(French) Talking Bird Li'l Babi Speaks English!

[nataregimacurre]

Good! My bird can speak only Japanese, so I'd like to teach him some English words.

I'll show him this movie right now. Thanks.

[CVersailles]

@nataregimacurre: You bird may also be inspired by "Incessant Talking Budgie Li'l Babi"... (on my channel).

[dalsch]

I love this video - how old was Babi when he started speaking?

[CVersailles]

Babi was about 3 months old when he began talking "human." His first word? Babi! He is now 5½.

[RoketTM]

Haha it sounds like he has an accent. xD

[CVersailles]

He is a French-speaking bird learning English as a second (human) language...

[RoketTM]

@CVersailles Yes I know that but I didn't know that it was like us having an accent after learning a second language

[CVersailles]

Sorry for the redundancy, RoketTM (not everyone reads the description...) -- what you are forgetting is that they learn the human languages from: US! (Including intonations and all the other subtleties of language...)

[amyliisa]

Il est tres jolie. Mes petits undules sont enchantes!

[CVersailles]

Il faudrait peut-être leur faire écouter Babi lorsqu'il parle en français pour qu'elles apprennent cette langue...

[CVersailles]

That's fantastic! Thanks for the tip, clarity6494. It works extremely well!

[DaFreeLockerzInvites]

boobies?

[CVersailles]

The full text of Babi's speech is found in the vid's description.

[v74Bvdmp]

i'm gonna put that bird in a pie cook it and eat it

[CVersailles]

Hopefully you'll have other birds to put in the pie, because at 32 grams including the feathers, you will have a very small pie indeed.

[Miagirl33]

AWWW Your bird is so smart! You must have worked very hard

[CVersailles]

Actually, they learn very fast and you can tell that talking budgies have "the ear" for languages. They pick up things like accented syllables, etc., quite easily... At first he was very reticent and would not repeat any English words, but gradually, he came around! He has therefore made much progress since this vid was filmed.

[v74Bvdmp]

he's not fucking speaking english hes a foreigner i think he should be deported

[CVersailles]

I'm afraid you have missed the point... Perhaps you did not have time the read the vid's description. The bird is not FRENCH, he is French SPEAKING. He has learned English as a second human language and is now bilingual. I doubt he would be deported from Canada for speaking his country's 2 official languages...

[896camliz]

how do you teach a budgie to talk????

[CVersailles]

A "talking" budgie (usually a male) begins "talking" by himself, i.e., you will notice attemps at reproducing sounds he hears in his environment. The first word is often his name because you are saying it frequently and using it to address him directly. When you notice that you reinforce it by "teaching" him, repeating often and with emphasis.

[896camliz]

I have heard my budgie(male) attempt to talk and thanks for the tip! Li'l Babi is so cute!

[CVersailles]

So there you go! I hope you get a formidable speaker! As for Babi, he's the CUTEST budgie (see "the CUTEST Budgie Li'l Babi" on my channel). LOL!

[Tactual]

lol very cute I can't really understand what he is saying though

[CVersailles]

You will find the full text of Babi's speach in the vid's "description" (click on "more info"): if you follow along with the text, you will understand EVERYTHING he says!

[Tactual]

@CVersailles ok... *Backs away slowly*

[SamanthaL49]

your bugdie is soooo cute!!! i have a cockatiel at home and i LOVE birds!!

[CVersailles]

Hee, hee... We've had Babi for 4 years now, and we STILL can't get over how cute he is...

[Sammy78girl]

THEY TALK SOO FREAKIN SCARY!

[CVersailles]

Yes, you are correct: there is a kind of "rasp" to a budgie's talk...

[tanubum]

the wolf whistle claire he picked up himself from hereing my mobile phone lol its my incoming text tune so i was amazed when i first heard him do it lol its really plain to so i,m chuffed i,m hopeing to place a video on here when i can arrange it

[CVersailles]

I'm looking forward to seeing that vid.

[log20]

THis doesn't scare anyone else? the beginning it like white noise and a scarey whisper

[CVersailles]

So sorry that our budgie Babi got you scared... Budgies mostly talk in this kind of "raspy whisper"...

[tanubum]

he,s awsome so cute and enormously adorable it shines thou that u obviously love your bids i,m allso a great budgie lover yet ones enough for me iv had him 9 weeks now he,s allready sating a few words and does the wolf whistle

[CVersailles]

The wolf whistle, ey... that's great!

[DeSiReIsFaTaL]

that looks a lot like my budgie

[bird0l0v3]

Parakeets and lovebirds are my favorite birds!

[CVersailles]

Lovebirds are cool... but we prefer parakeets!\

[bird0l0v3]

hes absolutely adorable! a beautiful neon yellow....:)!!!!

[CVersailles]

We think he's the cutest budgie, ever... (though not the most "handsome") but there is bias involved...

[bird0l0v3]

I love your videos!...<3 your bird truly loves you..:)

[CVersailles]

Thank you bird010v3, we are VERY attached to this budgie...

[parakeet8157]

Lil Babi is so cute. U must spend alot of time with him. Thanks again for sharing your amazing birdie!!!

[CVersailles]

We are 2 retired people living alone with our birds, so we have more time to spend with them... It makes a world of difference for the birds...

[Ollieollieapple]

Such fun to listen to his cute little voice!

[CVersailles]

I'll take that as a personal compliment, since it is my voice that Babi imitates. LOL!

[HattielovesTimneh]

Unitl I have sound from my PC George is learning "Frere Jaques" every morning as I uncover the cage and turn on the full spectrum light. I look forward to being able to introduce her to Li'l Babi's words. I first called her "hebebe", the syrian for baby, to soothe her as I brought her terrified from the pet store for lonely Bran. She still likes the name and sometimes I think I hear Bran call "Baby" to get her to fly (alas her wings are clipped)

[CVersailles]

"Frère Jacques" is a very good choice, as each phrase is repeated twice... The wings will grow back in time.

[HattielovesTimneh]

I am having technical difficulties at the moment and I can not get the sound of this video, much to Bran's chagrin. I am trying to fix this so I can use the videos to teach some french to the new budgie in our house, she is a girl but is very young and a good mimic of the songs I whistle to her. I think she may like french as it is often more melodic than Midwestern US english to the ear.

[CVersailles]

In this vid Babi speaks English exclusively, so for French, you should use other vids ("... Li'l Babi Speaks! (French...)" or "Self-Wooing Li'l Babi..." or "Frenzied Li'l Babi..." among others)

[HattielovesTimneh]

Did you teach Babi to say thankyou? My budgie Bran says thankyou when I clean his cage or leave him some greens out on the kitchen table. I think he picked it up in his first home where his cage was in the dining room area hearing my neices being taught to say please and thankyou at meals. Curious little creature my little feathered friend, bienvenue Babi et Familie!

[CVersailles]

Because we do not speak English in our home (we are French speaking), Babi cannot "pick up" any English words, only French ones. We have deliberately taught him all the English words that he knows, and he now knows many more than in this vid (the problem is that his English words and phrases are most often intertwined with French words and phrases).

[typennrules]

do you ever think about teaching him a different lanugage like german or mexican?

this is my friend's question.

[CVersailles]

Babi speaks French because it is OUR monther tongue. He has learned English because it is OUR second language. We know very little Spanish, and even less German...

[typennrules]

I will also tell my friend that. She has HDD so she is kinda curious sometimes.

[CVersailles]

I am happy to answer all reasonable and legitimate questions...

[badkitty1994]

It's easy to understand what my budgie saids, but its harder to understand yours, some of that stuff he saids i could almost mistake it for what my birds saids! (eg: Hello Buddy good boy Buddy)

[CVersailles]

It's always easier to understand one's own budgie... And "Buddy" DOES sound a bit like "Babi"... The full text of Babi's speech is listed in the vid's description if you care you have another listen while following along... (Remember that English is his SECOND human language, and French is really his human mother tongue... and that we don't commonly speak English in our household...)

[martic547]

OMG i couldn't understand very clearly what he was trying to say but it was amazing to hear him try...so awesome!!! they do try to make contact with us mean humans!

[CVersailles]

If you click on "more info" at the right of the screen, you will find the full text of Babi's speech.

[Rasanjana]

At 0:15, I think I heard the bird say, "Shit." Haha..it may also be my mistake.

[CVersailles]

The full text is in the vid's description (on the right side of the screen in the "More..."): at 0:15, he says "such a good Babi." I doubt he would say "shit" as we do not commonly speak English in our household and he only knows the English words that we purposefully teach him... (And we have NOT taught him "shit"...)

[magmajc]

how can u make birds talk?

pls i have two..

what should i do?

[CVersailles]

When there is more than 1 budgie, it is doubtful they will use human speech and will likely prefer budgie speech. Also, females are much less likely to speak... Do you know the sex of your budgies? You don't MAKE them talk: they start trying to imitate the sounds you make and when you notice that you encourage them. When budgies only have humans as their "flock" they are more likely to want to talk "human"; when there is another budgie... it's a whole other ballgame!

[MoussierSnake]

Good Babi! You make my day at work a

happy day! Thanks a bunch!

[CVersailles]

We do what we can...

[budgiebreder]

in your comments i notice you say he says "Babi speaks, Li'l Babi yes, yes, rough 'n' tough 'n' tough" i think he puts in an "english" after speaks am i right or am i just hearing stuff? lolz why did you teach him "rough 'n' tough"

[CVersailles]

Could be... I don't hear it at that spot, but my ears aren't as young as they once were... "Rough 'n' tough" is one of the first English things I taught him, 'cause that's what he is! He's very strong for a small budgie (34 grams), wants to boss around (we call him "the li'l boss of the privy"), and especially likes to throw things very energetically (see, for example, "Nice Toys in Babiland").

[budgiebreder]

he is so cute! lolz my house bird weighs about 90 grams he won't sit still on a scale! lol he is a show budgie yours looks more like what a nationals winner near me would call a 'trash' bird but the weird thing is that "trash" budgies usually turn out the best housebirds so it is all good "trash" isn't paying out birds like yours it just saying they are smaller than the show bench winners that all oh and way cuter too! he so cute!(yours mine just won't stop biting my earings lol

[CVersailles]

NINETY grams?????? You must be kidding... Not to be offensive, but there aren't that many of those English show budgies around these parts, and they have always looked kind of "weird" to us: too big, and not very "lively looking" (ie, they look like they just sit around all day and do nothing). We especially appreciate our budgie's energy level (very high) and his love of living.

[budgiebreder]

well it more like 8- but english show budgies are quite big i myself am still surprised by them! thyey are the same but larger build and one heck of alot more feather! also very cute when they wanna b

[sexybirdyisme]

not bein weird but i have a budy of ma own nd if he suddenly spoke i would b scared lol

[CVersailles]

They don't "suddenly" speak: they begin by trying to imitate some of the sounds we make; they will then pick up on a word, often their name since they hear it often; given encouragement, they will repeat that word and correct misprononciations gradually if any; then they start picking up others words, and so on, and so on...

[wjv4me]

Very cool!

[CVersailles]

Thank you wjv4me: I'm glad you appreciate our budgie's efforts to learn a second language...

[budgiebreder]

third if you include the fact he speaks budgie also lol

[CVersailles]

You're quite right, budgiebreder. We tend to overlook their "native" language, and Babi speaks budgie very well, it seems. (Although I am not qualified to judge...)

[budgiebreder]

i don't think anyone is qualified

[bluebirdies]

thats soo koolz they have a whisperin raspy voice wen they talk!!!!! i feel like my budgie is talkin but she just makin sweet sounds ;]

[CVersailles]

That's it exactly! A raspy sort of whisper... Not easy to record: the microphone is right in the front of the cam, so it has to be practically in the budgie's face to capture that "rasp" effectively... Thanks for the comment bluebirdies!

[linncamilla87]

She has a beautiful voice :) My budgie can say some norwegian words, but now I'm trying to teach him "I love you".

[CVersailles]

Our budgie (it's a HE, by the way) was very reticent to learn another language at first... I think it's a question of "sonority"... But in time, I'm sure you will succeed with "I love you"!

[linncamilla87]

sorry, I meant to say "he", just red through your comments and saw some people saying it was a girl, and u said it was a male, so I think my brain played me a trick, so I wrote she but meant he :)

[briahna93]

um how did u get it to talk?

[CVersailles]

Babi began talking by himself while still very young. When he had acquired a respectable vocabulary in French (his and our mother tongue), we began to teach him English. At first he didn't take to it at all, but then he began taking a liking to it and has been learning new English words phrases ever since...

[mojave19]

My native language is English but I've been trying to teach my budgie "Bonjour, Cherie" with no luck since I found him two weeks ago and I'm turning blue in the face repeating it to him. Do you think it might be easier for a budgie to learn a Germanic language such as English quicker than a Romance language like French? I read they like the harder sounds...the d, k, t and so on which Romance languages don't emphasize.

[CVersailles]

My own thoughts on that are that budgies don't only have super hearing capabilities, they also have the "ear"... I believe they can replicate any language, but they can be picky concerning which words they want to repeat. It's more a matter of what makes an impression on them. You will find also that sometimes they will not want to repeat a given word for a year or two, and then, suddenly, out it comes!

[jeebateeba56]

my two year-old green cheeked conures love watching babi! they are starting to say rough..tough... its quite hard to understand what they are saying but they are definately picking it up!!

[CVersailles]

That's great! My sister had a brown-throated conure who now lives with her daughter (see "Parrots Showing Their True Colours" on my channel), but he never said a word... TWO conures who want to talk is fantastic...

[BuddhaKnowsBest1]

Wow!! Awesome talker and she looks just like my female budgie "Maybelline" haha

[CVersailles]

Thank you BuddhaKnowsBest1. Babi is a male budgie and his name is short for "babillard" ("talkative" in French). (I think Maybelline is a fantastic name...)

[androclestipster]

How priceless. Li'l Babi is adorable. Thanks.

[CVersailles]

Thanks: Babi has new English words, but we haven't had a chance to focus on that in the recent past. He seems very much at ease with this "second language."

[meriprem]

I believe (from personal experience) that animals and birds DO understand what we say to them - it is only us humans that must learn how to hear THEM - so will you please tell your little Babi that Meriprem says what a very good, good little boy he is, what a most darling budgie-boy, and that I admire and adore his sweet and clever nature - oh, and what lucky "parents" he has! Thankyou.

[CVersailles]

Message relayed. I hope I didn't forget anything!

Thank YOU.

[meriprem]

Will you have time in the near future to post new Li'l Babi videos? I've enjoyed all the others so much. And when the day's been a little rough, I log on sometimes and watch a few of them again - never fails to bring more joy.

[CVersailles]

I am working on 2 new vids now, but don't think they'll be ready until another week... Thanks for this thoughtful request meriprem!

[RedEyedWhiteWolf]

...

[jilliebo17]

I can't believe that you have been able to teach a female budgie how to talk! I have never seen a female talk! I have been trying to teach my female to talk for 2 years now, and still no luck! She won't even learn how to wolf whistle! You have done a great job!

[CVersailles]

Babi is a MALE budgie! His cere can look pinkish in some vids, but it is actually "mauvish." It is not deep blue as most males, but that could be due to the "harlequin" mutation (no lines on the head). Thanks for the comment jilliebo17.

[vblaze52]

I have fallen in love with your lil Babi.

I lost two of my budgies, Figaro and Baby in the last two months to tumors. My Baby died last Monday and I was so sad that I came to YouTube to see videos of lovely budgies to try to feel better. Your darling Babi has made me laugh and feel joyful to have had the love of my own two wonderful boys.

Thank your and kiss Babi for me.

[CVersailles]

Kiss transmitted. A big one, 'cause Babi likes "BIG" kiss! I'm so sorry for your loss... We do get very attached to these wonderful feathered friends, don't we... Babi is more than happy to contribute a little joy here and there, as he is himself a very happy fellow, always in a good mood! Thanks for this lovely comment vblaze52.

[njaeanna]

warboop told me to check out your videos, and boy am I glad she did, Babi is amazing :) And such a beauty too. A credit to you :D

[CVersailles]

You (and warboop) are much too kind... Most sincere thanks...

[StoneygateSquirrel]

So sweet. Li'l Babi is really coming on well. I love it when budgies pick up on unusual phrases "rough and tough" is my favourite.

He's a clever boy with good manners - he always says "thank you"!

[CVersailles]

To complete the circle, I think I'll teach him "please" next... Thanks for the comment!

[erra404]

Your budgie saying 'rough and tough' brightens up my day! Of all he says in English, to me that is the funniest.

He learns fast! I had a budgie when I was a kid. He never talked, but he imitated household sounds. They are good entertainment.

[CVersailles]

Whether they talk or not, they usually provide entertainment at its best for sure! "Rough and tough" is the first thing I taught him, 'cause that's what he is! Thanks for the comment erra404, and happy to contribute to the brightness of your day.

[Anhinga78]

I just love your budgie! My favorite part was "Li'l Babi's toys, toys for Babi, Thank you cute." So adorable!

I'm glad you posted the words. It was fun following along:)Li'l Babi speaks very clear. What a sweet little voice he has.

[CVersailles]

I'll take that as a compliment for myself, as he speaks exactly like me! Thanks Anhinga78.

[warboop]

what a talker in (english )as well as (french)WOW!! he is a 100% fantastic budgie friend .I just love him what a sweety.

[CVersailles]

I'll have to tell Babi how much love he is getting from YouTubers... He doesn't have a clue! Thanks for the comment warboop!

[neelubird]

I tried listening to this first without reading the info to see if I could hear the words myself. I managed to pick up "rough and tough", "nice toys", "Babiland" and "big kiss x"- he's doing very well:D

[CVersailles]

Didn't you get "Babi speaks English"? I think he says that very well (but when it's your own budgie...) All kidding aside, thank you for your encouraging comments!

[BudgieLover]

Very well done, Li'l Babi and Claire! Have fun.

[CVersailles]

We certainly will, and do! The basis for this "experiment" is that "it's all in good fun!" and is not harmful to the budgie in any way. Now, at least, when we have English speakers over, they'll understand some of what Babi says. Thanks for the comment BudgieLover!