Tag Archives: Winter Olympics

Pronunciation tip: Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic venues

I’ve done a quick pronunciation tip video to help anyone who’s a bit daunted by some of the place names that are associated with the Beijing Winter Olympics.

I tell San Francisco how to say Pyeongchang

The local ABC news in the San Francisco Bay Area asked me if they could use my video on how to say the 2018 Olympic venue names in one of their news clips. I said yes, of course – I mean, if I don’t want people to see these videos, why do them? (Of course I know most people don’t really care about how to say non-English names accurately. I don’t mind; the videos are just for people who want to know.) You can see the clip here:

How do you pronounce Winter Olympics location ‘Pyeongchang?’

Winter Olympic pronunciation tip: Pita Taufatofua, the Tongan flagbearer

Here’s a quick pronunciation tip. Heads turned when a well-oiled bit of beefcake carried a flag for Tonga in the freezing air of the Winter Olympic opening ceremonies. And what was his name again?

…uh… Say that again?

Here.

Winter Olympic pronunciation tip: sz – Polish vs. Hungarian

With the Winter Olympics, you’ll see a slight increase in the number of Eastern European names you haven’t encountered before, including a definite uptick in ones containing sz. Most of those will be Polish or Hungarian. And that’s where the trouble starts, because it doesn’t sound the same in Hungarian as it does in Polish. So I’m going to tell you how to say not just sz but every available combination of c, s, and z in each of the two languages.

Winter Olympic pronunciation tips: Finnish

I’m getting back onto the Winter Olympics, which are impending. Finnish names come up in a number of winter sports, and people often freak out needlessly and make easily fixed mistakes when trying to say them. Here are four tips to remember if you want to get reasonably close on the pronunciation of Finnish names. Pour yourself six shots and let’s go!