IrishMarch 30, 2014: Imagine that you don’t know any Japanese and I ask you to repeat a Japanese phrase that is 10 syllables long. It will be very difficult for you if not impossible.
Now imagine for a minute that you don’t know any Italian. If I ask you to repeat an Italian phrase that’s 10 syllables long. You probably WILL be able to do it. You may have no idea what the phrase means, but you will probably be able to repeat it.
Notice that this has nothing to do with the fact that Italian has an alphabet you are familiar with, and Japanese has three writing systems that you probably aren’t familiar with. This only has to do with your ability to repeat the sounds.