For a native English speaker, hearing an imitation of what your language sounds like to a non-native speaker can be a jarring out-of-body-experience. This reading of a Japanese memo done by someone trying to sound like their speaking English, however, is just flat-out confusing!
A Japanese Twitter user, who also happens to be a techno musician, posted an innocent but humorous tweet of himself reading instructions on how to cook rice placed as a memo on a refrigerator. While that alone may not sound like much of a reason for the hubbub it's causing, Okazaki is actually reading these instructions "as if they were English", replicating what English sounds like to non-native speakers in Japan.
As a native English-speaker, it actually really did somewhat sound like someone with a British accent speaking at parts...only sounding out something like Portuguese. While it may be a bit of a mind-trip to those who have English down, Japanese Twitter comments are just as confused, with some saying:
"If I close my eyes it sounds just like English!"
"If this were on a listening test, I'd never figure it out!"
"It sounds like Portuguese and German."
"I totally thought it was English!"
"It totally sounds like English!"
However it sounds to you, we applaud the effort! It just seems like a complicated way to make rice!
For a native English speaker, hearing an imitation of what your language sounds like to a non-native speaker can be a jarring out-of-body-experience. This reading of a Japanese memo done by someone trying to sound like their speaking English, however, is just flat-out confusing!
A Japanese Twitter user, who also happens to be a techno musician, posted an innocent but humorous tweet of himself reading instructions on how to cook rice placed as a memo on a refrigerator. While that alone may not sound like much of a reason for the hubbub it's causing, Okazaki is actually reading these instructions "as if they were English", replicating what English sounds like to non-native speakers in Japan.
As a native English-speaker, it actually really did somewhat sound like someone with a British accent speaking at parts...only sounding out something like Portuguese. While it may be a bit of a mind-trip to those who have English down, Japanese Twitter comments are just as confused, with some saying:
However it sounds to you, we applaud the effort! It just seems like a complicated way to make rice!