How English sounds to non-English speakers

'Skwerl'. A short film in fake English. Made for Kino Sydney #47.

Brian Fairbairn has directed a number of stage shows, including a production of 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Karl Eccleston is a writer and language enthusiast.
Fiona Pepper is a Sydney based actor and graduate of WAAPA. She has appeared in short films and plays.
Thom Jordan is a Sydney based actor and filmmaker who regularly works on both sides of the camera.

June 2011

• Category

  Film & Animation

[pupyfanatic44]

I'm pretty sure this is how I sound when I'm trying to sing a song but don't know all the words lol

[Mason Lievense]

So the Sims got it right the first time.

[John Smith]

I was about a minute and a half in before I realized they weren't saying anything. Fuck.

[tycright303]

lol this is what i hear when someone is talking and i dont give a shit.

[Monaco Hernandez]

what the fuck are they saying

[Franz Bluesman]

wut

[JasonMarakGW2]

I'm not even sure there was a plot.

[sarahbear892]

Spot on.

[Scott Muller]

What's with the shaky-cam?

[the1chaos]

It's a phenomenon that's fairly well-known in the musical industry for artists who aren't that proficient in English, but want to sing in English anyway. They initially just write a song with a lot of stock phrases ("oh baby, yeah baby") and nonsensical English-sounding words so they have an idea of how it'll sound. Then they have someone write actual lyrics.

Basically it's a nonsensical mixture of words and phrases that mimics the English language in tone and structure.

[XStorminTech]

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