English Speakers

Back in college, I spent some time teaching in an american school in Rome, Italy. While there, I became obsessed with language, and very jealous of the many people I met who were bi-, tri-, and quad-lingual. Learning to speak another language fluently was promptly added to my bucket list.  Each year I tell myself that the money I receive from my tax return will be spent on ordering all five levels of Rosetta Stone: Italian and every year something a bit more pressing comes up. [This year was saving for the down payment on a home. Catch ya next year, Rosetta.]

I found this video on YouTube [technically, that's a lie. I first found it on this blog, then forgot about it, and re-discovered it again on YouTube] and I'm fascinated by it. It's what the English language sounds like to non-speakers. I love that, as an obviously fluent English speaker, I can immediately tell the language being spoken is American English yet I can't understand a single thing that is being said. Every so often I pick up on an English word, and they've clearly got the American English inflections down perfectly. I'm still utterly flummoxed by how this video was created and yet I love it all the same.