Tag Archives: Pronunciation Tip

Chinese pronunciation tips part 1: Beijing, Zhongguo, Zhang

Posted on January 10, 2018 | Leave a comment

I know that Chinese names can be challenging for English speakers to figure out how to say. So I’m going to give you some tips. First up: what sounds j and zh actually stand for.

2018 Winter Olympic venues (pronunciation tip)

Posted on January 5, 2018 | Leave a comment

The Winter Olympics are coming soon, and with them a bounty of failed attempts at approximating the pronunciation of non-English names. I look forward to hearing broadcasters come up with remarkable renditions, but for those who would like to get as close as reasonably possible to the original, I’m going to do a series of pronunciation tip videos. I’m starting with the names of the venues: Pyeongchang, Gangneung, Kwandong, Jeongseon, Yongpyong, and Bokwang.

Brueghel (pronunciation tip)

Posted on December 30, 2017 | 1 comment

Time for another pronunciation tip video! I think I’ll do a goodly number of these in the run up to the Winter Olympics, since there are always plenty of words and names that give people trouble. But today’s is on a New Year’s Eve theme, and it’s an artist – one whose name quite a lot of people have trouble with.

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Tagged Breughel, Bruegel, Brueghel, Pronunciation Tip

glögg (pronunciation tip)

Posted on December 18, 2017 | Leave a comment

What’s the next level after glühwein? Take it up to Scandinavia and put it on hyperdrive – the beverage, that is, not the word. The Scandinavian word for the drink – glögg or gløgg – is shorter and should be straightforward enough. Except it involves a sound not typically made by sober Anglophones. Here’s my advice on saying it:

Glühwein (pronunciation tip)

Posted on December 16, 2017 | 2 comments

There’s so much to eat and drink at Christmas: fruitcake, eggnog, marzipan, panettone, turkey, cranberry sauce, did I mention eggnog? Most of it is easy to pronounce. But one holiday classic that can be uncertain for some people is glühwein. And the reason it’s troublesome is a bit of a window into phonology… So I made a video about it.

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Tagged glühwein, Pronunciation Tip

excelsis (pronunciation tip)

Posted on December 7, 2017 | 4 comments

I’ve made a video on the pronunciation of excelsis, which is always something of a hot topic during Advent. Here’s my deal: say and sing it however you want, but don’t sacrifice euphony just for phony phonology.