# Do some speak faster?



## Tate_Harmann

Hello,
This question has probably been asked already, but I only found one topic about "listening advice" in the forum. Do native speakers of certain languages actaully speak faster than others, or does it just seem that way because of my ignorance of that language. For example, I am learning spanish and it seems as though many speak very fast. I have some friends that speak english fast but it doesn't even compare with some spanish-speaking people that I have spoken with. It also seems to me that politicians speak more slowly than others. I was watching Vicente Fox on TV and I was able to understand most of it. But his speaking was slower, it seemed about perfect for me. Does this type of speaking sound slow to you native speakers? After he was done the reporter on the news spoke and I could barely catch half of it on account of the speed of the words flying by. Any comments would be interesting, or if this has been asked already maybe someone could direct me to the appropriate thread.

gracias


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## VenusEnvy

Tate_Harmann said:
			
		

> I was watching Vicente Fox on TV and I was able to understand most of it. But his speaking was slower, it seemed about perfect for me. Does this type of speaking sound slow to you native speakers?



When watching the news in Spanish, I feel spoiled! They speak clearly, they articulate, and they speak slow enough (usually). But, in the real world, it is certainly not this way!

At times, though, yes. When listening to the news in my own language, I feel as though the broadcasters speak a little too slowly. I want to say, "Get on with it already!" They also pause often, which adds to things.

I used to think that ALL Spanish-speakers spoke unnecessarily fast. It's becoming easier to understand them by the day.


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## jess oh seven

i think "romance" languages ARE actually spoken faster than English or even German or other Germanic-based languages. they have a more lilting and connecting rhythm it seems. maybe because their words run more easily into one another, since so many end in vowels and things like that. this is maybe why they sound so nice even if you can't understand them. i bet English doesn't sound half as pretty since it's more sort of staggered and uneven...


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## Ana R.

Hola! me sucede lo mismo que a ti pero con las personas que hablan ingles, cuando son nativos hablan muy rapido y a veces tengo que pedir que hablen un poco mas lento... cuando los que hablan ingles son de otro origen es mas facil enterderles, por ejemplo si son italianos o he escuchado tambien a chinos es mas facil para mi...


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## GenJen54

> i think "romance" languages ARE actually spoken faster than English or even German or other Germanic-based languages. they have a more lilting and connecting rhythm it seems. maybe because their words run more easily into one another, since so many end in vowels and things like that. this is maybe why they sound so nice even if you can't understand them. i bet English doesn't sound half as pretty since it's more sort of staggered and uneven...


 
I agree with Jess completely on this. The vowel and consonant combinations of most Romance languages, in particular Spanish and French, do lend a more graceful rhythm to the languages. As such, they do sound faster. I think in those languages, a lot depends on the particular country or regional accent as well. 

For example, when I lived in Miami, Florida, I encountered many Cuban people. They had a tendancy to "drop" or "swallow" the "s" sound from many words, so more of their words ran together. As a result, I had a much more difficult time understanding them than I did Mexicans I have met, whose speech (at least to me) seems to be more clear, because it is more pronounced. 

In French, where certain vowels and or consonants at the ends of words are often silent, and then words are run together, it makes for a quicker pattern of speech. 

English, at least AE, is clunky by comparison. I seem to find, and perhaps again, this is an "accent" thing, that when I listen in particular to certain English speakers from Ireland or Scotland (mostly on BBCA or in the media), their speech seems particularly fast to me, moreso than people from England whose accents I may be more accustomed to hearing.


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## mayita

Hi!!


You are  right, is very common that politicians speak slower. I think that speak slow or fast depeds on the person too, for example i speak faster than some friends..... and we live in the same place.


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## mayita

Estoy de acuerdo contigo Ana R., supongo que es normal entenderles a otras personas que no son nativas porque al igual que nosotros cuando hablamos ingles por ejemplo pronunciamos de manera diferente y hablamos mas lento.


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## lsp

Tate_Harmann said:
			
		

> Hello,
> This question has probably been asked already, but I only found one topic about "listening advice" in the forum. Do native speakers of certain languages actaully speak faster than others, or does it just seem that way because of my ignorance of that language. For example, I am learning spanish and it seems as though many speak very fast. I have some friends that speak english fast but it doesn't even compare with some spanish-speaking people that I have spoken with. It also seems to me that politicians speak more slowly than others. I was watching Vicente Fox on TV and I was able to understand most of it. But his speaking was slower, it seemed about perfect for me. Does this type of speaking sound slow to you native speakers? After he was done the reporter on the news spoke and I could barely catch half of it on account of the speed of the words flying by. Any comments would be interesting, or if this has been asked already maybe someone could direct me to the appropriate thread.
> 
> gracias


I think our unfamiliarity plays a large part in this, but consider also that as Americans we are accustomed to a different rhythm which English creates by virtue of having more words separated by consonants. Spanish and Italian (I can only speak of these two with which I have some experience), flow words together and seem faster to my ears because of the many vowel-ending words.


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## Outsider

But German languages often have _less_ vowels and hiatuses than Romance languages. English also has shorter words than most Romance languages, on average.


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## Edher

Saludos,

        In general, I do feel that english-speakers do speak slower than spanish-speakers. I've also noticed that english-speakers tend to hesitate a bit more to find the right word (Which means many "umms" in a conversation) than spanish-speakers in the middle of a dialogue. That's part of the reason why I get frustrated when speaking in English, I have to speak slowly whereas when speaking in Spanish I'm used to having a tongue marathon. 

        However, the very few people that I know that do talk fast in English (my boss) leave me confused sometimes. That's why I'm sometimes glad that mostly everyone speaks slowly here. 

        Politicians exasperate me. It isn't just a Vicente Fox thing, virtually all politicians in Mexico address their citizens in such manner. They're a lot worse than poets. However, Vicente Fox does exaggerate when it comes to his talking speed. In fact. many mexican comedies make fun of that.

Edher


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## Tate_Harmann

Thank you all for your replies,

What you said about native speakers and the romance languages in general makes sense to me. I guess I never thought of it that way. It just seemed like when I heard a native spanish speaker compared to say, a native german speaker, the spanish _sounded_ faster.  

What do you think about using the news and politicians to train my ears? Is that a good idea, or should I be listening to something else? The words used in the news aren't always words a person hears every day. Maybe I should watch soap operas?

Thank you


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## nahash

hi there! 

I believe  that "Romance" language speaks faster  than english,they have that kind of connecting rhythm, they spoke as if there's no end or no period at all,they sound so nice .As an agent taking spanish calls i admit that they really speak fast and i hardly understand them.But i really enjoy listening to them and used to understand everything.Now i also adapt the speed on how they speak.


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## meili

I agree that Spanish people speak faster than English-speakers. And English speakers speak faster than Filipinos! _Haha!_ As I see it, I think, when we are not natives of a particular language, we tend to focus and listen intently to what the 'native' is really trying to say, thus, they sound like they speak faster than us. In the long run, however, they will sound as normal as we are when we are already used to their language (and dialogue, and pitch, and pace, and all).
But still, Spanish speakers do speak _real fast!_.


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## timebomb

I kind of suspect the "pace of life" has got a lot to do with the "speed of our speech".  My American friend said when he was in Singapore, that Singaporeans talk very fast.  I've never been aware of that until he said so.  But that's probably because I've lived here all my life and have gotten used to the speed.

In a fast-paced society like the one I live in, people tend to speak fast.  That's because there's so little time and so many things to do.  We also eat very fast too    Politicians tend to speak slower than most because they know they have to choose every word carefully whereas most of us just simply shoot our mouths off


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## dahut

Hello

Yes, we do. Spaniards, I mean, we do talk fast.
Which it's a problem, because you tend to do exactly the same when you speak another language and, as aforementioned (sorry, I don't recall the name), you cannot do it with each language.  
I may say that Spaniards speak faster than other people who have Spanish as well as their mother tongue.

I agree with the person who said that it could be something related to Romance languages. (I don't mean to forget the names... it just happened  )

When I don't understand a language, I don't. But I can notice if they speak fast or "not so fast".
E.g. I don't speak Dutch either Italian, but, to me, Italians speak faster than Dutch do.

What I've heard it's that Spanish is easy to learn (apart from some tiny issue with verbs) because native speakers help "you" to learn the language. That's not something you could say of all native speakers and their countries.
It's kind of a balance, speed for "encore"  

Un saludo


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## Chaska Ñawi

I've noticed that indigenous people (at least in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Bolivia) speak much more slowly and distinctly.  

An exception, at least in Canada, is people brought up on reserves in well-populated areas who speak English as a first language.  I would not recognize a Mohawk by voice alone as anything but an Ontarian .... but I would definitely recognize a Cree or Dene.

It is also polite in many native cultures to leave a long silence before replying to somebody.  This is to be certain that the speaker has said everything that they wish, and to have time to digest what they have said before responding.


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## Joelline

There's an interesting short paper on this topic at http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~llsroach/phon2/tempopr.htm


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## danielfranco

Also, it has to do a lot with regional idiosyncracies. For example, in the USA, people from Alabama speak a lot slower than New Yorkers. And in Mexico, people from Veracruz speak a lot faster than people from San Luis Potosí. In general, I've noticed that here in Texas, people from the North of Mexico speak slower in Spanish than other Mexicans, and Texans speak slower in English than other Americans...


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## dahut

Chaska Ñawi said:
			
		

> It is also polite in many native cultures to leave a long silence before replying to somebody This is to be certain that the speaker has said everything that they wish, and to have time digest what they have said before responding.


 
Hello

_*That's so beautiful!!*_
Spaniards tend to interrupt all the time. It gets in my nerves.
But I've noticed three things regarding this "jumping":
1.- Sometimes it's done to prove that you are following the conversation.
2.- They have no patience and want to be right all the time.
3.- They don't care what you are talking about.
One notices the difference because of the topic of the interference  
Although it's _cultural_, it's soooo annoying!

And - they - SHOUT.
Sometimes I feel like saying: don't bother to learn how to _talk_ Spanish, learn how to *shout* it.
Must be cultural as well, how are you going to interrupt _in_ a conversation if nobody can hear you?  

And, yes, I am a Spaniard, _but not deaf_!!

Bye!


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## Sidd

I think we do speak fast.

I was once in an enviroment with people all around the world,
I was really surprised when non-english speakers complainted that spanish spoke english so fast they couldn't understand. 

Since then I've notice that it is true. When we spanish have level enough to speak as fast as we want, we tend to speak even faster than natives. So I guess it is true we speak fast.


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## Honour

dahut said:
			
		

> Hello
> 
> _*That's so beautiful!!*_
> Spaniards tend to interrupt all the time. It gets in my nerves.
> But I've noticed three things regarding this "jumping":
> 1.- Sometimes it's done to prove that you are following the conversation.
> 2.- They have no patience and want to be right all the time.
> 3.- They don't care what you are talking about.
> One notices the difference because of the topic of the interference
> Although it's _cultural_, it's soooo annoying!
> 
> And - they - SHOUT.
> Sometimes I feel like saying: don't bother to learn how to _talk_ Spanish, learn how to *shout* it.
> Must be cultural as well, how are you going to interrupt _in_ a conversation if nobody can hear you?
> 
> And, yes, I am a Spaniard, _but not deaf_!!
> 
> Bye!


 
Nothing is different in Turkey  La gente interrumpiene todo el tiempo cuando quiere expresarse(my knowledge of spanish is slightly more than zero, please correct me) . I really don't like this situation. There may be even times when one could not say what s/he wants to say.People guess what will be said and interrupts before you complete the sentence!

Btw i have to make a comment on topic. Words in turkish are a bit longer than romance and germanic languages due to the nature of the language so it generally seems people as if we were speaking fast. In fact, when we say only a single word it may sound quite long and may carry the meaning of a whole sentence in another language, say english . In bottom line, as far as i have noticed people don't speak fast.For sure, there are exceptions like me


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## ewhite

Surprisingly, I think New York City speech has slowed down over the past 70 years or so. I base this solely on anecdotal evidence. I am a native New Yorker, and I have been listening to this accent for my entire life, and unless I "re-tune" my ears to the rat-a-tat pace and different accent, I sometimes have trouble understanding New Yorkers such as Jimmy Cagney or Pat O'Brien in movies from the 30s. They just talk too fast!


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## Residente Calle 13

ewhite said:
			
		

> Surprisingly, I think New York City speech has slowed down over the past 70 years or so. I base this solely on anecdotal evidence. I am a native New Yorker, and I have been listening to this accent for my entire life, and unless I "re-tune" my ears to the rat-a-tat pace and different accent, I sometimes have trouble understanding New Yorkers such as Jimmy Cagney or Pat O'Brien in movies from the 30s. They just talk too fast!



Part of it might be that the sound is not that good and the fact that the language has changed since then. However, I am a native New Yorker too and I do notice that in old movies people tend to speak faster, especially for dramatic effect. I think you can even hear this in episodes of that show where weird things happen to people, like men hanging on the wings of an airplane, and aliens coming "To Serve Man." 

P.S. I'm not sure we can mention the name of specific shows here.


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## nokeeffe99

It's interesting that people agree that politicians speak slowly - years ago in France I used to like listening to M. Mitterand because he was so easy to understand.
I also found in France that women were easier to understand than men. I'm not sure if it was because they speak more slowly or do they just speak more distinctly.


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## Outsider

English does sound faster in old movies. I've always wondered if normal people actually spoke that way at the time, or if it was just "movie-speak". Maybe they were trying to save on the cost of film, LOL.


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## maxiogee

Outsider said:
			
		

> English does sound faster in old movies. I've always wondered if normal people actually spoke that way at the time, or if it was just "movie-speak". Maybe they were trying to save on the cost of the film, LOL.



Not English-English - it doesn't. They enunciated properly.
I don't recall John Wayne or Paul Newman speaking particularly fast, but I'll grant that the folks in the Bogart movies I adore used to speak quite fast and clipped.


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## vince

Yes, I think Spanish is spoken faster than English. When I hear people who speak with a Spanish accent, they tend to speak English faster than I normally would. I think Germanic languages might be slower. I only know basic German yet I can catch the meaning of occasional phrases just as well as I can in Spanish, even though my Spanish skills are 100x better! (I'm just not used to listening to it)


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## Residente Calle 13

vince said:
			
		

> Yes, I think Spanish is spoken faster than English. When I hear people who speak with a Spanish accent, they tend to speak English faster than I normally would. I think Germanic languages might be slower. I only know basic German yet I can catch the meaning of occasional phrases just as well as I can in Spanish, even though my Spanish skills are 100x better! (I'm just not used to listening to it)



Spanish speakers say the same thing about English that you say about Spanish.


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## vince

You mean people who speak Spanish with an American/British accent?


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## Residente Calle 13

vince said:
			
		

> You mean people who speak Spanish with an American/British accent?



Native English speakers who are learning Spanish think Spanish speakers talk very fast.

Native Spanish speakers who are learning English think English speakers talk very fast.

Native French speakers who are learning Spanish think Spanish speakers talk very fast.

Native Spanish speakers who are learning French think French speakers talk very fast.

Native English speakers who are learning Spanish think Spanish speakers talk very fast.

Native Spanish speakers who are learning English think English speakers talk very fast.

Native X speakers who are learningY think Y speakers talk very fast.

Native Y speakers who are learning X think X speakers talk very fast.


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## vince

Actually I mean that when Spanish-speakers speak English, I as an English-speaker perceive that their English is spoken faster than other English -speakers would normally speak in English.

It's more logical that Spanish-learners would find native Spanish-speakers to speak Spanish fast because we are still trying to grasp how the sounds flow in Spanish. But I am talking about listening to Spanish-speakers speak English, which we are already familiar with.


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## Residente Calle 13

vince said:
			
		

> Actually I mean that when Spanish-speakers speak English, I as an English-speaker perceive that their English is spoken faster than other English -speakers would normally speak in English.



Oh! Okay. I see.


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## tvdxer

The fastest-sounding language to me would almost certainly be Malayalam.


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## anthodocheio

GenJen54 said:
			
		

> The vowel and consonant combinations of most Romance languages, in particular Spanish and French, do lend a more graceful rhythm to the languages. As such, they do sound faster. I think in those languages, a lot depends on the particular country or regional accent as well.
> 
> For example, when I lived in Miami, Florida, I encountered many Cuban people. They had a tendancy to "drop" or "swallow" the "s" sound from many words, so more of their words ran together. As a result, I had a much more difficult time understanding them than I did Mexicans I have met, whose speech (at least to me) seems to be more clear, because it is more pronounced.
> 
> In French, where certain vowels and or consonants at the ends of words are often silent, and then words are run together, it makes for a quicker pattern of speech.


 

I'm from Greece and I believe we talk quite slow whereas the Greek speakers again of Cyprus speak really very fast. Maybe more than Spanish.

The point is that this is not happening because they cut the end of the words. On the contrary they put “n” and “s” at the end of almost every word, maybe more like ancient Greek. This way they don’t need to stop between the words while we in Greece with most endings with vowels we have to stop in order to show the end of the word. 
 
I thing that’s how works _liaison_ in French.


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## mjscott

Announcers in any language are paid by how much news they can pack into a small amount of time.

Politicians want to surely be understood--even if it means speaking more slowly.

I remember watching a show a few years back, "Kiki desde Hollywood." Everyone spoke slowly enough that I could understand what they were saying. Then they would have a sports newscast. As in the US, it was done so very quickly in Spanish I could not keep up with the language. Comparing it, however, to English sportscasts, I could see how people in any language would have their heads spinning to hear so many words packed in so little time, explaining actions and using idioms that one must be familiar with in order to make sense!


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## KittyCatty

hello,
I think that American English speakers talk annoyingly slow (sorry guys!) because when I watch American TV shows they really want to make sure you hear every word. I think British English speakers talk faster in comparison. Politicians also talk really slowly. We watched a video of Sarkozy in French who spoke so slow and I could hardly hear the words the presenter was saying. The thing is, a native hardly has to think about what they're saying, of course they talk faster than a learner. Politicians are a different species. Look at the way Blair delivers a speech... it's slow, juttery and punctuated with hand actions. Sooooo annoying!


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## emma42

I agree with the vowel/elision thing in Romance languages.

Dahut's comment about Spaniards "interrupting" is interesting.  I recently read that the French (in France, at least) often interrupt and that it is considered polite - a sign that you are fully involved in the conversation with the other person.  Is this true?  It is considered rude in English - I wonder if this has to do with language speed and flow, as well as other cultural matters?


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## Dr. Quizá

I think English "should" sound slower than Spanish because its' words are generally shorter and its' sounds are more "liquid", less "sharp" and have more subtle differences amongst them so they need you to be more careful to handle them; but actually I find that British men speak slower than British women and that we Spaniards are in the middle.


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## Residente Calle 13

emma42 said:
			
		

> I agree with the vowel/elision thing in Romance languages.
> 
> I recently read that the French (in France, at least) often interrupt and that it is considered polite - a sign that you are fully involved in the conversation with the other person.  Is this true?



I've read and heard this as well.


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## moirag

I read somewhere years ago that the fastest spoken language in the world is Japanese, and the second fastest.....Spanish.


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## Evancito

Vivo en Argentina y creo que hablan rapido... más rapido que en Espana. Pero para ellos, nosotros hablamos rapido en EEUU...


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## nanel

jess oh seven said:
			
		

> i bet English doesn't sound half as pretty since it's more sort of staggered and uneven...


 That's because you're an English speaker, I think English sounds dreamy, and Spanish just normal.



			
				Tate_Harmann said:
			
		

> What do you think about using the news and politicians to train my ears? Is that a good idea, or should I be listening to something else? The words used in the news aren't always words a person hears every day. Maybe I should watch soap operas?
> 
> Thank you


 If I were you I'd listen to both, that way you'd be able to learn more words and ways of speaking. The more, the better  



			
				emma42 said:
			
		

> Dahut's comment about Spaniards "interrupting" is interesting. I recently read that the French (in France, at least) often interrupt and that it is considered polite - a sign that you are fully involved in the conversation with the other person. Is this true? It is considered rude in English - I wonder if this has to do with language speed and flow, as well as other cultural matters?


 In Spain it isn't considered polite interrupting, it's rude, but people keep doing it, I'm afraid. 

And back on topic, yes, I am a Spanish speaker and I speak really fast, at least that's what I've been told by many native English speakers when speaking English


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## Capricious

danielfranco said:
			
		

> Also, it has to do a lot with regional idiosyncracies. For example, in the USA, people from Alabama speak a lot slower than New Yorkers. And in Mexico, people from Veracruz speak a lot faster than people from San Luis Potosí. In general, I've noticed that here in Texas, people from the North of Mexico speak slower in Spanish than other Mexicans, and Texans speak slower in English than other Americans...


 
I agree, in certain parts of Victoria (Australia) especially some of the more regional areas, a lot of the population thereabouts will speak quite slowly. However in Melbourne definitely, and even inner-suburbia people will talk a lot quicker. I think it also has something to do with the 'pace of life' as somebody else mentioned. Farmers in regional Victoria do enjoy a slower pace as opposed to businessmen in the CBD. 

My Japanese teacher also says where he's from in Japan (Hokkaido) tend to speak a lot slower compared to people from say Tokyo or Kyoto (however that's just his opinion as I've never been there )


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## barrakuda

Well..... I think that Argentinian People speak Spanish faster than Spanish people. You can compare this information looking some videos of "CQC". 
About English .... I can understand foreigner people that are talking in English , but when an englishman is talking to me I don´t understand all the conversation. It´s awful!!


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## panjabigator

Malayalam and the south Indian languages sound fast because of the rhythm.  In North India, I'd say Panjabi is the fastest language.  The reason why Spanish sounds so fast, in MHO, is that the vowels sounds can be carried over...saying "a ella" becomes shortened to "aella."  I had a book that explained it very nicely...but I have no clue where it could be...


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