Here’s yet another pronunciation tip. This time I’m using the name of an Olympic downhill ski racer as an excuse to tell you how to say names in Albanian, which, although it can be disconcerting to look at, is disconcertingly easy to pronounce for English speakers.
Posted in pronunciation tips
Tagged Albanian, Anjezë Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Denni Xhepa, Dua Lipa, Pronunciation Tip
Here’s another pronunciation tip. It’s your simple, clear guide to saying Finnish names. Once you know this basic information, all that’s left is to get the hang of it. Which may take some practice. Fortunately, there’s something therapeutic about saying a lot of Finnish names. Try it… with the 23 names of the 2026 women’s Olympic hockey team from Finland: Sanni Ahola, Jenni Hiirikoski, Elisa Holopainen, Sini Karjalainen, Michelle Karvinen, Anni Keisala, Ida Kuoppala, Emilia Kyrkkö, Nelli Laitinen, Julia Liikala, Petra Nieminen, Emma Nuutinen, Jenniina Nylund, Sanni Rantala, Ronja Savolainen, Julia Schalin, Elli Suoranta, Susanna Tapani, Noora Tulus, Viivi Vainikka, Sanni Vanhanen, Emilia Vesa, and Siiri Yrjölä.
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Tagged Anni Keisala, Elisa Holopainen, Elli Suoranta, Emilia Kyrkkö, Emilia Vesa, Emma Nuutinen, Finland, Finnish, hockey, Ida Kuoppala, Jenni Hiirikoski, Jenniina Nylund, Julia Liikala, Julia Schalin, Michelle Karvinen, Nelli Laitinen, Noora Tulus, Petra Nieminen, Pronunciation Tip, Ronja Savolainen, Sanni Ahola, Sanni Rantala, Sanni Vanhanen, Siiri Yrjölä, Sini Karjalainen, Susanna Tapani, Viivi Vainikka
I’ve finally made another pronunciation tip video. Well, with the Olympics coming around, there are always names that English speakers are going to get confused by. So I’ve taken the occasion to give a quick lesson in what to do when you want to say a Chinese name – specifically one of the names of the Chinese figure skating team for the 2026 Winter Olympics: Jin Boyang, Zhang Ruiyang, Sui Wenjing, Han Cong, Wang Shiyue, and Liu Xinyu.
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Tagged 2026, China, Chinese, figure skating, Han Cong, Jin Boyang, Liu Xinyu, Olympics, Sui Wenjing, Wang Shiyue, Winter Olympics, Zhang Ruiyang
It’s been a while since I’ve done a pronunciation tip video, and it’s mainly been because I wanted to do this one but I was hoping to do some kind of stunt for it such as making coq au vin. Well, I made coq au vin less than a month ago, and I was too busy cooking to make a video. So never mind. Here, for those who want to know the French pronunciations, is how you say 65 food-related terms from French that show up in English: aigre-doux, aïoli, à la carte, à la minute, à l’orange, amuse-bouche, apéritif, au jus, baguette, bain-marie, béarnaise, béchamel, beurre manié, beurre noisette, bon appétit, bouillabaisse, bouillon, bouquet garni, brioche, brunoise, chiffonade, confit, coq au vin, cordon bleu, coulis, court bouillon, crème brûlée, crêpe, croissant, croustade, demi-glace, digestif, en croûte, entrecôte, fleur de sel, foie gras, fricassée, hors d’œuvre, julienne, lyonnaise, macaron, macédoine, Madeleine, mélange, mesclun, mirepoix, mise en place, moules marinières, pain d’épices, pain perdu, papillote, pâte à choux, pâtisserie, piperade, ratatouille, rouille, roux, salade niçoise, sauce bordelaise, sole meunière, soupe du jour, tournedos Rossini, velouté, vichyssoise, and vol-au-vent.
Posted in pronunciation tips
Tagged aïoli, aigre-doux, amuse-bouche, apéritif, au jus, à la carte, à la minute, à l’orange, baguette, bain-marie, béarnaise, béchamel, beurre manié, beurre noisette, bon appétit, bouillabaisse, bouillon, bouquet garni, brioche, brunoise, chiffonade, confit, coq au vin, cordon bleu, coulis, court bouillon, crème brûlée, crêpe, croissant, croustade, demi-glace, digestif, en croûte, entrecôte, fleur de sel, foie gras, French cuisine, fricassée, hors d’œuvre, julienne, lyonnaise, macaron, macédoine, madeleine, mélange, mesclun, mirepoix, mise en place, moules marinières, pain d’épices, pain perdu, papillote, pâte à choux, pâtisserie, piperade, pissaladière, praline, Pronunciation Tip, ratatouille, rouille, roux, salade niçoise, sauce bordelaise, sole meunière, soupe du jour, tournedos Rossini, velouté, Vichyssoise, video, vol-au-vent
A little bit of French has long been a sign of culture in English (never mind how much of our vocabulary comes from French). We like to drop in the occasional cultured phrase… and many of us aim to be particular about the pronunciation… including some people who don’t really know the original French pronunciation. I have pronunciation tips for 64 French terms that get tossed around in English, not always accurately. This doesn’t include food-related terms; I’ll do a separate video for those. Today I cover aide-de-camp, au contraire, au naturel, avant-garde, Beaux-Arts, Bell Époque, bête noire, bon voyage, boudoir, bric-à-brac, bricolage, cache, cachet, carte blanche, cause célèbre, chaise longue, cherchez la femme, clique, concierge, couloir, coup d’état, coup de grâce, crèche, cul-de-sac, de rigueur, déjà vu, eau de toilette, en pointe, en route, esprit de corps, fait accompli, femme fatale, fin de siècle, fleur-de-lis, haute couture, idée fixe, je ne sais quoi, joie de vivre, laissez-faire, lèse majesté, lingerie, ménage à trois, naïveté, noblesse oblige, nom de plume, nouveau riche, œuvre, oh là là, papier-mâché, pas de deux, petite bourgeoisie, pied-à-terre, prêt-à-porter, prix fixe, quelle horreur, raison d’être, roman à clef, roué, sacrebleu, sang-froid, savoir-faire, tête-à-tête, trompe-l’œil, and vis-à-vis.
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Tagged aide-de-camp, au contraire, au naturel, avant-garde, bête noire, Beaux-Arts, Bell Époque, bon voyage, boudoir, bric-à-brac, bricolage, cache, cachet, carte blanche, cause célèbre, chaise longue, cherchez la femme, clique, concierge, couloir, coup d’état, coup de grâce, crèche, cul-de-sac, déjà vu, de rigueur, eau de toilette, en pointe, en route, esprit de corps, fait accompli, femme fatale, fin de siècle, fleur-de-lis, French, haute couture, idée fixe, je ne sais quoi, joie de vivre, laissez-faire, lèse majesté, lingerie, ménage à trois, naïveté, noblesse oblige, nom de plume, nouveau riche, oh là là, papier-mâché, pas de deux, petite bourgeoisie, pied-à-terre, prêt-à-porter, prix fixe, Pronunciation Tip, quelle horreur!, raison d’être, roman à clef, roué, sacrebleu, sang-froid, savoir-faire, tête-à-tête, trompe-l’œil, video, vis-à-vis, œuvre
I’m overdue for a pronunciation tip video. Sorry – I’ve been busy doing things that earn money! (Also things that cost money. Travel in particular.) Here’s how to say “Happy new year!” in 27 languages: Afrikaans, Basque, Breton, Chinese (Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, and Welsh. And I give a bit of linguistic geekery here and there too.
Posted in pronunciation tips
Tagged Afrikaans, Basque, Breton, Chinese (Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Pronunciation Tip, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, video, Welsh
There’s time for one more Olympic-themed pronunciation tip, and I’ve never done one on Turkish before, so here you go. There are nine medalists from Turkey (Türkiye), so I’ll give you general tips on pronouncing Turkish and then tell you how to say their names: Şevval İlayda Tarhan, Yusuf Dikeç, Hatice Akbaş, Buse Naz Çakıroğlu, Esra Yıldız Kahraman, Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu, Mete Gazoz, Ulaş Berkim Tümer, and Abdullah Yıldırmış.
In all my Olympic-themed pronunciation tips over the years, one country I haven’t gotten to yet is Latvia. Why would I do Latvia? Well, I have a Latvian connection through my wife’s family. Also, why not? Anyway, if you’ve ever been wondering about how to say Latvian names, today’s your lucky day.
Posted in pronunciation tips
Tagged Agate Caune, Agate Rašmane, Anastasia Carbonari, Anastasija Samoilova, Anete Sietiņa, Daniils Bobrovs, Džeja Patrika, Ernests Zēbolds, Francis Lācis, Gatis Čakšs, Gunta Vaičule, Ieva Maļuka, Jeļena “Aļona” Ostapenko, Kristaps Neretnieks, Kristens Krīgers, Kārlis Lasmanis, Latvia, Latvian, Lauris Strautmanis, Līna Mūze, Mārtiņš Blūms, Nauris Miezis, Olympics, Patriks Gailums, Pronunciation Tip, Pāvels Švecovs, Ritvars Suharevs, Rūta Kate Lasmane, Toms Skujiņš, Tīna Graudiņa, Valters Kreišs, Veronika Monika Stūriška, Zigmārs Raimo
It’s time for the Olympics again, which means it’s time for lots of names that aren’t English! They’re in Paris this time, which means all the venue names are in French. Many English speakers are confident that they know how to pronounce French. Some of them are right. For the curious, here are the ways these places are pronounced – using fairly standard metropolitan French. And, of course, in English.
Posted in pronunciation tips
Tagged Aquatics Centre, Arena Bercy, Arena Champ-de-Mars, Arena Paris Nord, Arena Paris Sud, Arena Porte de La Chapelle, Bercy Arena, Bordeaux Stadium, Centre Aquatique, Centre National de Tir de Châteauroux, Champ de Mars Arena, Chateauroux Shooting Centre, Château de Versailles, Colline d’Élancourt, Eiffel Tower Stadium, Elancourt Hill, Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium, Golf National, Grand Palais, Hôtel de Ville, Invalides, La Beaujoire Stadium, La Concorde, Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue, Lyon Stadium, Marina de Marseille, Marseille Marina, Marseille Stadium, Nice Stadium, North Paris Arena, Olympics, Parc des Princes, Paris, Paris La Défense Arena, Paris La Defense Arena, Pierre Mauroy Stadium, Pont Alexandre III, Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Pronunciation Tip, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX Stadium, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, Site d’escalade Bourget, South Paris Arena, Stade BMX de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Stade de Bordeaux, Stade de France, Stade de la Beaujoire, Stade de Lyon, Stade de Marseille, Stade de Nice, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Stade Nautique de Vaires-sur-Marne, Stade Pierre Mauroy, Stade Roland-Garros, Stade Tour Eiffel, Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Tahiti, Teahupo‘o, Trocadéro, Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, Vélodrome Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Yves-du-Manoir Stadium
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