This was published 1 year ago
Ten cities that are really hard to pronounce
By David Whitley
A street parade on Day of the Dead in Oaxaca, Mexico. Credit: Yaacov Dagan / Alamy
Language barriers are all part of the fun of travel. But things get a bit trickier when you can't even pronounce where you are or where you're going.
There are some cities around the world that prove to be an absolute brute for non-native speakers to say. And a few others that sound trickily different to how they look. Here are ten to of these horrendous tongue-twisters and sly spellings to watch out for...
Oaxaca, Mexico
This city and province in southern Mexico is best known for its cultural tourism, mountains and Pacific coastline. It was the key base for the Zapotec culture, and the name comes from the Nahuatl word "Huaxyacac".
The Spanish translated this as "Oaxaca" and originally the "x" had the "sh" sound. However, accepted pronunciation has morphed over time as Latin American Spanish has diverged from its European originator. Oaxaca is now "wuh-HA-ka".
Aix-en-Provence, France
Credit: Alamy
This largely gorgeous southern French city was the birthplace of post-impressionist painter Paul Cézanne, but the horror show of a name has three ways to catch out unwitting outsiders. The "en" part is relatively easy – just go with "on". But people tend to use the wrong emphasis in "Provence". Run with "PROV-ontz". It's the "Aix" part that's truly baffling, however, and that comes out as "ex".
Reims, France
Credit: Alamy
Perhaps the notoriously tricky French city, however, is Reims. It's a historic city, with plenty of Roman remnants and the Cathedral where French kings were once crowned. But it is definitely not pronounced "reemz".
For a close approximation, go with "ranse". But that doesn't quite convey how light the n sound is, and how the r is said entirely from the back of the throat without lip movement.
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Credit: iStock
Called Laibach until 1918, the Slovenian capital is awash in handsome Habsburg architecture, picturesque riverside restaurants and a lofty castle.
Pronunciation of Ljubljana is all over the place, however, with some Slovenians simply choosing to drop the J sounds. The correct pronunciation of the "lj" sound, however, is like the "ll" in "million".
Albuquerque, USA
Credit: Travis Householder / Alamy
Baffled outsiders were helped out on how to say this mountainous New Mexico city by Breaking Bad, which was set there. Others may know it from the King of Rock 'N' Roll by Prefab Sprout…
The Spanish town that Albuquerque original gets its name from is pronounced "Alboo-KAIR-kay", but that has undergone significant American bastardisation.
The New Mexico city is pronounced "albuh-ker-kee" – and you'll pass through if driving Route 66.
Des Moines, USA
Rampant American inconsistencies on adopting foreign pronunciations help make several US city names an absolute minefield. Compare St Louis with Louisville, for example.
The capital of Iowa is perhaps the biggest case in point, however, with many visitors stumbling through several versions before being quietly corrected.
It's kept a lot simpler than you might expect – "deh moyn" will do nicely, thanks.
Machu Picchu, Peru
Credit: Oleksandra Korobova/Getty
The Andean lost city is one that almost everyone gets wrong. Many forget the second c in the name when spelling Machu Picchu, let alone pronouncing it.
The correct pronunciation has a very slight "ct" sound in the middle of "Picchu". It's not "match-oo pee-choo" – it's more like "MAT-choo PEEK-choo". But that second word runs together pretty darned quickly, making the k sound in "PEEK" very slight indeed.
Reykjavik, Iceland
Credit: iStock
It might seem as though the Icelanders named their capital in search of an excellent Scrabble score, but that jumble of high scoring letters can be navigated. People tend to understand the "j" sound is pronounced like a "y", and that the "i" comes over with an "ee" sound.
But the mistakes come on the first syllable. There's an "ay" sound rather than "eh" sound, and the emphasis goes on this first syllable, not the second. So it's "RAYK-ya-veek".
Vientiane, Laos
The capital of Laos generatedsconfusion over whether to attempt a Lao-style pronunciation or a French one. The Francophone spelling of this Mekong River city is a pretty poor effort to capture the original Lao characters that don't translate too well.
To get it right, go for "vee", then "ang" as in "sang", followed by a "chun" where the "ch" has a whiff of a "j" sound in it.
Bydgoszcz, Poland
Credit: iStock
Perhaps the biggest bamboozler, though, is the northern Polish city that the copy and paste function was invented for. The Prussians simply didn't bother trying to get the Polish pronunciation right, and called the town Bromberg instead.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Bydgoszcz only has two syllables in it. "Bid-gosht" is about right if you're going to make an attempt.
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