When hearing a language that you are not familiar with it can sound like a bunch of random sounds as we have seen before with this great example a funky, 1970’s rock song done by an Italian comedian; the lyrics almost sound like real words but aren’t. For native English speakers this series of video clips demonstrates further what their language may sound like to non English speakers. In addition this article explores what animal sounds, sound like in other languages. Check out the videos at the link.
http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2011/06/14/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreign-ears/
Along similar lines, onomatopoeia (words that imitate or suggest the words they describe) provide amusing insight into the differences between different languages. Let’s look at a few videos. First up, here are various animal sounds in Japanese, Indonesian, German and Italian.
http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2011/06/14/what-does-english-sound-like-to-foreign-ears/
"In eine Schüssel geben
Butter einrühren
Gemahlene Nüsse zugeben und
Den Teig verkneten"
Over at sing365.com, commentor Jas wrote:
"This song goes with the song Message to Harry Manback. To people who don't know German this song would sound dark when really its just a cookie recipe, Harry Manback to people who don't know italian it could sound romantic when really the song is angry and vicious. Read between the lines."
A lot of people without translating the song felt that it was demonic or Neofaschistiche (Neofascist). Unsympatische (Unsympathetic). Radikal (Radical). Which is especially ironic considering English and German share the same root language. It is not that German sounds radically different from English or any other language, it's that it has been associated with Nationalsozialismus (National Socialism).
The above section of song means:
"Place in a bowl
Add butter
Add the ground nuts and
Knead the dough"