Off topic: French vs English - Who said French was tougher to pronunciate? Thread poster: Nina Khmielnitzky
|
|---|
Français:
"1H58 à 2H02 : une heure cinquante-huit à deux heures deux."
Anglais:
"from two to two to two two"
Français :
"Trois sorcières regardent trois montres Swatch. Quelle sorcière regarde quelle montre Swatch ?"
Anglais:
"Three witches watch three Swatch watches. Which witch watch which Swatch watch??
Et maintenant pour les spécialistes...
Français:
"Trois sorcières suédoises et transse... See more Français:
"1H58 à 2H02 : une heure cinquante-huit à deux heures deux."
Anglais:
"from two to two to two two"
Français :
"Trois sorcières regardent trois montres Swatch. Quelle sorcière regarde quelle montre Swatch ?"
Anglais:
"Three witches watch three Swatch watches. Which witch watch which Swatch watch??
Et maintenant pour les spécialistes...
Français:
"Trois sorcières suédoises et transsexuelles regardent les boutons de trois montres Swatch suisses. Quelle sorcière suédoise transsexuelle regarde quel bouton de quelle montre Swatch suisse?"
Anglais (accrochez-vous):
"Three Swedish switched witches watch three Swiss Swatch watch switches.Which Swedish switched witch watch which Swiss Swatch watch switch?"
Enjoy!
Nina Khmielnitzky
[Edited at 2007-11-06 15:26] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | That's why ... | Nov 6, 2007 |
I am a translator and no interpreter!!!
I am still trying to get the knot out of my tongue ... 
| | | | NancyLynn
Canada
Local time: 04:29
Member (2002)
French to English
+ ...
Moderator of this forum | Comical but not quite grammatical | Nov 6, 2007 |
There are a couple of "watch"es there that should be "watches".
Good for a party game, though!
Nancy
| | | | The Misha
Local time: 04:29
Russian to English
+ ...
| French is easier | Nov 6, 2007 |
Personally, I find French pronunciation much more straightforward. Once you know the reading rules, you are all set. For the most part anyway. Plus the stress is always on the last syllable which is no small matter. English, on the other hand is a totally different kettle of fish
| | |
|
|
|
Robin Salmon (X) 
Australia
Local time: 18:29
German to English
+ ...
| English spelling needs to be phoneticised | Nov 6, 2007 |
I believe Dutch and Spanish, for example, were phoneticised in the early half of last century (cannot find exact dates in Google and I am remembering that from a long time back; I am, therefore, wide open to correction).
On the mess English pronuncitaion is currently in , see this site.
http://home.planet.nl/~blade068/languagefun/pronunciation.htm... See more I believe Dutch and Spanish, for example, were phoneticised in the early half of last century (cannot find exact dates in Google and I am remembering that from a long time back; I am, therefore, wide open to correction).
On the mess English pronuncitaion is currently in , see this site.
http://home.planet.nl/~blade068/languagefun/pronunciation.htm
I was told there were seven different pronunciations of "ough" (though, cough, bough, tough etc.) but 14 are listed here!
For a short English togue-twister we learned in school in Scotland, try "The Leith police dismisseth us".
Just to add a thought about French, which, as a general rule, has even stress on all syllables, I get irritated when Australians put the stress on the final syllable, in "sorbet", for example. ▲ Collapse
| | | | mediamatrix (X)
Local time: 04:29
Spanish to English
+ ...
Robin Salmon wrote:
...
I was told there were seven different pronunciations of "ough" (though, cough, bough, tough etc.) but 14 are listed here!
... I guess I missed a few here, then: http://www.proz.com/topic/80477
The tractor ploughed through the rough ground and a round wire wound itself around the axle. A passer-by from Slough thought he should help, coughed, then shouted: "You ought to slough the mud off it thoroughly – although you should use stout gloves to be sure you won't wound yourself with the wound-around round wire!".
MediaMatrix
| | | |
Thanks! This was funny - I wish there was more!
French is in fact much harder to pronounce than English, but I see what you are getting at. Sweet revenge!
| | | | Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:29
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam | Error message | Nov 7, 2007 |
Whoever said it was wrong, he should have said "pronounced", not "pronunciated".
| | |
|
|
|
Robin Salmon wrote: I believe Dutch and Spanish, for example, were phoneticised in the early half of last century (cannot find exact dates in Google and I am remembering that from a long time back; I am, therefore, wide open to correction). On the mess English pronuncitaion is currently in , see this site. http://home.planet.nl/~blade068/languagefun/pronunciation.htm I was told there were seven different pronunciations of "ough" (though, cough, bough, tough etc.) but 14 are listed here! For a short English togue-twister we learned in school in Scotland, try "The Leith police dismisseth us". Just to add a thought about French, which, as a general rule, has even stress on all syllables, I get irritated when Australians put the stress on the final syllable, in "sorbet", for example.
The Americans do it with "garage", which they pronounce garAGE (quite correctly if they were speaking French) whereas in the UK it's pronounced GARage - or even garridge.
Re pronunciation, when I was learning French at school we were made to keep repeating the sentence "Le perroquet du Président est parti pour le paradis", to help us get that even stress, plus extra stress on the last syllable. I've never forgotten it.
Regards,
Jenny.
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » French vs English - Who said French was tougher to pronunciate? | Anycount & Translation Office 3000 | Translation Office 3000
Translation Office 3000 is an advanced accounting tool for freelance translators and small agencies. TO3000 easily and seamlessly integrates with the business life of professional freelance translators.
More info » |
| | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
