Pronunciation

[petermeachem]

When is it important to pronounce correctly words in other languages?
I was prompted in this by a politician's effort to pronounce a prison name. I've only just stopped laughing. I also remember, and will probably never forget, a British Prime Minister's (Edward Heath) attempt to give a speech in French with a terribly plummy British accent.
If you get the prison name wrong, you sound stupid, if you say Paree for Paris, you sound twee, unless speaking French at the time, and if you say Lisboa for Lisbon, you sound clever.

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[foundryqa]

My opinion, and only opinion, is that if you can't say it correctly, then stick with the pronounciation that is most common in your own language. Dropping a word or two here and there that obviously don't sound right in any language just comes out aweful.

My two cents,

Fred

 

[LaurelLee]

I live in San Diego, CA, where a large proportion of the population are spanish-speaking, with English as a second language. I know some spanish, but always feel foolish when I try to pronounce the words correctly. I just feel, so, well, white!!! In particular when I am speaking to a spanish-speaking person. So, sometimes just to be a dork I over-emphasize the "white" way of saying things. Some people appreciate this, some don't, some just give a strange look.
Of course, when I am speaking spanish around a bunch of white people, I pronounce those rolled 'r's like a champ. Maybe it is perfomance anxiety?!?!

"Grass-ee-ass!"

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With your thoughts you create the world--Shakyamuni Buddha

 

[flapeyre]

There is an air-conditioning contractor in New Orleans called Robert Refrigeration. Since the owners are of French Creole descent, they came up with a cute way of getting people to pronounce the business's name correctly - their logo is a picture of a polar bear rowing a boat (row-bear).

De mortuis nihil nisi bonum.

 

[jsteph]

...and how about National Public Radio's Carlos Hernandez Gomes? It's a hoot to hear him read a story in perfect english--he has a great radio voice and impeccable non-ethnic middle-american pronunciantion. But at the end of the story when he says his name, you can almost hear the spanish guitar and maracca's as he says, with a deep, thick spanish/mexican accent: "...and I'm Cardddldldlooos Herdldldldnaaandez Gomez"

Victoria Jackson of SNL did a hilarios skit about the same thing years ago.

Bottom line--if you're speaking English (regardless of your heritage), it's Paris, if you're speaking French, it's Paree
--jsteph

 

[tilcat]

Mispronunciation, I think, is better than not trying at all. I laid 'em in the aisles in Paris...but we did not starve or have to sleep in le metrrro. Gave everyone a good laugh while I was at it. The trick is to join in yourself. That way, you can let folks correct your accent or whatever.

My two cents' worth. But that's how I learned a couple of words in Hungarian and a few other places. Let people help you!

 

[SteveGlo]

I learnt my German in the Seventies in pubs talking to hoi poloi in the Hannover area. On my first trip to Bavaria I asked a waitress why she was laughing at my order and was told that I sounded like a peasant from Niedersachsen. So even getting the pronunciation right can still earn you a raspberry.

 

[jcrater]

How about another NPR reporter: Sylvia Pojoli

She speaks and pronounces English perfectly, but always says her name with a thick accent.