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When David wrote this entry up couple weeks ago, I decided that it’s a really good thing I am not a linguist. Really, I would make a horrible linguist because it took me eighteen years of my life to realise this uber-late revelation about myself and other people. Or at least most of the people I ran into fit this category. And no, I am not talking about drug addicts, although with the amount of meds I had to intake in the last year alone makes me feel like one.

Ahem. The point is that when I was at a karaoke / no rae bang when I was about eighteen, I was singing Final Fantasy X’s “Suteki Da Ne” in Japanese, and I noticed that I was able to sing at a higher pitch than most English songs. In fact, that was when I realised that I can sing higher in Korean and Japanese than in English. Even when I talk normally in Korean and Japanese, my voice pitch is higher. That’s when I started to pay attention to my other bilingual or multilingual speaking acquaintances and friends.

I noticed that a lot of people who speaks Japanese/English, Korean/English, and Tagalog/English all speak in a higher tone with the Asian language and in lower tones with English. Now with some people, there might be no differences or it could even be the opposite, but from my experiences, that’s what I came to the conclusion as. I am aware that this finding has to do with the differences in the language’s wavelength and all those other linguist terms I am not familiar with, but it still kind of fascinates me. Now, whenever I know someone is bilingual or multilingual, I listen and compare different pitches in the languages as my personal experiment!

Now here are two video examples . . . which some of you may have seen. I was trying to look for better videos, but in the end, this won over because they are so cracktastic, especially with the the second one.


The victim is the one who you can hear the the differences in. And the Caucasian dude at that end — even though his pitch differences is a bit more subtler than the woman’s.


This video just about nearly killed me from “laughingitis”. I think this remake for the Korean language was done better than the original Japanese one. The boys all made me laugh so hard, especially when you can see and hear the boys trying not to laugh in their aerobic exercise scenes. Anyway, listen to the commentator’s voice here. The differences in his two tones is more obvious than the Japanese one.


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« Look Out, Albuquerque!
Get Your Music High With DJ Max Clazziquai! »

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LOL


That’s not so bad.


My parents just make me feel extra bad. They don’t raise their voice at all. It’s kind of weird.


When my mom is angry she just starts yelling Korean cuss words. It’s so hard not to laugh.


YOu know Lara and Jess… you soooooooooooooo can make a NINGIN version of this with FAM blog.. just chant things.. se7en release your album...JYP burn your acidwash jeans… Rain get your concerts back on track,,,


@Miss.Kang—Yeah, when I’m yelling and angry, it goes up even higher hahaha.

@Sakura—That was my intention XD <3

@Jerry—We’re all crazy in our own ways!  And hrm, that could also be different.  I know like when I’m talking to my friends, it’s high or low depending on my mood and whatnot, but when I’m like shopping, and when I try to bargain, I use my high baby voice in Korean, and it works. XD


LOL. I’ve seen those videos. They’re hilarious. xD


LOL!


Roflmao. Sigh I don’t think we can be friends anymore. ;P


yea, whenever i’m not at home bloggin’ it good i’m on da streetz reppin’ the hood


Hahahah Really? I never took you to be gangster. ;p


pretty mind-blowing post here tara - got me talking to myself in multiple languages like a crazy person now…

i wonder if it has to do with the people you’re speaking to?  after all, all my english-speaking friends are hardcore badasses and i don’t want to sound like a pussy when speaking to them (fo shizzle), so i use my deep ghetto voice, and all my chinese/japanese friends are real nice people so i’m real chirpy and waiiii~ with them (ハローキティ かわいい～）.


I learned good Engrish from those videos.


Haha This is so true!


For a minute there I thought you meant drugs. haha


Mine stays the same but sometimes I go high pitch if I’m yelling.


lol! I talk in a lower voice when I’m speaking Korean.



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