Bzzzpeek

(By way of a member of the Child Lit listserv) a fabulous new resource and a fun timewaster as well:

Bzzzpeek

Some sounds are nearly universal--meows and moos, for example. Other sounds are purely cultural and often completely strange to non-native speakers of a given language.

My experience is mostly with U.S. English and Russian. Russians, for example, are most shocked by the English "ribbit" for a frog (a Russian frog says "Kva kva") and "gobble gobble." American students of Russian can't believe a Russian dog says "gaf gaf."

There are so many sounds on this site and not just animal ones. Cars, trains, and other things as well. Off to explore!