Yippee, a new Nightwish fan! Tuomas Holopainen should be grateful The Islander was shot in Rovaniemi, it's a town in the northern Finland, just where Lapland begins (though as you probably figured out already, the scenery where the old man drags the ship isn't completely authentic, I've never met such shadow-creatures when I've visited Lapland ) The accents of the politicians are pretty authentic, and as you could hear, Putin was given a Russian accent In reality our President speaks fluent English, but her accent is exactly as it is in the animation, a bit clumsy, but understandable. Our Prime Minister, however, doesn't speak English very well, even I can't understand him when he tries I really do hope that two years of translation studies with some native English-speaking teachers and of course listening to music and watching movies and tv-programmes in English have diminished my Finnish "tönkkö" accent.
We can fairly say you have turned me into some kind of Nightwish-addict Do you know where The Islander was shot? Somewhere in Finland maybe? The "Olzon" surname of Anette's has told me she's Swedish It's chiefly a Swedish name, right? I'm an amateur etymologist of names, though I have a long way to go yet (Languages are SO BIG ) Does Madam President really walk and run like that? I've been rolling on the floor laughing at those videos It's been so much political fun that I'm planning to view them with certain regularity! I especially like their accents... and Putin's English sounds SO RUSSIAN Well, approximately the same happens here, people speak other languages with Argentinian accent I'm sure you sound better though. You seem by far a better linguist than your fellow... comical politicians
Yes, Bye Bye Beautiful is the second video from Dark Passion Play. There's also a third one, The Islander, check that one out too. Not all the Scandinavians are such great singers, but there are many talented musicians in the north. Tarja is Finnish and Anette (the new singer) Swedish There's one episode of Itse Valtiaat in English - The Autocrats: Operation ESC. Part one and Part two It was made for some contest in Europe, which is why they speak English (though with the most authentic Finnish accent - I hope you'll be able to understand it anyway. I hope I don't sound as bad when I speak, though ) Apart from the most important Finnish politicians of that time Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin also play important roles in the clip
To this Argentinian it looks hilarious too Thanks for the vibration technique... I will try that "drrrrrr, drrrrr, drrrrr" all day long until I get it... if ever... I already watched both Nightwish videos and I'm beginning to feel a serious interest . The first allowed me two in one: listening to Tarja and doing a review of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I can't complain The Amaranth video is quite a piece of art. Have you seen the Bye Bye Beautiful video? I just stumbled on it. As a side note, do most Scandinavian ladies sing that well? .... hmm... I'm utterly convinced.... Scandinavian ladies are a must PS: not forgotten your PM. Will reply soon
Your translation of "Itse Valtiaat" is pretty accurate, but there's also a pun: if the words were written together (Itsevaltiaat), it would mean something like "The Dictators" It was a hilarious tv-show, at least for a Finn Not even all the Finns can make R vibrate correctly (our president being one example), but it can be learned. Often children who have problems with Rs go to "R school" (I did too, it took only three lessons for me to master it, though for my little brother it took three years...). The tongue vibrates against the front teeth which causes the sound. Pronouncing a D in front of the R might help, as in it the tongue is in the same position. So try saying "drrrrrr, drrrrr, drrrrr" or something
Quite a lot of action for a bunch of politicians Let me see... "Itse Valtiaat - Pahat Pojat" means something like "Rulers by themselves - Bad Boys"? What do you know about making Rs vibrate? Do you think it's possible to learn or it may have to do with a special tongue-feature () not everyone has? Thanks for the Nightwish vid links... I'm about to check them once properly downloaded. I want to perform a conscientious analysis on them And the painting of The Wounded Angel is very beautiful. I hadn't seen it before.
Actually Madam President cannot pronounce the vibrating R either, so she doesn't even say her own name right... But this is "her" singing (it's from a Finnish animated political satire, and sung by an imitator) I guess the two latest Nightwish albums (the last one with Tarja and the first one without her) are the best. They're called "Once" and "Dark Passion Play". There are a lot of good songs on the earlier albums too, though. This is one of my favourite songs by Nightwish, Ghost Love Score, that's Tarja singing (there's no official music video for that song). Then there's Amaranth from Dark Passion Play with their new singer, Anette. The video is based on a famous Finnish painting called The Wounded Angel by Hugo Simberg
Maybe if you told me what genre madam president sings I could develop an interest to tune her in on my loudspeakers.... .... Actually the first material I've listened to by Tarja IS her album "My Winter Storm" of which I very much preferred that very same song you like a lot I'm afraid I haven't set my ears on Nightwish... any special album you would recommend?
I thought it might be about Tarja Turunen, actually I thought that to be more likely than you wondering about prounouncing our president's name Nightwish is one of my favourite bands, both before and after Tarja Turunen left it. I've got Tarja's solo album on my computer, but sadly I don't think it's half as good as the music she sang with Nightwish (though I do like the song I Walk Alone quite a lot).
What a wonderful coincidence, to know that Finnish is highly phonemical as my mother tongue is People in Buenos Aires have a tendency for that type of "r sound", they pronounce "vibrating Rs", something characteristic of their accent, of which I am not capable of, probably due to lack of vocal training... not really sure. Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. I'll keep the sound clip for future reference... who knows... since I have this crush on languages I may well decide to learn Finnish one day. It sounds as an interesting language I asked you about pronunciation of "Tarja" because of Tarja Turunen (soprano, sings symphonic rock/metal/classical crossover, in case you don't know her). I wanted to know how to say her name
