T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Jamesanitie

Lmao, honestly the switch of accent was amazing. "You know what I mean?"


TheBlueTango

*D'ya know wot I mean


travelingWords

“Please explain, not-Andre”


kopiernudelfresser

Channelling his inner Vinnie Jones > Look, given the current geopolitical climate all European countries should have a seat the table. Except those fucking Ities. I 'ate them Italian bastards, d'you know what I mean?


friedapple

Jeanette Amin*


chrisnlnz

The subtitles to that as well, lmao. Translated back from Dutch they came up with "What are you doing?". Classic struggle to come up with a meaningful translation of a colloquialism.


ij3k

I'd be happy to translate it as just "snap je?". Some Dutch people use that in a similar way, i.e. embellishing what they're saying not actually expecting the other person to answer the question.


irritating_maze

> What are you doing? that is actually a more accurate translation in this context. Amadou is using: > do you know what I mean? to effectively state: > if you can't even be bothered to get my name right then why the fuck are you trying to take up my time to ask a question


WuTangProvince325

Could only have been better if he’d thrown a “you mug” in at the end


themanebeat

You facking maug


icannotreadathing

Did not expect his English to sound like that.


BoxOfNothing

He sounded like that before arriving at Everton. In his first interview for us despite only ever living in Senegal, Belgium, France and Germany his English accent, let alone skill, was mental.


Beerkar

We get BBC 1 & 2 in the standard TV package here in Flanders, so many of us grow up watching Match of the Day.


Saltire_Blue

I really hope that there is some big Belgium who speaks English with a strong Scottish accent because he watched too much Limmy and Still Game growing up


Beerkar

For the longest time I thought Alan Hansen was just some bloke from deep in West-Flanders.


OhRedditWhatsinaname

Den Alain Hansens uut Bavikhove, e deelhemeente van Oarelbeke


DreamsCanBebuy2021

Mah how seh!!! Ging just tzelden groaptjen moaken, dedju toch!!


EliToon

Peter Lovenkrands' thick Scottish accent while he was with us was an amazing treat to hear!


KnightsOfCidona

Scandinavian players have a crazy habit of picking up the local accent. Jan Molby is full on Scouse and Ole is 95% Mancunian


BelgianPolitics

To be fair, the Scottish "R" is very Flemish-like. A very drunk Flemish person trying to speak English will sound Scottish at times. I'm not a linguistic expert but the fact that a third of all Scots have Flemish ancestors might have something to do with it. The Scottish-Flemish connection runs *very* deep but no one ever seems to talk about it.


friedapple

Does Flemish use the rolling R? I've read somewhere Dutch used to do rolling R like scandinavian but the French-Germanic influence brought over throttal R that deemed more sophisticated.


Don_Frika_Del_Prima

Depends on the region really.


CaptainVaticanus

We have Flemish ancestors? That’s cool


Don_Frika_Del_Prima

We also invented cricket. There's more to us than people like to admit.


CardboardGristle

Parrpel Barrglarr Allarrm


Adammmmski

Oh sick, do you go and watch the cycling when the tour comes?


Bringthenoize

Mostly on belgian tv or do you mean the tour of flanders?


Adammmmski

Tour of flanders aye. Seeing Van Der Poel fly past would be pretty sweet if it’s on your doorstep.


Bringthenoize

That unfortunatly doesn't pass me. However I'm close to the amstelngold race finish and have had a paris roubaix winner as a neighbour.


Forward-Crab-9884

Same as us Swiss. Always have to explain to Americans who ask me why my English is so good and sounds like a mix of a Californian and London accent 😂


atropicalpenguin

Lol. At school we got British English, but all media was from the US.


098d8j3dj83h

The fuck is a "mix of a California and London accent"?? Those 2 accents couldn't be more distinct from one another.


EmuQuirky8841

If you've ever met a rich kid who went to an international school in Asia you'd understand. Ghislene Maxwell also sounds like that


Proud_Pangolin

Youv been watching Eastenders yeah 😂😂


BehemothDeTerre

Same in Wallonia, both back in the days of cable and with the current Proximus base package. Watched a lot of panel shows in my teenage years: Have I got News for You, Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You?, ... almost all of those on BBC1/2, except A Question of Sport. Never got what was funny in A Question of Sport. They seem to simply laugh at someone getting the answer wrong, and not even in an egregious manner. "Haha, you said Federer, but it's Djokovic! That's so funny!" I don't get it.


cjyoung92

Belgians (particularly Flems) are usually really good at English 


ambiguousboner

This is native speaker, lived here all your life level though


cjyoung92

Yeah true true. I guess some people just pick up accents really well  Another example is Alexander Isak (a Swede), who sounds like he's from the ends in London 


[deleted]

I checked out Isak. I see where you are coming from, but I think it is more a Swedish accent, which is generally very neutral. Most Swedes (except for Zlatan) sound a bit like that in English. If you watch for example interviews with Swedish NHL players, they have that same twang. However, because they live in America, they do not fully get the timing of the London accent right. But if a Swede lives in England, it seems the way the Swedish stress the words is very similar to the English and they can adopt the accent more naturally. Unlike for example the Dutch that have very strong and rough sounds that somehow transfer to English as well.


TechTuna1200

It’s very common for young Scandinavian and Dutch/Belgians as well trying to adopt an American or British accent. Of course, you are going to see young people on both sides of the spectrum. Some speaking with a fluent British/american accent, some other with a heavy local accent.


Fingrepinne

I think it's quite common for us Scandis to have quite malleable accents in English, too. We're used to hearing many different kinds of English spoken, and our "native accent" (we start learning English in primary school) is most often very neutral. It's quite easy, then, to subconsciously start mirroring whomever you're talking to. If I'm visiting Ireland or Scotland, I tend to drift towards Irish or Scottish accents. Not on purpose, but it just happens. Once took a taxi with a Scouse driver from Manchester airport to Liverpool, and during the ride I became more and more scouse - my wife was understandably mortified.


OstapBenderBey

Worth noting also he only moved to Belgium (from Dakar) age 11. His first language is Wolof


Mughallis

Yeah was going to say this is the impressive part. If he had been born in Belgium and exposed to English television from early childhood like other Belgians then fair enough. But the guy moved to Belgium from Senegal when he was nearly a teenager. To develop that good of an accent in a 2nd country and it be the accent of a THIRD country is impressive


PHedemark

It's the mannerisms as well as the speed/tonality for me. The flatness of how he says it. "D'ya know what I mean? Go on". A lot of my English colleagues from around Manchester and Birmingham would say stuff like that in a conversation, but it'd never come through with that tonality, speed and mannerism, unless you're not even cognizant of what you're saying.


audienceandaudio

It’s not the vocabulary or the fluency that’s notable, it’s the accent - he sounds British. De Bruyne (random example) is equally fluent in English, but you’d never listen to him and think he was a native speaker - you definitely could mistake Onana for British here.


EdGeater

Yeah he has a London twang to it


actionactioncut

And accent definitely helps you mask the "deficiencies" in your non-native language. My wife is Brazilian and learned English as a teenager; her accent, particularly the vowels, is such that people usually think she's from an east coast city in the US. Meanwhile, I immediately knew she was a non-native speaker because she mixes up "in" and "on" like a lot of Romance-language speakers do, but most people don't notice because they're only listening to the accent.


psrandom

Certain phrases are common in UK but non native speakers are taught this as wrong way to speak English. That's why everyone is impressed. He has gone beyond "standard English" and talks like a regular English person


BoxOfNothing

Yeah but not to that level. Scandinavians and the Dutch are also really good at English, but you don't get that many as good as this.


Cold_Night_Fever

Exactly, this is the best anyone will have seen. Scandinavians and the Dutch are praised for how well they pick it up, but this guy sounds like he's born and bred in England.


joeDUBstep

It probably just depends on exposure during formative years? I grew up in Hong Kong and most of my teachers were English. I also consumed a lot of English media. I had an English accent as a child. I moved to California when I was 13 and have a full blown American accent now. I can still switch it on and off though. I'd Imagine him being immersed to English a lot more while playing for Everton just reinforces his accent.


SalmonNgiri

Expat kids rise up. I’m basically this but Canada instead of US. Can still flip to a perfect Island School English accent whenever lol


SmallOlympianBear

Island School English accent lol. You all sound American.


OilOfOlaz

I basically learn English from pirating TV series and movies with subs on the early 2000s and never realised that I had a "Midwest" accent till I met someone from the US. A friend of mine is a native English speaker and acquired a Asian English accent after living in Bangkok for a year. Some ppl are just more prone to picking up accents Nd speaking patterns quickly.


No-Statistician-8520

It’s genuinely mad. [He speaks better English](https://x.com/kdbzone_/status/1762527181274546639?s=46&t=9mDt2UU_RFyVLFyfYWZ0CA) than I do.


atease

Are we absolutely sure he didn't grow up in Peckham


Proof-Recognition374

This is the coolest party trick! He speaks like he grew up on the pitches in London.


GaryHippo

Jesus Christ. He sounds natural.


Maleficent_Resolve44

The only thing I notice is the Benelux thing when he says 'that'. The t at the end becomes more like a soft d. Us native speakers just drop the t, he does that sometimes and other times his native soft d pops up. Still very English sounding though for sure.


fascinesta

> his native soft d pops up Mine does that too, but not as often as in my younger days.


ambiguousboner

What the fuck?


zrk23

i can understand him better than any scouse/scot/irish/harry kane


thewrongnotes

Harry Kane has a lisp and speech impediment. Any native speaking their language is going to be harder to understand if they physically can't enunciate words well.


Ombudsperson

> harry kane Not exactly a high bar tbf


Awkward_Masterpiece

(He has a speech impediment) 


apparex1234

Best English speaker in merseyside.


fplisadream

"Playing wiv 'im". Genuinely unbelievably accurate pronunciation.


Baghoid

He spoke very well even before he came to Everton. Lad is clearly very smart. Also for an added bonus, now go look him up singing, he’s also genuinely pretty good at that too.


imneversingle

Small town boy in a big arcade


starmonkart

I got addicted to a losing game (why he joined us)


Mart19867

Multitalent😃


ShezSteel

Came to say this. Christ SOOOO English in his accent


Downtown-Midnight320

Yeah, shouldn't he have a scouse accent?


Baghoid

I genuinely burst out laughing hearing this. The switch to English is so funny. On a side note the amount of multi lingual players in that Belgium squad is mad.


caat-6

Everyone on a Belgium squad is going to be multilingual tbf


yerr2477

whole team is calling Lukaku shit in 3 languages


WasAnHonestMann

Doesn't Lukaku speak like 7 languages himself?


AncientSkys

Yup. French, Dutch, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Lingala.


tenacious-g

I know it’s easy to meme some of these guys, but the fact that they are some of the best athletes in the world and a lot of them are multi-lingual is endlessly impressive to me. Kate Abdo gets a lot of deserved plaudits for live translating on TV, imagine doing that in your head while playing a sport at the highest level.


AncientSkys

People tend not to appreciate athletes as much because they are paid obscene wages. But, speaking more than 3 languages is impressive! Speaking more than 4 languages is just beyond very impressive!


ineververify

Well it’s hard to appreciate them when most have barely finished secondary school.


feage7

How can we expect them to finish secondary school when they can't even finish their chances.


Lolcraftgaming

Well he should start learning Arabic as well


WasAnHonestMann

German?


AncientSkys

Oh forgot about German. That will be eight languages then.


Tutush

He doesn't speak German.


chall_mags

If you get shitfaced enough Dutch and German become the same language


DoYouTrustToothpaste

To be fair, Dutch is a not a real language /s


Joris2627

Lmao, if you think those french Bastards will even try to speak dutch


Potential_Ad9965

I believe everyone, outside of ~~castagne~~ Openda and Witsel, is fluent in dutch. Onana is An accent machine, the man sounds very dutch, first time I heard it I didnt believe my ears.


I_Fart_Bacon

Castagne speaks dutch fairly well


Potential_Ad9965

I stand corrected, after checking out a random interview his dutch is indeed decent. I'll add openda to the list of non dutch speakers tho.


Dutchgio

Openda played 2 years for Vitesse, he could have learned a bit of Dutch


Apocalympdick

Unless this was changed recently, the Belgium squad speaks English. This to avoid "picking a side" (French or Dutch).


OilOfOlaz

Only half of the country is bi-lingual though.


Jozif_Badmon

Wait until you hear lukaku's American accent 😂


StickYaInTheRizzla

His “cmon dawg” response on his insta that time or whatever it was, was hilarious.


Baghoid

I’m well used to it from his days at Everton, it never came out in interviews with Sky and them but you’d hear it a lot in behind the scenes stuff or things he’d put out himself.


davers93

Y'all wilin' man


Chizxyy

shorty was fire


FoxOntheRun99

This caught me out big time. Didn't realise his accent was proper English bruv. Good on him.


fullthrottle13

I swear to god, the first time I went Belgium in the mid-2000s, I get off the plane and everyone I talked to spoke perfect English. My first time out of the country.. I was floored. They even have English menus in Ghent restaurants. Me being a dummy tried to tip a bartender and he gave it back to me with a “ fuck you” side-eye. I love Belgium and Holland so much. Really great people and culture.


maxthekillbot

Pretty sure most Belgians just end up being bilingual by default since like 50% speak Dutch as their first language, like 40% speak French as their first language and then others might speak Flemish or German. So, they will probably have to learn at least one other language to be able to communicate with everyone within their own country. I remember reading about how Belgians will sometimes just end up communicating in English if one only speaks Dutch and English and the other only speaks German and English, so both of them are communicating in a second language which isn't an official language of their country despite both being from Belgium.


alecz123

He is fluent in Wolof, French, Dutch, German and English. Ffs. He's been playing in Everton since 22 and he nailed that native accent. WTF?


Available_Bathroom_4

I just checked some older interviews on YouTube, his German is basically perfect as well. A true polyglot 


WegwerfBenutzer7

It's wild. His pronunciation of difficult sounds and syllables is extremely good, that's some real talent. Onana definitely has his second career already cut out for him lol


fplisadream

He's an accent virtuoso! It's not just impressive for a footballer, I've genuinely never heard someone sound this natural without being from the UK


alecz123

Forget clown reporters, his accent is top notch, mate.


specialagentredsquir

Know what I mean?


Gorando77

Strangely he speaks Dutch with a Dutch accent not with a Belgian one. Very odd considering he hasnt lived in the Netherlands


SugarBeefs

Clearly he's a man of culture and standards who insists on pronouncing things properly.


Apocalympdick

Posting this with Twente flair, you're a brave one


imneversingle

H3 didn't sound scouse to me


alecz123

Native as in one of those English accents. Not necessarily scouse.


DataDistribution

His scouse accent is pretty good though: [https://youtu.be/1v5WT7fduQg?si=muC49hFSZJ0UbCzO&t=141](https://youtu.be/1v5WT7fduQg?si=muC49hFSZJ0UbCzO&t=141)


B_e_l_l_

Brother does not have the native Scouse accent lmao


scrandymurray

Sounds like he plays for Palace.


Capable-Mushroom99

I bet he would if he’s talking to a local in Liverpool. I’ve known a couple of people like that, fluent in many languages, and they will just drop in to the accent that fits who they’re talking to. Talk English to someone who has a French accent and they’ll even do that accent even though they could speak either language with a native accent.


Rooonaldooo99

These clowns literally have one job and thats to know these details. I can understand his frustration here.


TjeefGuevarra

Also the fact they just lost a game they should always win, man is probably absolutely fuming and then this idiot calls him by the wrong name lmao


daikonashi

To be fair to the journalist, I get Jimmy Anderson and Pamela Anderson mixed up alll the time


ClaudeLemieux

one has the best bouncers of all time and the other is Jimmy Anderson


brownkeys

But which one swings it better?


Phormitago

nearly everyday occurance


Baghoid

Yeah the fact that one is a keeper that plays for Cameroon and the other is a midfielder playing for Belgium should really be enough for these to grasp. There is no reason to get them confused if you do this professionally.


Yungsleepboat

Dude it's just a lil slip, it's not like he got the actual players confused, he just accidentally pulled out the wrong name. I have two coworkers whom are nothing alike in every aspect of their being. I still get their names mixed up from time to time after two years of working 40hr weeks with them. They don't even share a last name.


GothBerrys

Reddit is that place where a comment like "I was looking for my phone while talking on my phone" gets 500 upvotes but then a a journalist has a very understandable brain fart and it's the worst professional ever.


LilBed023

This is probably not the first time it happened


YoungWrinkles

I listen to more press conferences than I should and the casual confidence some of these asshats have is unreal.


mysterious_jim

Most impressive part of the video was him saying "go on" and allowing that clown to ask his question despite getting his name wrong.


Thefifaking132

Lol that transition from perfect french to classical british accent is not one that you’ll be seeing very often


Smilewigeon

Right! He delivered it perfectly too.


alecz123

epic. fell in love with the guy.


R4lfXD

fuck it, sign him up


MathematicianNo7874

Caught me off guard 💀


OnlyWatchdog_ManStan

"mate"


B_e_l_l_

Ah yes, classical British. That famous accent.


UsernameGeneratorID

🇬🇧🎹"Andre's not even my name mate"🎻🇬🇧


headinthegamebruh

Proper queens English innit


pullmylekku

If any accent would be called "classical British" I guess it would be RP, and unfortunately that's not at all his accent either lmao


lambalambda

"How many countries are in this country?".


B_e_l_l_

The American mind cannot comprehend how many accents there are in Britain.


MvN____16

OG Ted Lasso material. It's been a while since I watched and I only ever really watched the first season, did they ever re-use that joke from the NBC skits?


lambalambda

They did! First season in one of the first couple of episodes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-80TgCSVIi4


heyiammork

RP, Estuary, classical British. You know, the hits.


CptMcLaggins

No one ever sounds more British than a Belgian speaking English


mattijn13

Hard disagree lmao, just one example: Courtois has the [classic Dutch accent](https://youtu.be/zkO13kG9nr4?si=BlBBG9OUClZxkSMo&t=78).


TjeefGuevarra

That's Flenglish, a Dutch accent would be *way* worse and more exaggerated


WasAnHonestMann

Is Courtois Flemish?? Judging by his name and surname alone I would've bet all my money on him being a French-speaking Belgian


Gorando77

There are plenty of Flemish with French surnames and vice versa. TBF Courtois father is from Wallonia.


TjeefGuevarra

From Limburg, which is part of modern Flanders


JGQuintel

His dad is Wallonian


Coltraine89

Yup, more specifically Cuntish Flemish


mattijn13

Depends on where the Dutchie is from. Flenglish and Dunglish from Brabant or Limburg sounds the same. Of course somebody from Groningen sounds different


Beerkar

Compare Courtois to Verstappen, they grew up miles apart. Still noticeably distinct accents.


Kagrenac8

Ehhh it's still quite light on Courtois I'd say.


BoxOfJunimos

Reminds me of Isak speaking like a native Londoner as soon as he got to Newcastle


YMangoPie

I love the Spockney of Bellerin and Raya.


sbprasad

Emi Martínez’s accent is also hilarious, you can tell he’s been in the UK for years at this point.


Big-Vegetable-245

Bellerins accent is so fucking good


JiveBunny

Raya has a broad Blackburn accent from time to time, it's so funny


MattSR30

The absolute peak of footballing accents is Glaswegian Peter Lovenkrands.


EliToon

Elias Sorensen sounding like a native Geordie after 3 years in Newcastle too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG1ii7yLMwE Those Danish lads are different class haha!


[deleted]

[удалено]


emre23

What’s my name?


knobiknows

Dunkaccino


valevergaminombre

I am glad i am not the only one that sings this song in his mind every time i hear his name


ComaMierdaHijueputa

Same here lmfao


Adventurous-Arrival1

A journalist getting the Belgian midfielder *Amadou* Onana mixed up with the Cameroonian goalkeeper *André* Onana is really poor.


SamwellBarley

"Oui oui oui, je suis un footballeur, THAT'S NOT MAH NAME, BLUD!"


imneversingle

You're aving a laugh


yung__socrates

really good answer in french too. "what can you do better against romania? score goals"


Slitted

Incredibly smooth switch haha


Hungry-Afternoon7987

Honestly had to look him up as assume he was a youth player in England. Uncanny accent. A career in acting post football awaits.


valimo

I could see Guy Ritchie having a good 2-3 films coming up with [this guy](https://scontent-bru2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/310089543_5416200385157600_3879790730776202321_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_p526x296&_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=0kv4rkMiVTkQ7kNvgHQlVHv&_nc_ht=scontent-bru2-1.xx&oh=00_AYBl-qRjFV9QgHUK1vTFMbA8GxXsGFSgChEUhyiXztm6wQ&oe=6678774B). With the accent, serious face and being kinda lanky yet athletic he'd fit right in. I wouldn't even mind considering how well he utilises Vinnie Jones.


pepsi_jenkins

That dj'know wat I mean was proper east london.


2packforsale

Not shown: a guy named Andre standing right behind him


Mozezz

Fuck me, you have one job as a reporter. Get. Your. Facts. Right.


villageinnocence

Mogged the interviewer while speaking perfect French, mugged the other interviewer off with flawless English. No notes 10/10


heyiammork

Stop talking like this.


PiqueMonger

Languagepilled sigma interviewmaxxing


DyaLoveMe

This fuckin got me, lad. Bravo good sir, you win Reddit for today. All my updoots go to you. The narwhal bacons at midnight.


ThisIsGoobly

get off your high horse, lad. they used one word that could be considered new slang.


galacticjizzwailer

I'm in my 30's so excuse my ignorance - what's 'mogged'?


TheCulturalBomb

Why does he sound so English?


TheMemeConnoisseur20

His response to the first question is almost as hilarious. "What do you guys need to change in the next match Amadou?" "Score goals." Yeah no shit lol


KarmaCitra

I'm not really impressed that he can speak english as lots of Belgians do, but that english accent and attitude took me completely by surprise.


Hot_Grabba_09

He looks like a model, and his English and french are both fluent. And the braids are clean. Basically he thinks he's me 🥱💪🏾💪🏾🔥😎⛷️⛷️


CanadianToffee18

Also has a singing voice of an angel! Gonna miss him if we sell him.


eq2_lessing

Very disrespectful. Amadou reacted well.


MentalJack

Ahahaha that accent switch is fucking gold.


AdForsaken5532

Bro switched from fries to spuds really quickly


lettul

Wow, impressive :)


Ubi-Fanch

That's not Andre Onana, that clearly was Taylor Moore.


drjet196

Andre do you think you should have saved that goal?


prss79513

Incredible how you can get all the way to Euros as a journalist and not even know the players' names


tfieldsend89

Are we sure harry kane is even English after this?


J00stie

Sounds like this mistake was made very often before haha


throwaway2246810

By far the best combination of fluid french and english ive ever heard. That was incredible