What English sounds like to speakers of other languages

‘Skwerl’ What English sounds like to speakers of other languages – A short film in fake English. As seen on QI. A film by Brian & Karl http://www.brianandkarl.com


What English sounds like to speakers of other languages is a short film directed by Brian Fairbairn and “written” by himself and Karl Eccleston.



The effect is similar to  Hopelandic, the “language” used by Icelandic band Sigur Rós in several songs from their album Takk and is also very similar to the lyrics sang by the Cocteau Twins. The group earned much critical praise for its innovative, ethereal musical stylings and the distinctive, at times indecipherable soprano vocals of Fraser, which often seemed to veer into glossolalia and mouth music.


The couple in “Skwerl” speak a combination of mixed-up English and nonsense words, but their meaning is very clear, due mainly to the intonation and rythme used in their speech and their facial expressions and gestures – once again proving that communication is not just a binary process of word to ear.

If a conversation contains patterns taken from English but not sensible words, do we still perceive it as English?

What is it makes up a language apart from the vocabulary and grammar ?

As the vocabulary is generally nonsense in this film, but it has little effect on our understanding (as a native speaker at least) should we be putting our efforts with learners of English as a foreign language elsewhere?

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