18 January, 2016

Can you say "um" in more than one language?

This one caught me by surprise at language school. During a class my teacher told me if I could say "eeto" instead of "um" I'd sound much more Japanese. And, of course, she was right. You can also say "aaaah" or "air-". Now they've become so natural that I even sometimes say these things when speaking in Engliah.

Other words that creep into my native language are exclamations like "ahre?" and "e?" (Short sound). 

I just Googled "Japanese interjections" and got a great page: http://lang-8.com/168601/journals/947474/ I'm surprised at how many I use or know the gist of. 

So, how many languages can you say "um" in?

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