He's obviously never heard Germans actually speak. I'm not saying their language is going to win awards for its mellifluous sounds, but it sounds nothing like that. Like Russian, this idea of it being an ugly language has it's roots in how most foreigners have heard it for the last 100 years: the only times we here it in America is shouted by an angry bad guy in a movie.
I've often heard that to people who speak neither language, German and British English are very hard to tell apart, if that gives you any sense of what it actually sounds like.
I'd personally much rather listen to Germans than, say, the Dutch or even some Spanish dialects, and as much as I love Polish, its nasal sounds are worse than anything in German. To me, the ugliest sound in any language is the flat, constricted "a" sound Americans often use in words like "bad."
I know I'm taking this way too far for a joke. It just really annoys me when humor is based on hateful stereotypes instead of grounded in reality.
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He's obviously never heard Germans actually speak. I'm not saying their language is going to win awards for its mellifluous sounds, but it sounds nothing like that. Like Russian, this idea of it being an ugly language has it's roots in how most foreigners have heard it for the last 100 years: the only times we here it in America is shouted by an angry bad guy in a movie.
I've often heard that to people who speak neither language, German and British English are very hard to tell apart, if that gives you any sense of what it actually sounds like.
I'd personally much rather listen to Germans than, say, the Dutch or even some Spanish dialects, and as much as I love Polish, its nasal sounds are worse than anything in German. To me, the ugliest sound in any language is the flat, constricted "a" sound Americans often use in words like "bad."
I know I'm taking this way too far for a joke. It just really annoys me when humor is based on hateful stereotypes instead of grounded in reality.
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