What Greek sounds like to foreigners-Πώς ακούγονται τα Ελληνικά στους ξένους

I asked some Canadian students what Greek sounds like to them. I started by playing them audio from a clip of a Greek TV show. Then I asked them to guess which language was in the sample played to them. After a few guesses of mainly Spanish or Portuguese I gave them visual clues from the video so they could see the script and ethnicity of the people in the sample video. Most of them quickly answered Greek when they recognized the Greek alphabet.

Finally, I asked them to imitate what they have heard for native Greek speakers to hear what their language sounds like to foreigners. This segment took some convincing because the subjects did not want to offend anyone or seem racist. Therefore please do not blame them if you are offended, I asked them to do it and most of them did it reluctantly.

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[whoever_]

Με Τατιάνα Στεφανίδου θα καταλάβουν Ελληνικά οι άνθρωποι;

[xeniosm]

"Greek sounds more Spanish than Greek!" - A Canadian Genius.

[keysersoze]

As a spaniard, everytime I hear someone speaking greek I think they are speaking spanish until I pay attention to what they are saying and I realize I don't get anything of what they're talking. It does sound pretty similar, we share most of the sounds.

[thanoslaw]

Καλα ρε παλικαρι μου Τατιανα τους εβαλες να ακουσουν;;

[dimitra]

Εγω θα έβαζα Τάκη Τσουκαλά Χαχαχαχαχχα

[MrDhdf]

Μην απογοητεύεστε! Ούτε οι Έλληνες την καταλαβαίνουμε.

[leonardofernandes]

as a portuguese speaker, greek is SO beautiful!

[NicoLReino]

I am Spanish but I used to live in Cyprus, so I know Greek and Spanish. When I first moved there I heard people talking in the streets and I thought they were talking in Spanish (European Spanish) but when I came closer they were actually talking in Greek. It was quite awkward but funny at the same time. It sounded like Spanish gibberish to me hahaha

[lunade]

I love greek, their pronunciation and their voices are beautiful. I'm currently self learning greek, and I can proudly say that I can read it now :D

[zanna]

My neighbours are Greek so I knew. I love the language, culture and food. I'd love to learn the language one day it's beautiful.

[matiasbarth]

As a Brazilian this is interesting. I love how the Greek language sounds, and most of these people thought it was Portuguese.

[nikosgrigorakos]

There is no excuse for anyone who has learned maths and algebra not to recognize the Greek alphabet.

[joaoguerreiro]

I'm portuguese and greek was always a language very familiar to me. It's beautiful

[vitoraraujo]

It's funny but portuguese and greek really sounds familiar. Long live to Greece!
From Rio//Brasil.

[giotanannou]

Κανένας Έλληνας εδώ ? #GreekMalakas ? Όχι ? Καλά

[newkool]

To me it sounds like a mix of Spanish and Portuguese and a little Italian. I have heard it from some of my colleagues from Greece, so now can a recognize it a little. It sounds a little faster then Spanish or Portuguese. Plus, Greek colleagues are one of the most technical and professional people I have ever worked with.

[sophiafoukas]

Greek language is the richest in the world with 5 million words and 70 million word types

[katireei]

It's because Latin language that is mostly related with Italian, Spanish and Portuguese is originated from Greek language. So the etymology and acoustics are similar.

[elenahoser]

I don't want to offend anybody but people from North America and Europe seem to think they are the only ones living in this huge world. I mean, seriously, you don't know what GREEK sounds like? I can understand when they do not detect Turkish but Greek, one of the oldest cultures out there with undescribable historical heritage, they should have studied Ancient Greece in school. This coming from a Russian.

[pianowhisperer]

I have spent 4 years in Thessaloniki so, I have learnt Greek quite fast. Maybe due to the same culture. It's so melodic and harmonic language, maybe the language of romanticism💙. Greetings from your neighbor Turkey. Long live Hellas!