# Which East Asian language do you find the most beautiful?



## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Least beautiful?

On a related note, I just heard Mongolian for the first time. It sort of sounds like Korean with some crazy consonants added in. Apparently it is written in Cyrillic, like Russian. Weird.


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## monotonous (Feb 1, 2013)

japanese <333


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## M0rbid (Jan 11, 2011)

japanese. Chinese/ Mandarin is the worst.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

*Related Videos*


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## Meggiepie (Jan 27, 2016)

Japanese is the best imo. It has a very nice sound to it. I can't explain it, but it just sounds really nice to the ears. Mandarin and Cantonese are the hardest for me to listen to. They just always sound really harsh to me.


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## M0rbid (Jan 11, 2011)

Meggiepie said:


> Japanese is the best imo. It has a very nice sound to it. I can't explain it, but it just sounds really nice to the ears. *Mandarin and Cantonese are the hardest for me to listen to. They just always sound really harsh to me.*


100% agreed. People in the subway get so aggravated when they hear these Chinese ppl talk. The language just sounds ridiculous.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

*Japanese*






*Korean*






*Tagalog*


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

If anyone has examples of the languages I didn't cover, please post them.


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## McFly (Jul 15, 2014)

Japanese. Its the most graceful sounding.

Some are like nails on a chalkboard.


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## monotonous (Feb 1, 2013)

komorikun said:


> *Japanese*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


damn that korean chick's hawt


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## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

Hm I like Japanese but Korean sounds the most pleasant I think, but that might be because I understand more Japanese so I'll be concentrating more, and a lot of the time either understanding or trying to understand, but Korean is just like this melodic blur and I might know two words and recognise certain verb endings cause they remind me a bit of Japanese sentence structure like sumnida (not sure if writing that correctly romanised?) reminded me of masu form in Japanese while listening so I looked it up one time. So it's just easier maybe, less work since I'm not trying to learn Korean lol.

There are some sounds in Mandarin I like like this one r sounding kind of sound. I have literally no way to describe what I'm talking about but it's OK because Mandarin isn't winning anyway for me.

Anyway so based purely on how the language sounds the answer is probably (almost definitely) Korean, but I'm going to vote Japanese because we go way back, and I need to continue learning it at some point... And also they'll revoke my weaboo card and that you know, nah I can't even be bothered joking lol.

*
edit:* Also Mongolian definitely sounds a little Slavic/Russian as well to me, which I guess makes sense given it's written in Cyrillic.

Haha that is actually really weird (even though it makes sense.)


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## JustThisGuy (Mar 24, 2012)

Korean sounds so happy.


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## Dane (Jul 27, 2009)

I know nothing about far eastern languages, but I was surprised to hear that Mongolian uses the Cyrillic alphabet.

I looked it up out of curiosity, and as I suspected, the Mongolian language does have it's own script. The Cyrillic alphabet was imposed after the communist takeover in the 1930's.


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## Rains (Jan 20, 2016)

Vietnamese is probably the ugliest, followed closely by Cantonese.


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## Blue Dino (Aug 17, 2013)

Korean I find it to be the most pleasant and easiest to hear. The syllables just sounds a bit more euphony compare to Japanese which the syllables are a bit more solid and halty. Chinese is more so. 

Least pleasant is Vietnamese or Thai. Honestly not once have I heard it spoke in front of me, did I not have to try very hard to keep a straight face and not burst into laughter at how silly it sounds. It honestly to me sounds like a mixture of chickens clucking and frogs croaking, but in a very silly animated high pitch tone. Yep, pretty sure I offended some people here.


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## McFly (Jul 15, 2014)

Blue Dino said:


> Korean I find it to be the most pleasant and easiest to hear. The syllables just sounds a bit more euphony compare to Japanese which the syllables are a bit more solid and halty. Chinese is more so.
> 
> Least pleasant is Vietnamese or Thai. Honestly not once have I heard it spoke in front of me, did I not have to try very hard to keep a straight face and not burst into laughter at how silly it sounds. It honestly to me sounds like a mixture of chickens clucking and frogs croaking, but in a very silly animated high pitch tone. Yep, pretty sure I offended some people here.


Yeah, Korean and Japanese sound similar and don't have as much discordance, everything flows nicely. When I hear someone talking in Japanese I imagine them telling an epic tale of a Godzilla adventure. Those latter two languages seem to be all over the place, lol. Thai food is pretty tasty though.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Dane said:


> I know nothing about far eastern languages, but I was surprised to hear that Mongolian uses the Cyrillic alphabet.
> 
> I looked it up out of curiosity, and as I suspected, the Mongolian language does have it's own script. The Cyrillic alphabet was imposed after the communist takeover in the 1930's.


I read up on it a little more. Mongolia over the centuries has used many different scripts. In Mongolia, everyone learns the native Mongolian alphabet but by the 2nd grade they switch over to cyrillic. The vast majority of books and the internet are written in Cyrillic.

But in inner Mongolia, part of China, they stick to the Mongolian script.


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## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

The language of loooove . 

He he 

I love you long time 

Hahahahahahahaha


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Persephone The Dread said:


> Hm I like Japanese but Korean sounds the most pleasant I think, but that might be because I understand more Japanese so I'll be concentrating more, and a lot of the time either understanding or trying to understand, but Korean is just like this melodic blur and I might know two words and recognise certain verb endings cause they remind me a bit of Japanese sentence structure like sumnida (not sure if writing that correctly romanised?) reminded me of masu form in Japanese while listening so I looked it up one time. So it's just easier maybe, less work since I'm not trying to learn Korean lol.
> 
> There are some sounds in Mandarin I like like this one r sounding kind of sound. I have literally no way to describe what I'm talking about but it's OK because Mandarin isn't winning anyway for me.
> 
> ...


Korean doesn't sound bad to my ears and from afar it almost sounds like Japanese. For some reason it gives me the creeps though. Sounds sort of authoritarian and I imagine being in some sort of Korean prison. I've been to Korea and they often sound like they are fighting. Their demeanor is not as soft as Japanese. I saw way less foreigners there than in Japan and the staring was way worse. If they befriend you though they pay for everything. Japanese don't do that.

I also hear the "____kamsanida" and "_dayo" thing when listening to Korean.


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## thinkstoomuch101 (Jun 7, 2012)

mandarin!!!! 

Cantonese is rough to speak, as well as to hear.

I remember when i first encountered it, i thought for sure the lady who was speaking it was going to slap the sh**t out of us at any moment.


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## harrison (Apr 14, 2012)

I find it very hard to see how anyone could find any of the Asian languages "beautiful" - a few of them sound like cats fighting to me. They sound disgusting.

The Chinese kanji are visually beautiful though.


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## losthismarbles (Jul 5, 2014)

wow no love for cantonese or vietnamese. I actually like listening to vietnamese. And I don't think I can't differentiate cantonese from mandarin but I like listening to chinese people. I don't really have a favorite though, I like listening to them all. I voted for Thai because noone else did yet.


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

don said:


> I find it very hard to see how anyone could find any of the Asian languages "beautiful" - a few of them sound like cats fighting to me. They sound disgusting.
> 
> The Chinese kanji are visually beautiful though.


I thought you were going to vote for Javanese or Indonesian.


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## harrison (Apr 14, 2012)

komorikun said:


> I thought you were going to vote for Javanese or Indonesian.


haha - no, I think they sound pretty crappy too.  They really aren't what I'd call "beautiful" languages - not by a long shot.

I would call French a beautiful language.


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## SlightlyJaded (Jun 5, 2009)

Korean is my favorite. There's something really soothing and musical about it. I'm surprised by all the Cantonese and Mandarin hate! They're a bit nasal and guttural but also expressive, which I like  I think Japanese is my least favorite. I'm not sure why... I guess because it's spoken so quickly and sounds kind of run together.


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## cybernaut (Jul 30, 2010)

The metro system here has an automated system that speaks Mandarin often.Then,I'm around Mandarin speakers 80% of the day as well.I woudn't consider it as a harmonious sounding language lol but would like to learn it.


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## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

losthismarbles said:


> wow no love for cantonese or vietnamese. I actually like listening to vietnamese. And I don't think I can't differentiate cantonese from mandarin but I like listening to chinese people. I don't really have a favorite though, I like listening to them all. I voted for Thai because noone else did yet.


I think Mandarin sounds better personally, but Cantonese isn't that bad lol :con

Also:






His accents are all really stereotypical and terrible but you can still sort of get it :haha


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## visualkeirockstar (Aug 5, 2012)

Japanese and Chinese. Probably only because I watch anime and Chinese movies.


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## Arbre (Mar 9, 2014)

I like Mandarin and Cantonese. I've considered learning Mandarin as my next language but it seems intimidatingly difficult.


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## losthismarbles (Jul 5, 2014)

Persephone The Dread said:


> I think Mandarin sounds better personally, but Cantonese isn't that bad lol :con
> 
> Also:
> 
> ...


lol I like his korean drama accent.


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## losthismarbles (Jul 5, 2014)

wow lol still everyone only likes japanese and korean.


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## Fangirl96 (Apr 13, 2015)

I like japanese and korean equally, and i'm also trying to learn a little bit of both. If i had to pick, then it would be japanese. It's just so kawaii and easier to hear what they're saying. Korean is so mumbling and sounds more serious. But my own accent is very mumbling so i cant judge them, lol.

Least beautiful...i haven't really listened to any other asian languages. Not a big fan of chinese, nor thai, i suppose.


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## HenDoggy (Jul 26, 2014)

i see how it is, no love fore Cantonese :crying:


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## Alcadaeus (Dec 18, 2014)

I remember watching taiwanese movies/shows and liked their accent. Not sure what language or dialect it was. It's mandarin


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## vicente (Nov 10, 2003)

Haven't heard enough Mongolian, Khmer or Burmese to judge. But out of the other ones, I think Thai sounds the most beautiful and Vietnamese the ugliest.


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## Ai (Oct 13, 2012)

I seem to be in the odd minority. I think both Cantonese and Thai sound very pleasant--they have an expressive melody to them. A lot of Mainland Chinese seem to be very... abrupt in their actual attitude and mannerisms when communicating, so I think that can translate harshly to ears that are used to more Germanic languages...



Eggshell said:


> I like Mandarin and Cantonese. I've considered learning Mandarin as my next language but it seems intimidatingly difficult.


It's actually not so bad! Basic grammar and sentence structure is quite simple--much easier and more intuitive for English speakers than Japanese and Korean. The main drawbacks, of course, are the tones and learning to write. But it's not impossible. Once you've got the actual vocalization of the tones down, it's mostly a matter of just memorization.


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## Arbre (Mar 9, 2014)

Ai said:


> It's actually not so bad! Basic grammar and sentence structure is quite simple--much easier and more intuitive for English speakers than Japanese and Korean. The main drawbacks, of course, are the tones and learning to write. But it's not impossible. Once you've got the actual vocalization of the tones down, it's mostly a matter of just memorization.


Interesting. I know someone who is interested in Asian languages/is learning Korean, and they said that the grammar for Asian languages is completely different, but Chinese isn't as different? Besides that I mostly just knew that the writing can be very difficult.


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## Ai (Oct 13, 2012)

Eggshell said:


> Interesting. I know someone who is interested in Asian languages/is learning Korean, and they said that the grammar for Asian languages is completely different, but Chinese isn't as different? Besides that I mostly just knew that the writing can be very difficult.


Well, Asia's a pretty big place with a ton of different languages. Some are bound to be a little closer than others.  But yeah, Mandarin grammar is much simpler. Of course more complicated sentences require more complicated rules, but a basic sentence can be as simple as just Subject + Verb + Object.


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## foe (Oct 10, 2010)

All those South Park episodes mimicking Mongolians is completely wrong.

Mongolian language sounds nothing like "Asian" language, more like Western Asia, Kazakhstani or Eastern European





_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## komorikun (Jan 11, 2009)

Listening to more videos, Korean really does sound like it's in between Mongolian and Japanese.


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## Nekomata (Feb 3, 2012)

Japanese <3 don't really like any of the other choices either x_x


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## chaosherz (May 15, 2011)

I voted Tagalog just to be different because I knew Japanese would be the most popular. I think Tagalog and Indonesian/Malay sounds quite alright, the words are clear and don't have tones which make Chinese and the others sound so strange and often grating to our English ears. I think the reason why people don't like how Chinese sounds generally is because of the way they speak it, not just the sounds of it itself. If Chinese people spoke in a way that was softer, lower volume and slower i.e. in a less harsh way, it could sound nicer like Japanese.


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## jonjagger (Dec 26, 2015)

Not sure about other languages, but whenever i hear people speaking English, sounds like horses farting to me.


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## Fat Man (Nov 28, 2013)

Japanese because I'm weeb trash.


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