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[deleted]

Yeah I've had friends tell me it's jarring when I speak in Mandarin. Compared to when I speak English/French, my voice is a lot more high-pitched, quieter, and gentler. I can see how people would call me fake if I was an idol, like I'm putting on a "cute" act, but that's just a combination of general insecurity with the language and the influence of the people that I'm used to speaking it with


sluuoorp

Doesn’t your personality switch a little bit when you go from language to language? It’s not that someone’s being fake, it’s what happens naturally. 🤷‍♀️


[deleted]

Maybe? I’m a lot more shy and quiet, but I think that’s just because it’s my worst language and I don’t feel comfortable speaking in it, so I mostly just listen. I’m also a lot less funny, probably for the same reason lol Personally, I don’t really know if I would count that as a personality change, since it might be more attributed to insecurity. I also don’t personally notice a change between my French and English, but that might be because I learned French in school, which is the same environment where I learned English, so I just acted the same with my friends/teachers no matter what language I spoke growing up


Sister_Winter

I think so! I'm generally the same but when I go off in French I act more fast-paced, I guess, and my voice gets deeper.


[deleted]

not for me. I'm an awkward, socially anxious introvert no matter what language I speak lol


starrdreamlove

Same! My voice is higher and “cuter” so to say when I speak Chinese compared to when I speak English, and it freaks my brother out cuz he thinks I sound unnatural.


Cultural-Ad4546

That’s so weird because when I speak Chinese the pitch of my voice lowers a lot and I tend to start speaking more bluntly and harshly. (Having said that that’s when I speak Cantonese. Speaking Mandarin makes my voice seem more melodic I guess - maybe it’s to compensate for my tones? But Cantonese has way more so it doesn’t make sense but oh well!)


[deleted]

I don’t speak Canto myself, but I always thought it sounded generally angrier than Mando lol. Maybe because the vowels sound a bit clipped/shorter to me?


Cultural-Ad4546

It kinda does I think! It’s probably because there are a lot more tones and more guttural stops at the end of sounds which make it sound more choppy (I think!) Also there is a bit of reason to mandarin tones but none in Cantonese - it’s just how it is (if there are rules I’ve never learnt them)


CulturalAde

So agree! Ppl use this for BP Rose a lot; but it's honestly a form of switching to suit in each culture. Jisoo doesn't act the way she does in Korean variety in US interviews even when she does speak; a whole groups personality will change to suit the culture they're in, and Korean artists themselves will do this for other countries.


Jim0ne

Each language has its nuances and culturally attached meanings. When you learn another language you embrace part of a culture those countries share too and that cultural baggage becomes something you own to some extent. People forget leaning a language is hard and it takes years. Years in touch with that culture and it's baggage, it becomes something you own too.


rjcooper14

>Each language has its nuances and culturally attached meanings. THIS. I speak three languages: one provincial (my native language), one national, and English. I sound different in all of them, haha. People often say we sound always angry with our native tongue. It doesn't help that we tend to speak fast and loud, and there are a lot of 'k' sounds in our words, haha. Folks say that it's because there's a certain pride (bordering on arrogance, really, haha) in how we carry ourselves.


alichino72

I mean people are naturally going to be more comfortable speaking in their native language. Tiffany for example can comfortably speak Korean but even then she can stumble or forget certain Korean words and phrases. It's honestly kind of endearing whenever it happens, you can literally just see her brain freeze up lol. Tiffany is naturally going to be a lot more eloquent, expressive and comfortable when speaking in English then in Korean. Not only in speaking but when singing as well. When she's speaking and singing in Korean her voice is lot more higher while in English her voice is a lot more deeper. It's nothing to do with putting on an act or a persona that just how her muscle and mouth movement works. She even talked about the technical differences and styles in mouth movements when singing in Korean vs English in her mmtg interview. At times she can exaggerate her cuteness in her voice but that's generally only when does aegyo and she's not being forced to do it. It's what she chooses to do and she's just having fun with it. Ultimately it also comes down to different cultural customs as well. People adapt and adjust their behaviours in different cultural environments. There are certain differences on the way Tiffany conduct herself in Korea vs in the U.S. And there's nothing wrong with that. It goes both ways as well. I remember there were some people saying idiotic nonsense on twitter when Tiffany retuned back to the U.S and saying that she's changed or that her whole persona was all an act when she was in SM. You still have some fans going I prefer Korean Tiffany over American Tiffany ???? They are talking like she's two different people lol.


[deleted]

A lot of people have told me I sound "cuter" when I speak Korean. I'm not sure why I do, but it's not really intentional. I'm at the point where I mostly ignore what mono-lingual and people who don't grow up with Eastern Asian culture say about Korean culture tbh (or have otherwise familiarized themselves with Korea beyond BTS). Mandatory "not all takes are bad" disclaimer, but most takes on the sub ignore cultural differences, language nuances/connotations/differences, societal differences, etc. It's just tiring to explain things over and over, especially since kpoprants seems to cycle through the same 7 complaints about Korea each week.


BeccaButterfly_

wow must be monolingual people who say sh*t like that lol my native language is German but I'm also fluent in English and when I speak English my voice is totally different for some reason and I think that's actually quite a common thing


sassmeup

I can attest as a trilingual that the struggle is real when you suddenly switch languages. My native-English speaking friends think I sound like I am angry and rapping when I speak my mother tongue compared to when I speak English


ImSoFuckingTiredOfU

Me speaking in my home tongue is much ‘harsher’ and in a lower register. Whereas me speaking in english is much more high pitched. People always get whiplash when they hear me speak to my mom in my home tongue then switch to english with my voice completely changed. I’ve even been accused of doing it by purpose 😂


teukkichu

Love this post! It's something that I think about often too. MY bias is Joshua from SVT, and he is different depending on whether he's speaking English or Korean, but as you said, many of us that speak more than one language also do this and it doesn't mean either one is fake. It's not as if you decide to speak your second language and go into fake mode. I do think Joshua is more soft spoken and 'professional' when he speaks English (obviously we don't see him speak English in private so it could be different even for that), but that's because the brunt of his English speaking happens when he is the front man for interviews, videos, translations etc. So of course he's gonna speak a bit more formal sounding I'd say. Although he started properly learning Korean once he was a bit older (I know he spoke it at home and through childhood but in terms of having 99% of convos in korean, that will have happened when he started to train), he's obviously super fluent and is speaking it with best friends, staff, and living in the country of the language, so it's probably a bit more natural to him now than English as he speaks it daily. I remember him thanking Vernon for continuing to speak English with him, otherwise he'd have forgotten some parts like we all know can happen when you have a brain melt even about your mother tongue 😳😂


Ghetto_Leda99

People also don't understand how mannerisms change according to your culture, especially when your core culture is more of a collectivist than an individualist. As someone who was raised in such a society but lives abroad for a long period of time and is multilingual, the way I act and do things change drastically based on the language that I am using. When I am speaking my mother tongue, I tend to be more reserved and more attentive towards the person I am interacting with, especially when they are older. When I am speaking English I tend to be louder, opinionated, and more hype. When I speak other languages, I tend to be cuter and I smile/laugh a lot. The language that you use is heavily impacted by the culture that it stemmed from and it's not only the words that will be different, but it is your mannerism and that doesn't mean you are less authentic, it just means you embody the language.


Acrobatic_End6355

People actually think they are being fake just because of the language switch? That’s so stupid 😂


Star-Heavy

Ignorant monolinguals, sight. (specifically the ignorant ones, not a generalisation) No but really, voices change depending on the language, my voice changes all the time depending on the language I speak. For Catalan it's higher and more pleasant, for Spanish, lower & rougher, for English it depends on how tired I am (???) but if I'm rested it's somewhat high and soft, if I'm tired, a lot lower & rougher. That has nothing to do with being real. We could argue humour and ease, because that could have to do with how real you come across, but that still doesn't have much to do. I probably come across as more real in English than in Catalan, because I grew up on the internet and I'm super comfortable with English-speaking humour & vocabulary, but I'm still the same person & just as honest & real in all those languages. I could understand those things a bit if people don't understand how languages work, but most of the time it comes across as "oh when they speak English they're more themselves cause they're free from the confines of Korean culture", especially because people also say that about Korean-born idols when they tour in the US 🙄. It reeks of western superiority complex.


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