lollipop_monkey Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Mika seems to speak pieces of quite a few languages - French, Italian, and Spanish, at least. To native speakers of these languages - how does he sound to you? As in, how is his pronunciation, sentence structure, and choice of words? Is it obvious that these aren't his native languages? Does he speak them with an English accent? To native English speakers - when he speaks, does he sound more "American" or more "British" to you? To my Canadian ears he sounds distinctly British, although not nearly as thick as, say Lily Allen. I'm a language nerd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika Mad Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Mika seems to speak pieces of quite a few languages - French, Italian, and Spanish, at least. To native speakers of these languages - how does he sound to you? As in, how is his pronunciation, sentence structure, and choice of words? Is it obvious that these aren't his native languages? Does he speak them with an English accent? To native English speakers - when he speaks, does he sound more "American" or more "British" to you? To my Canadian ears he sounds distinctly British, although not nearly as thick as, say Lily Allen. I'm a language nerd. I am a native English speaker and to me his English is beautifully pronounced, with a very faint American influence, that is more noticable at some times than others. He speaks a lot more clearly and carefully than most British people do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flopii* Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Well, it's really funny and sweet to hear him talking in Spanish! =) He makes mistakes, but he talks good anyway. I think it's difficult for an English person to know hot to talk in Spanish. So, he does it great! =D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 French is Mika's first language. Francophones will have to confirm but I'm guessing his biggest deficiency (if he even has one) is vocabulary because you gain a lot of that in your teen and adult years. But his French grammar should have been set by the time he moved to England...? His French is far better than mine, I know that for sure. As for his English accent it sounds very Americanized to me for someone who lives in England. It's virtually identical to a man I work with who was raised in England but has been living in Texas for a decade. He uses pronunciations that no Brit ever would, no matter what region they're from. I was mocked mercilessly for saying "wah-der" instead of water by South Africans and Brits. I'm pretty sure no one does this outside of North America but I've heard Mika say it. I also noticed his English accent shifts slightly depending on where he is. He sounded more British than usual at Glastonbury and less so in a few American interviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollipop_monkey Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 French is Mika's first language. Francophones will have to confirm but I'm guessing his biggest deficiency (if he even has one) is vocabulary because you gain a lot of that in your teen and adult years. But his French grammar should have been set by the time he moved to England...? I think he said once that he learned English from his father, so likely he was surrounded by French in school and in the community, but had his dad speak English to him at home. It's interesting how children are like little language sponges, and can just soak it up. I also noticed his English accent shifts slightly depending on where he is. He sounded more British than usual at Glastonbury and less so in a few American interviews. Funny how that works - your ears hear things and completely subconsciously, your brain and tongue process what you hear and spit out an altered pronunciation. It all happens without any thought - to think about the subtle differences in tongue height and whatnot is overwhelming. I love his "intrusive R" in Love Today - "wait till your mam-er and your papa's gone!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sillyjody Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 yeah, i agree with you all about how good his english is. he probably talks more like americans because of his father. and i just found out that his father is from massachusetts and i always thought that i heard a kind of massachusetts accent in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I think he said once that he learned English from his father, so likely he was surrounded by French in school and in the community, but had his dad speak English to him at home. It's interesting how children are like little language sponges, and can just soak it up. I figured that was the case as soon as I learned about Mika's background because the American influence is unmistakable. I knew a South African couple who were raising their children in Germany and their children had South African accents when they spoke English because they only spoke German with their peers and learned English from their parents. I love his "intrusive R" in Love Today - "wait till your mam-er and your papa's gone!" There was a time when English artists sounded indistinguishable from American ones in song but now the trend seems to be going the other way. Lily Allen and Kate Nash are accused of being mockney and purposely putting on fake accents for effect. I love the way Mika pronounces the "th" in "loathsome" and "clothes". Sounds very uppity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vixenbbw Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 He has a very polished english speaking voice which will be partly due to his private education and partly to do with not being born and bred in a particular region of the Country. There's such a diversity in London that there isn't really a specific accent. It's when you get to the suburbs that the London or Cockney accent really appears. I sometimes hear him say americanised words like tomato as in tom-Aa-ro which is obviously from his fathers side of the family. I've never heard him say he speaks arabic and have always wondered what language he speaks to his mum in. He and Paloma & Yasmine will have grown up speaking French as their first language as they were all pre-school age when they moved there and Zuleika and Fortune were born in France so are french through and through. Raising five children in France who are all learning french as their first language and having an American, english speaking husband who works abroad......makes me wonder if she speaks to them in French? I've heard him say that his mum sounds exactly like Jane Berkin who has a famously english sounding french speaking voice and have also heard him say his mum shouts at him if he gets things wrong when speaking french in interviews etc. It's a point that's always intrigued me! Vix x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I've never heard him say he speaks arabic and have always wondered what language he speaks to his mum in. I'm guessing since they're Catholic, his Lebanese family is also from a primarily French speaking community rather than a Muslim Arab one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vixenbbw Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I'm guessing since they're Catholic, his Lebanese family is also from a primarily French speaking community rather than a Muslim Arab one. Mmmmmmmm....maybe you're right. I'm guessing that his mum would have a better french accent if it was her first langauge too though? It's annoying cos I've stood next to her when she's been on the phone and she has spoken about me to Paloma but she was too far away to hear her accent etc. She did actually speak to Paloma in english though.....(can't believe I've only just realised that after all this time!! duh!! ) so I'm more confused than ever!!! Vix x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingeyesclosed Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Ohhh Poor Thing, His Mum Shouts At Him? I Believe He Does Sound Very French While Speaking French, Though He Does Lack Vocabulary. He Makes Mistakes While Speaking Spanish, But He Is The Cutest Thing Ever. There Is Nothing Sexier Than Someone Trying To Speak Spanish When Its Not His Mother Tongue:) And, Well, If You Ask Me About His English Accent, I Believe He Does Not Sound American At All Except For A Few Words, Like When He Says "budderfly" Instead Of "buttahfly"(trying To Show How British People Would Say It Lol). But Then Youve Got Words Like Lady Where He Sounds Extremely British. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Mmmmmmmm....maybe you're right. I'm guessing that his mum would have a better french accent if it was her first langauge too though? I've never heard her speak and don't know anything about the French speaking Lebanese community but maybe their accent is very distinct from the French. French Canadians don't have Parisian French accents either. Just like Canadian anglophones don't sound British. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoFi_89 Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 mika is very hot when he is spaking spanish!!! hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Mika seems to speak pieces of quite a few languages - French, Italian, and Spanish, at least. To native speakers of these languages - how does he sound to you? As in, how is his pronunciation, sentence structure, and choice of words? Is it obvious that these aren't his native languages? Does he speak them with an English accent? To native English speakers - when he speaks, does he sound more "American" or more "British" to you? To my Canadian ears he sounds distinctly British, although not nearly as thick as, say Lily Allen. I'm a language nerd. My primary language is Spanish. I strongly believe he sound amazing. I love how he tries to accommodate to the language of each country LOVE YOU MIKA yayyyyyyy!!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasabi_tea Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 When I first heard him speak (in English), I thought he sounded somewhat like my cousin Adam XD~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happikali Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I love the way he says 'dirdy' & then 'flirty' ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico_collard Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 My primary language is Spanish. I strongly believe he sound amazing. I love how he tries to accommodate to the language of each countryLOVE YOU MIKA yayyyyyyy!!!! That is so cool how he does that! So, I guess the Aussies can expect him to speak more like us next time??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahfromParis Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 My two cents : as a native french speaker, I can say he has a very nice french accent. In fact, to my ear, he has almost no accent at all. He sounds pretty "parisian" but he also somewhat speaks like a little kid. This matter was discussed in another very interesting thread (cant' find it right now, sorry !!! ), where a MFCer, who was studying language sciences, explained us that it came from the fact that he had left France when he was nine, so his french is somewhat "stuck" to this point. In fact, his voice actually sounds a little bit higher pitched when he speaks french, and there's aslo a certain "shyness" which I don't hear when he speaks english ( but, then, english in not my first language, so I may me missing things...) Anyway, to sum it up, his french is very good, he makes very few mistakes and sounds absolutely cute !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico_collard Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Well, to me, he sounds sorta upper class English... but the way he pronounces words sounds a little American... it comes from his father (friends of mine have the Ameican accent but live here, and their daughter sounds a little American)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armande Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 That is so cool how he does that! So, I guess the Aussies can expect him to speak more like us next time??? haha, that would be cool, ive seen an interview, well i think it was someone following him around backstage and he tried to do the aussie accent, it was so funny! oh! i just remembered an interview from 'sunrise' in australia where he spoke with a little aussie accent without meaning to (it was very slight! lol) thats very interesting Sarahfromparis! lol i think he sounds cute in any language Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahfromParis Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 oh! i just remembered an interview from 'sunrise' in australia where he spoke with a little aussie accent without meaning to (it was very slight! lol) I think I can remember an interview where he said that his accent was in fact constantly changing, because he had so many influences, and he was still trying to stabilize it... I think I can understand what he means : I'm french, I learnt english from the age of 4 and had english teachers coming from US, England, New Zealand and Australia... So my accent is a mess !! And I noticed that after a little while, I kind of take the accent of the person I'm talking to... It's a bit strange... I call this my chameleon accent ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mika_me Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 well since i dont speak french i wouldnt know if he says everything right but to me it sounds like so damn perfect lol and i havent heard him speak spanish so yeh im lame and ummm oh yeh...i was reading about the south african part of this thing and im south african and i moved to australia when i was 5 and im 15 now and i still have my accent and i didnt realise how weird i sound when i say water like with the t not a d...but yeh fun to think about:thumb_yello: bye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happikali Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I think I can remember an interview where he said that his accent was in fact constantly changing, because he had so many influences, and he was still trying to stabilize it...I think I can understand what he means : I'm french, I learnt english from the age of 4 and had english teachers coming from US, England, New Zealand and Australia... So my accent is a mess !! And I noticed that after a little while, I kind of take the accent of the person I'm talking to... It's a bit strange... I call this my chameleon accent ! Hehe ... I 'do' the chameleon accent all the time with foreign speaking ppl .... ... can be a tad embarrassing .... but it's helpful for my acting ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahfromParis Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Hehe ... I 'do' the chameleon accent all the time with foreign speaking ppl .... ... can be a tad embarrassing .... but it's helpful for my acting ... hehe, I know what you mean !!! can be very embarassing when people look at you like " Are you making a fool of me or what ??? " But yes, it's very useful sometimes.. I was travelling in India a couple of years ago and I think it saved my life ! Being able to pronounce "seperrate blak tee" in order to be understood is precious !! lol !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happikali Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 hehe, I know what you mean !!! can be very embarassing when people look at you like " Are you making a fool of me or what ??? "But yes, it's very useful sometimes.. I was travelling in India a couple of years ago and I think it saved my life ! Being able to pronounce "seperrate blak tee" in order to be understood is precious !! lol !!! Hehehe .... yep .... was helpful for me in India too !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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