In the past, I have taken a close look at how similar languages like Portuguese and Spanish can be, both written and spoken. Following here is a situation, involving another pair of languages, that plays out in the comments of a video on Youtube. The story tells itself; my commentary will guide you.
To begin with, fast forward to 26:10 on this video from the television show Glee [Note: The original video ended five to six seconds after this]. As you will see, the video consists of a song number from the show, followed by a short segment spoken in a language other than English. This is actually the localized version of Glee from a certain country; while the dialogue is dubbed, the songs are left intact in the original language. The drama below plays out as viewers question what that language at the end could truly be.
The essence of the comments on the video page can be summed up by the first person to make an observation about this seemingly unknown language:
Tulsasparty565A Brazilian is quick to make a correction:
LMFAO rachel sounds sooo cool in spanish xDXD
theartist16A reply which apparently goes unseen because:
@Tulsasparty565 It`s italian, your stupid american
WrittingInInkAnd:
I giggled when I heard her speak in spanish. I was like O.o then :D
Once again, another person attempts to correct the others:LMAO i laughed so hard when she spoke spanish :L
And that goes in one ear, and out the other:@WrittingInInk it's not spanish ¬¬ it's italian
Finally, a native speaker chimes in, although he doesn't appear too certain:my mind went WTFFF when she spoke in spanish lmao
A confused viewer asks a question:@ClarifyEht I think it was italian beacuse I'm mexican and that wasn't spanish, sounds odd anyway xD
And gets an answer:When did she speak spanish?:)
So, now we have a Mexican viewer claiming it's not Spanish, but, who isn't so sure, and, then, a commenter from the UK who says that this is the Mexican version of the show. Mmhh.@RaiRay1999 - its the mexican version
It continues:
Now the exchange of comments starts to get interesting and philosophical, as an Argentinean poster feels offended:I thought it was hilarious how she sang the whole song in perfect English then spoke spanish. :D
@khaotickristyy I don't speak russian or polish but I can still see the difference between those 2 languages.. and you shouldn't comment on something if you don't know exactly what it is.. try to learn something from outside your country instead of being so closeminded and rude
khaotickristyyA commenter from Mexico makes a new observation:
@melloslash
I said I speak english, not Italian or spanish. I couldn't care less what language it was. I'm just saying I happen to be fluent in only english so I wouldn't have any idea of what language it was. .
"Spanish from Spain" he claims.@mcrmaog4life dude, i think that i've lived enought in mexico to say to you that it is spanish ¬¬, well, it' ok i guess, i watch glee onfox latin america, but anyways that's a spanish from spain, not latin america, u can hear it from the accent
Plenty of viewers continue to insist on the Spanish part, that's for sure:
expowderpuffYet, those who disagree aren't silent:
hahah, the spanish part really took me by surprise. lol
mcrmaog4lifeThe newcomers...
@expowderpuff it's italian you moron.
... second-guess themselves:epacmo1807
Haha, I love how they had a spanish voice-over at the end XD.
The next poster remembers the original line from the English show:Wait, it's Italian, isn't it? I take back the second part of my comment; change 'spanish' to 'italian' :)
A Spaniard sheds some light on the issue:I was smiling at the end, and then when it surprised me when she said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, The New Directions!" in a different language (what was that spanish?)
The conversation we witnessed at the very beginning continues relentlessly:[...] what she says at the end is in ITALIAN. Im Spanish and i watch Glee in spanish, and i know that what she says isn´t spanish. She says "Sinora y Sinori, le Nova Direccion" When in Spanish is "Señoras y Señores, Nuevas Iniciativas". The name changes.
What's with the spanish
Now multiply that exchange by 100, and you have the remainder of the comments:@beinner123 it's not spanish douche bag, it's italian..
Awesome. the spanish at the end makes it even better :p
spanish....? O. o
You guys it's Italian...
ahhaha i wasn't expecting the end to be in Spanish lol
The following two viewers share their opinions on the subject at hand:LMFAO AT THE SPANISH AT THE END...
@jenisbest1234 lol you fool its italian
@Manniemazing how are we fools if we dont know italian?
Tulsasparty565 explains his confusion by saying that the languages "all sound the same":@Tulsasparty565 Take a chill pill I didnt mean it as an insult, but since ur being picky, obv you dont knw spanish either (or you would've known its not spanish she's speaking), so i dont see why you wud asume it is... ya knw...
Tulsasparty565A statement Manniemazing doesn't take lightly:
@Manniemazing lol cause it sounds like spanish? but they all sound the same i mean obviously other people think so too. [...] its stupid i take FRENCH not Spanish or Italian
The rebuttal:@Tulsasparty565 Ah listen not trying to have an argument here, [...] saying "they all sound the same" is incredibly racist not that I care,but just thought I'd point it out. [...]
In the meantime, more commenters, who haven't the slightest idea of the argument going on in the comments section, continue questioning and admiring the foreign language coming out of the singer's mouth at the end:Okay i'll tell my teacher from FRANCE shes racist lets see how she feels about that cause honestly GO THERE its in the books for languages 'They are from the same type of language so its the same' Like we sound like German. english is a Germanic language. [...]
wat was with the spanish coming outta rachaels mouth at the end?? O.o
what was up w/ the spanish at the end????
Someone from Venezuela weighs in:Am I the only one that was taken back when she suddenly spoke spanish at the end?
HeyItsGabrielaBoth Spanish and Italian. Could it be?
Btw, guys.. i speak spanish, and in the end, the words are BOTH spanish and italian. she says "señoras y señores, las nuevas direcciones."
or that's what i understood.
:)
An Italian responds to the Venezuelan:
And ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. The Italian is correct: the singer speaks Italian at the end of the video.@HeyItsGabriela It's only Italian :) "Ladies and Gentleman , the new Directions!"
We're done, folks.
I hope you have enjoyed the ride on the train of confusion.
Why was there so much uncertainty, even among native speakers? The truth is that, as we know, Italian and Spanish are two Romance languages that are similar to each other not only in written form, but spoken as well. So much, that even native Spanish speakers could confuse Italian for being just another accent of Spanish, as we have seen here. It's unlikely, for instance, that someone would confuse spoken French for Italian or Spanish. French has a unique sound within Romance: that uvular /r/, the nasal and rounded vowels are linked to French. Spanish and Italian, however, have much more in common, phonologically: the quality and stability of the vowels and the pronunciation of /r/ are what separates them from French, in this case.
The Italian phrase spoken by Lea Michele in the video is very, very much like the equivalent in Spanish, so you can understand what all the fuss is about, especially dealing with people who don't speak either language.
| Italian | Signore e signori: Le Nuove Direzioni |
| Spanish | Señoras y señores: Las Nuevas Direcciones |
| English | Ladies and gentlemen: The New Directions |
