one to undertstand of all our Scottish accents, but Edinburgh and the Lothian and Borders region generally is the most "Anglicised" part of Scotland anyway...the name suggests that the English border is not far away at all....but by American standards of distance, nowhere in the UK is really far from anywhere else in these islands!
Travelling at normal speed by car you can drive up from the southernmost tip of mainland England (Land's End, in Cornwall) to the northenmost tip of the Scottish mainland (John'o'Groats, in Caithness) in about sixteen hours if you didn't stop on the way, something which is very unlikely to happen unless you can do without sustenance and have fantastic bladder and bowel control.
Thank you for your comments!
English people, especially, find the Edinburgh accent the easiest one to undertstand of all our Scottish accents, but Edinburgh and the Lothian and Borders region generally is the most "Anglicised" part of Scotland anyway...the name suggests that the English border is not far away at all....but by American standards of distance, nowhere in the UK is really far from anywhere else in these islands!
Travelling at normal speed by car you can drive up from the southernmost tip of mainland England (Land's End, in Cornwall) to the northenmost tip of the Scottish mainland (John'o'Groats, in Caithness) in about sixteen hours if you didn't stop on the way, something which is very unlikely to happen unless you can do without sustenance and have fantastic bladder and bowel control.
Thank you for your comments!
<<Unless you wanted to know what true Scots is really like, but if you ever saw "Trainspotting" you would know anyway, wouldn't you? >>
If that is "real Scots" then it is definitely not another language. No less understandable for me than Ebonics. Is Ebonics a "language"? I think not.
If that is "real Scots" then it is definitely not another language. No less understandable for me than Ebonics. Is Ebonics a "language"? I think not.
How was Libya, by the way? It seems you mis-aimed a bit on your return journey if you're in Surrey!