Never thought the click noises in some African languages would ever make sense. But here we are.

[u/nooneknowsme9]

[u/Equivalent_News8116]

If Inhad a voice like this guy, I would never stop talking.

[u/sospecialsuchforce → u/Equivalent_News8116]

He should work at a radio station

[u/SaltyAFVet → u/sospecialsuchforce]

Or audiobooks ya

[u/ClamClone → u/sospecialsuchforce]

Or on the BBC. (Neil Nunes)

[u/webMacaque → u/ClamClone]

Or as BBC (Jesus Christ).

[u/Riegrek → u/ClamClone]

I was literally thinking this guy is like a South African Neil Nunes!

[u/Adventurous-End-7633 → u/Equivalent_News8116]

if i had fingers like this guy, i would never stop fingiring

[u/apileofpies → u/Adventurous-End-7633]

The way he bends down his pinkie to go from 4 to 3 makes no sense to me. Can people just curl their pinkie, without holding it with their thumb, without also curling the ring finger? Are my hands wrong?

[u/fyreflow → u/apileofpies]

It comes naturally to some people, it seems. I feel like it’s akin to being right- or left-handed: it depends on how you learned it the first time.

Or perhaps similar to how some people find the “Vulcan greeting” easy, and some find it impossible without using their other hand to spread their fingers. In both cases, you can probably practice to build up the muscle memory needed.

[u/UKFightersAreTrash → u/fyreflow]

Nah it's not something you can acquire. There's a ligament or muscle that connects the pinky/ring finger. Some people dont' have this connection and it's somewhat rare as I understand it.

[u/mayurigod1 → u/apileofpies]

I can actually only do it with my dominant hand, other hand i gotta hold the pinkie down

[u/spacetstacy → u/apileofpies]

Yes, some of us can. Just like only some can raise one eyebrow (I can't, but my sister can), or roll our tongues.

My husband's thumbs are weird. The tops bend back instead of going straight up. (Mine is straight, but maybe I'm the weird one)

[u/DwightDavid1234 → u/Equivalent_News8116]

He’d make a killing doing ASMR videos on YouTube.

[u/CWMcnancy → u/DwightDavid1234]

That's what I was thinking. If I had a 30min version of this I could fall asleep to it.

[u/ilovechairs → u/CWMcnancy]

Had a professor with a deep voice and a really melodic pattern of speech.

Early class too! It was so hard not to fall asleep to his voice, and obviously he was not appreciative of anyone looking like they’re nodding off.

[u/[deleted] → u/Equivalent_News8116]

[removed] — view removed comment

[u/fyreflow → u/[deleted]]

Handy guide:

For c-click, position the tongue as for t, and click lightly near your front teeth. It’s like the tsk tsk sound of disapproval. Now try ncinci (which means small).

For x-click, position the tongue as for l, and click near your molars. It sounds like a horse’s hooves on a tarred road. Now try Xhosa (the name of one of the languages).

For q-click, position the tongue as for d, but with the tip of the tongue a bit further back against the roof of your mouth, and click near the back ridge of your hard palate. It sounds like a horse’s hooves on a cobblestone road. Now try -qondo (which means to understand).

Bonus round:

For the hl- consonant, place your tongue to the side of your mouth and expel the air (like Welsh ll sound). Now try umhle (meaning “You are beautiful”).

Expect level:

Ndiqhele ucheb’ ixhego inkqayi. (I usually shave the old man’s head.)

Iqaqa laziqikaqika emqolweni kwade laqhawula iqhoqhoqho (The skunk rolled down from the ridge until it severed its windpipe.)

[u/EasyFooted → u/[deleted]]

Start with the clicks and their vowel sounds, like he does at the end of each example. It's a lot easier, and then you build from there.

[u/kristinL356 → u/[deleted]]

Same. Can make all the noises individually but when I try to add the rest of the word, feels my mouth just shits itself lol

[u/MrSeriousPoops → u/Equivalent_News8116]

Wouldn't it be something if his head voice sounded like Kevin Arnold's on The Wonder Years?

[u/Keyspam102 → u/Equivalent_News8116]

I would listen to any podcast he voiced happily

[u/Margaretgaz4u]

his English is perfect on top of this

[u/IMM1711 → u/Margaretgaz4u]

I mean he’s from South Africa, makes sense.

[u/ClamClone → u/IMM1711]

I have a fried that is from Zuid-Afrika and has a British accent. Her friend I know has a Afrikaans accent. My friend grew up on a farm out in the bush somewhere and learned the click language from the kids she played with. People are surprised that a white woman can speak it. She also speaks Italian.

More people need to know who Johnny Clegg was. And Mrs Ball's chutney.

[u/Annual_Strategy_6206 → u/ClamClone]

We're Johnny Clegg fans!

[u/UknwWhu → u/ClamClone]

South African English doesn’t have a British accent bruh. Yes our English is distinctive, but to equate it to a British accent is very egregious. The language is Xhosa and not the click language, as it has a closer relationship with the San language (that makes use of clicks in its speech, “clicks” are limited to words using Q, C and X in Xhosa).

[u/Conatus80 → u/Margaretgaz4u]

Everyone in South Africa speaks more than one language.

[u/PlatypusPristine9194 → u/Conatus80]

Well, no not everyone. Most people, sure.

[u/XDayaDX → u/PlatypusPristine9194]

You need to take a secondary language in high school (with some exemptions; eg. Foreign students). So it's a fairly accurate generalisation.

[u/SmutGrrl]

His voice is tremendous

[u/Envii02 → u/SmutGrrl]

Fantastically friendly smile as well!

[u/AssistanceCheap379 → u/Envii02]

How the hell do Africans and people of African descent seemingly always have great smiles and teeth?

[u/LaunchTransient → u/AssistanceCheap379]

Probably because their jaw structure is wide enough that their mouths aren't crowded. If you look at many Western Europeans, the jaw is quite narrow in comparison - and the teeth are still about the same size, so they get crowded.

It should be said that "African descent" is a gigantic generalization though, because there are ethnicities present in Africa which have more in common (genetically) with Laplanders than they do with some other African ethnicities.

[u/Keyspam102 → u/SmutGrrl]

Seriously wow

[u/st_st__]

These types of videos are what the internet should be for

[u/Chiguy1216 → u/st_st__]

Was my immediate thought

[u/_deep_thot42 → u/st_st__]

Yeah, it feels like old school PBS in the best way possible

[u/mystyz → u/st_st__]

I wish we had the source. Would love to support their channel/account directly.

[u/Sancred]

Beatbox is just African slam poetry.

[u/lydocia → u/Sancred]

c x q c x q c x q tititititit

[u/Sir-Grumpalot]

I could listen to him talk all day!

[u/Dismal-Meringue6778 → u/Sir-Grumpalot]

Same, his voice would be nice to fall asleep to too.

[u/CWMcnancy → u/Dismal-Meringue6778]

Yeah, his tone is so warm, the clicks and beats are like ASMR. And the subject matter is interesting enough to turn my brain off, but not so interesting that it get's me excited.

[u/Shoddy-Associate5812]

He’s also an excellent teacher. (Foreign languages are really hard for me. I’ve got more of a mind for mathematics and the sciences.)

[u/elastic-craptastic → u/Shoddy-Associate5812]

He broke it down in the way classic Western classes breakdown Spanish and French. Pardon my aggronce but I was never offered anything other than French Spanish or Latin. But it seems broken down the same way but I guess that would be logical for any language. It's a lack of exposure probably

[u/xecuyexojacoqa]

Coca-cola and canada. Funny guy.

[u/Inside-Associate-729]

That dude can spread his long fingers impressively far while signing “4”. He should play guitar or piano or smth

[u/Ok_Information_2009 → u/Inside-Associate-729]

He can cover many octaves!

[u/Dismal-Meringue6778]

You know y'all sitting here trying to do these sounds right now.

[u/First_manatee_614 → u/Dismal-Meringue6778]

Nope, if this is the center of the linguistic universe, I am at the point furthest from it. I cannot possibly be more of an opposite in ability.

[u/Laymanao → u/First_manatee_614]

Sadly, he lost me at the first click here.

[u/Ashitakas_Curse → u/Dismal-Meringue6778]

All my coworkers think I have something stuck on my mouth from all the clicking sounds I'm trying to do.

And failing miserably of course.

[u/Embarrassed-Design18]

I lived and studied in South Africa for 5 years (Im Tanzanian) and I was never able to get the clicks right, I wish I met this man when I was there.

[u/Dismal-Meringue6778]

"Click-bee-lay!" 😄 (From Russell Peter's comedy special)

[u/MomsBoner → u/Dismal-Meringue6778]

HE HAD A CLICK IN HIS NAME! 🤣 i love that whole show!

Be a man!

[u/TheKyleBrah → u/Dismal-Meringue6778]

Exclamation Mark. X. O. B. I. L. E

"XOBILE!!!"

"Please do not shout in the casino."

[u/sospecialsuchforce]

Pls say „xcqpqxpxc“

[u/GeneticEnginLifeForm → u/sospecialsuchforce]

Hi, my name is, what?

My name is, who?

My name is, xcqpqxpxc, Slim shady

[u/fyreflow → u/sospecialsuchforce]

Wouldn’t happen. Nguni languages are like Japanese — every consonant essentially has to be followed by a vowel.

(If it looks like there are consonants clustered together in the written form, it’s usually because they either form a single consonant together or because one of them modifies the preceding vowel. Things like “ngx” represents just a single sound; a slack-voiced nasal lateral dental click, in this example.)

[u/Daveywheel]

What a charming man!!

[u/No-Acanthocephala531]

I love this man does he have more videos about language there?

[u/Californ1a → u/No-Acanthocephala531]

It's Sakhile Dube; he's a tour guide. He has his own channel but not too much uploaded there. OP's video is originally from a different channel that uploaded an excerpt from one of his tours; they've got a couple other videos of him.

[u/fena07]

And thats all for this evenings news

[u/Potato_Stains]

This guy has a golden voice.
I hope someone told him to get into voice over work and buy a condenser mic.

[u/MisterTrashPanda → u/Potato_Stains]

I agree his voice is great. Pardon my ignorance, but what is a condenser mic?

[u/Fantastic_Zucchini_6]

Anyone who can speak like this is a genius.

[u/LostRandomThoughts]

His name is Sakhile Dube and he is a Zulu from South Africa. He has other videos on YouTube and is bloody awesome! He works at a tourism adventure company that does tours of the iSimangaliso Wetlands Park in Saint Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa.

Here is another video of him explaining the Zulu culture and ancestors. Sakhile Dube explains Zulu culture: Ancestors

He has other videos under the account Safari and Surf - Wilderness Adventures. It is the place he works (not sure if he still does). But he also has videos explaining insect and wildlife around the wetlands and other educational videos. Lots of opportunities to hear his voice more 😁

[u/lonniemarie → u/LostRandomThoughts]

That was a very interesting video. Thanks for sharing

[u/crinklemermaid]

Fascinating

[u/Reasonable-Peanut-12]

He spreads his fingers like god

[u/Laymanao → u/Reasonable-Peanut-12]

Wait until you hear him speaking Italian. /s

[u/RyanwBoswell1991]

I can’t even make any of those sounds

[u/Estofil]

He has the coolest voice ever!

[u/faRawrie]

I just want him to narrate Audible books.

[u/lwp775]

Some radio station hire this guy!

[u/SweetWolfgang]

I just spent the last 5 minutes trying to say CocaCola the way he does but I can't do it without making the noise then switching to my normal voice.

Very interesting

[u/flippinfreak73]

Now I understand.

[u/smallmonzter]

This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a very long time. And definitely the smoothest thing I’ve HEARD ever.

[u/baghdad-hoebag]

Wtf is that title?

[u/Duck_Duckens]

Never thought the click noises in some African languages would ever make sense.

So you thought they did it for fun?

[u/rawr_im_a_nice_bear → u/Duck_Duckens]

I think they meant it would never make sense to them. The intricacies of language can be difficult to grasp. At least I hope so.

[u/HanMcArer]

The sound for „x“ must be awful when you are sick and having a sore throat.

Just wondering, though, the sounds seem to come on top. Would you lose information conveyed if you take them away?

[u/Hibbiee]

Can we stop these speech-to-text thingies? They're barely half right.

[u/rawr_im_a_nice_bear → u/Hibbiee]

Disable it?

[u/Eggplant-666]

Wow

[u/akaBrucee]

Wow, that's really cool. Really haven't heard these sounds in many European and Asian languages

[u/Sniffy4]

this guy needs to narrate documentaries

[u/TeaRanchh]

WHOA THIS IS SO COOL

[u/paladinsword8]

Very good morning aswell

[u/ghoultek]

Does this guy have more videos? This video is less than 3 mins long and I sware if he came and spoke on front of a group of western women, he would have all their phone numbers.

[u/Elrond_Cupboard_]

[u/Speech-Language]

I am a speech-language therapist. I imagine trying to teach these sounds.

[u/Kythosyer → u/Speech-Language]

South African speech therapists have a reallllyyy hard time, especially as a lot of people are trilingual and mix and match languages and sounds as needed to convey their point

[u/SealofNeal]

Young Mr. Morgen

[u/OsloProject]

This is perfection. The voice. The lesson. The sounds. Everything. Awesome vid

[u/Thegarz1963]

Fantastic .

[u/hurricanepilotpete]

He's a great teacher.

[u/Different-Formal7795]

What a great voice!

[u/NTDLS]

Dude, that was amazing! Also, that’s one shockingly deep voice.

[u/Lady_Black_Cats]

I could listen to him for everything. He needs to do documentaries and audio books.

[u/mydadisbald3000]

Bro got the burp voice

[u/Hallelujah33]

I liked it

[u/tokyotochicago]

I think it's the first time I've ever seen this sub being genuinely interesting and not some trash ragebait

[u/tokyotochicago]

I think it's the first time I've ever seen this sub being genuinely interesting and not some trash ragebait

[u/SomeDudeSaysWhat]

Professor [click] and the [click]-Men

[u/Zwischenzug32]

Say my name baby

[u/DrSkullKid]

I’ve always been obsessed with foreign languages and I’ve been waiting to see a video like this for ages. How fascinating. I wish I could do that. I couldn’t keep up with the third one though. Sounds so crazy cool when you put it all together understanding it’s all unique letter sounds.

[u/spacetraxx]

This is the best kind of click bait.

[u/hallowed-history]

I thought it was Dkembe Mutonbo

[u/nameproposalssuck]

That’s actually not that difficult; all these sounds are distinctive for someone whose mother tongue is a Germanic or Romance language.
It becomes challenging when you can’t discern the distinctive characteristics of the sounds because you didn’t grow up with them, like for example, in languages with four or five glottal sounds.

Sounds pretty cool also.

[u/Got_Bent]

He explained that perfectly. It makes sense, not that I can speak it. But that it is understandable now.

[u/NonyMs89]

Woah! That was interesting!

[u/_caucasian_asian_]

We split into F O U R

[u/claspse]

Tons of questions.

---

Just to start: On audio is the distinction between the different click variations easily distinguishable? What part does accent play on understanding clicks? Are there common accents in the use of the clicks? Do babies' first words ever include a word that has clicks? How easy is it for a child to pronounce versus an adult? Is there even a difference?

[u/Butthole_Enjoyer]

I hear South Africa is no walk in the park.

[u/Dear_Command_4547]

Love this OP - caught myself absolutely butchering each sound individually, let alone trying the monitor lizard sentence 😆

[u/Careless-Tangelo2710]

should be a narrator

[u/Optimal_Life_1259]

I learned so much! And I really love your voice.

[u/lydocia]

I love how he couldn't suppress that grin at "Questions?", so endearing and such a good speaker!

[u/miss_kenoko]

John McWhorter needs to interview this guy, I would love to hear his pronunciation

[u/Shaking-a-tlfthr]

Wow, that voice and great tutorial.

[u/freakbob3000]

this guy should read books on audible

[u/xenelef290]

It is impossible to whisper in a click language

[u/dostoyevskybirthedme]

This was fascinating i wish the video was an hour

[u/wrong-guy-247]

As an American, he speaks better English than most Americans.

[u/superwoman7588]

Ah cool!!

[u/RigamortisRooster]

Wonder what burps and farts represent

[u/girlinanemptyroom]

This guy is really interesting to watch. How many of you practiced while he was teaching their sounds? My cat ran to me while I was sitting on the toilet making these sounds.

[u/RaspberryPositive518]

This is amazing! I’m sure he’s probably a teacher or tour guide in his country. This made me really happy seeing his passion explaining everything.

[u/rawr_im_a_nice_bear → u/RaspberryPositive518]

He's a tour guide

[u/Zoto94]

Holy teeth. And what a voice! Someone hire this guy to be the next mufasa!

[u/reddit_kc]

I bet he would kill at beat boxing

[u/cprfsh]

I'm South African and know the clicks, but he's explained the base sounds in a way that makes me think of Japanese (which I'm learning). Pa, pe, pi, pu, po. Guess there really are basic roots to certain languages.

[u/Here_is_to_beer]

Million dollar smile!

[u/l00koverthere1]

I want to know how this sounds when they're hammered.

[u/Affectionate_Face_71]

Where can I find more of his videos? Or does he do online classes?

[u/WhyUFuckinLyin]

He should voice documentaries

[u/11ish]

He has a rich deep beautiful voice!!

[u/Jelly_Jess_NW]

That’s so awesome.

I only speak English and sometimes when I try to make other sounds from different languages I feel like English is so lazy, I feel like my tongue and other muscles are so weak.

[u/9-5grind]

That was cool AF to learn, man also has an awesome voice.

[u/matchesmalone81]

What a cool video. Is this OC?

[u/KeepinItReal200]

But why does he look like Method Man?

[u/havingbigfeelings]

Your title sucks OP 👎🏾

[u/sekhmet1010]

That's a really nice voice.

[u/captainmidday]

I have a pet theory about click languages: I think they can be understood more clearly when whispered. This would have been an advantage when hunting. It's analogous to languages that omit the vowels when written. The gaps can be filled in and the clicks are still clear and distinct.

[u/Kalron]

I love the consistent demonstration of each sound.

I wish I could speak another language.

[u/droidsfanatic]

Siri would be goated if it had a voice like this

[u/Itzzzame]

He needs to narrate on natgeo

[u/CWMcnancy]

Meanwhile in the English dialect, Q, X, and C are just sitting there pointless

[u/RestlessCreator]

God that must require SO MANY years to get used to. They must develop an incredibly different set of muscles in their jaws and tongue to speak like this every day.

[u/soarfingers]

His smile just really exemplifies the joy you can sense from him sharing about his language and culture. So awesome! People with that kind of humble happiness are who I strive to surround myself with. The fact that his voice is pure silk is a major bonus.

[u/Im_Yinz_Huckleberry]

This is great stuff love it

[u/Remarkable_Doubt8765]

Wait until you find out that these click letters all have different accents. This is done by adding letters before or after the letter. E.g.

Q vs Qh vs Gq vs Nq vs Ngq

Or

X vs Xh vs Nx vs Gx vs Ngx

[u/drunkenitninja]

This guy is amazing!

[u/Same-Performance-300]

That's so awesome

[u/Iceman2584]

Very cool information, so fun to watch.

[u/Sad_Video_2734]

Awesome video!!

[u/Kilgore47]

Good post! holy smokes give this guy a voice over job!

[u/2broke2smoke1]

His voice is so soothing. I hope he enjoys using it and gets a chance to share education with everyone worldwide (those who enjoy it)

[u/whiskeyknitting]

I could listen to him all day

[u/AmberIsHungry]

I want this guy to read me bed time stories. His voice is incredible.

[u/CyberFlunk1778]

It’s fucked up what these greedy racist nations are doing and have done to indigenous peoples

[u/123AssAssin321]

Dude's voice is more James Earl Jones than actual James Earl Jones!

[u/matTmin45]

[u/docArriveYo]

His voice is great, but when he held up his four fingers he reach every corner of the galaxy.

[u/theycallmeebz]

That is so interesting!

[u/[deleted]]

!kung!!!!!!!!!!! love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[u/RiggityRiggityReckt]

Tongue working overtime!

[u/EcstaticMiddle3]

All of the languages!!!

[u/Ordinary_Resident_20]

I would listen to any audio book this guy narrates!

[u/Ok_Programmer_1022]

His voice is so deep it made me pregnant.

[u/bmarcus89]

Amazing

[u/j_reinegade]

I would like to listen to this man speak... well, indefinitely..

[u/trapmaster5]

This man is a legend!

[u/chao_sweetie]

That is pretty cool.

[u/antman1983]

After learning Xhosa on Duolingo I successfully went on a date with the South African lady from work.

We just clicked...

[u/Ptolemy_945]

There's a fascinating book about how the ngune people are the 13th tribe of Israel and possess the ark of the covenant

[u/Prestigious_Touch909]

Interesting

[u/TheKyleBrah]

"Do you play Bass in a band?!" 🙆‍♀️

"No baby... I AM the Bass." 😎

[u/bleedMINERred]

Wow that makes sense

[u/WiseRisk]

Yooo! I remember watching this years ago on Youtube! Absolutely fascinating stuff. He does such a good job of explaining everything.

[u/andio76]

"...In a world were danger lurks........"

[u/Soulinx]

Duolingo needs this guy!

[u/Reptilian-Retard]

He spread that 4 finger pretty hard

[u/Dreadnoughttwat]

If you weren’t born and raised in it, good luck learning to do that. People joked back in the day but that’s very impressive.

[u/cheapb98]

Very well explained. Like a professor

[u/StryngzAndWyngz]

Dude has a voice made for radio and a smile made for Hollywood. I find these languages fascinating.

[u/Soylent_Boy]

Phonics

[u/bbeeebb]

Amazing...

[u/Careful_Philosophy_9]

That’s so neat!

[u/Ok_Veterinarian9758]

I love learning