ProZ.com Translation Forums

Expert Accent-Identifier / L1-Identifier - Senegal | I can help.

Cécile A.-C. — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 20:58:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Expert Accent-Identifier / L1-Identifier - Senegal
Poster: Cécile A.-C.
Post title: I can help.

I am capable of recognizing different French accents and Senegalese ones as a native of Senegal. Let me know what is your project and I will let you know the possibilities of doing the job and provide you a quote.

[Edited at 2023-07-26 20:59 GMT]

Expert Accent-Identifier / L1-Identifier - Senegal

Alé — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 11:12:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Expert Accent-Identifier / L1-Identifier - Senegal
Poster: Alé

I'm looking for someone who can identify what accent the person speaking in an audio recording has. I believe it could be a Senegalese accent, but can't say for sure. If you can recommend an accent expert familiar with Senegalese accents, I'd greatly appreciate it!

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | When they don't try

Denis Fesik — Wed, 17 May 2023 14:34:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Denis Fesik
Post title: When they don't try

In university, we had an American teacher. He was teaching "clever business English." I remember him telling us why the US is the world's greatest country (simple answer: GDP). "Poo-zhoh, who cares," said he, opening our eyes to the fact that whatever a country like France could achieve in the field of carmaking didn't matter much. His face was full of hubris. It was back at the time when my department was called the Russian-American Graduate School of Management, before the time certain events began at the turn of the centuries, which led our management to rename it as simply the "International Graduate School of Management"

[Edited at 2023-05-17 14:37 GMT]

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | foreign names

Michael Newton — Tue, 16 May 2023 02:02:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Michael Newton
Post title: foreign names

I once heard another variant: "Los angle leeze"

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | Los Angeles

Mr. Satan (X) — Mon, 15 May 2023 08:03:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Mr. Satan (X)
Post title: Los Angeles

[quote]Michael Newton wrote:
Not forgetting the British pronunciation of Los Angeles: "Los An je leeze". [/quote]

Once, I heard someone pronounce it as “lozenges” and I can’t unhear it.

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | Fuchsia

Tom in London — Sun, 14 May 2023 13:02:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Fuchsia

[quote]Baran Keki wrote:

Turkish white goods manufacturer Arçelik goes by the name Beko in Europe, and especially in the UK. Doubtless to avoid anal sex associations that the pronunciation of its original name in English calls to mind. [/quote]

Leonhard Fuchs is mainly known as the third of the 'founding fathers' of Botany, after Otto Brunfels and Jerome Bock. The plant Fuchsia gets its name from him but the prudish English pronounce it wrongly ("Fiuscia") so that the beginning of it doesn't sound like a naughty word.

[Edited at 2023-05-14 14:55 GMT]

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | Sam Peckinpah

Baran Keki — Sun, 14 May 2023 09:24:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Baran Keki
Post title: Sam Peckinpah

Legendary director Sam Peckinpaugh puts the BBC presenter in his place on the Spanish pronunciation of the name Garcia (6:46 - 7:02). He boozes away the entire interview. What an absolute legend.. They don't make 'em like that anymore...
[url removed]

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | A clever solution

Baran Keki — Sun, 14 May 2023 06:56:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Baran Keki
Post title: A clever solution

Turkish white goods manufacturer Arçelik goes by the name Beko in Europe, and especially in the UK. Doubtless to avoid anal sex associations that the pronunciation of its original name in English calls to mind.

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | Fat cows

Philip Lees — Sun, 14 May 2023 04:46:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Philip Lees
Post title: Fat cows

As noted already for the case of Kyiv, it adds a new dimension when languages have different alphabets.
The island where I live is called Evia, but it's often written as Euboea. That's nothing more than a letter-by-letter transcription of the Greek spelling, Εύβοια, with the curious substitution of an 'e' for the 'ι'. The Greek pronunciation is Evia, or to be absolutely precise, Evvia, and it is sometimes written that way, too.

But anybody who pronounces it you-bo-ah, or you-bee-ah may have trouble getting here.

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | foreign names

Michael Newton — Sun, 14 May 2023 04:08:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Michael Newton
Post title: foreign names

Not forgetting the British pronunciation of Los Angeles: "Los An je leeze".

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | @Samuel

Jennifer Levey — Sat, 13 May 2023 19:46:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Jennifer Levey
Post title: @Samuel

[quote]Samuel Murray wrote:

I think the owners or editors-in-chief of a radio or television news station (...) should have a committee whose job it is to decide how to pronounce names that appear in news stories, and coach the news readers. [/quote]

Some broadcasters have had such 'committees' for many years. See, for example: [url removed]

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | @Denis

Maria G. Grassi, MA AITI — Sat, 13 May 2023 18:30:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Maria G. Grassi, MA AITI
Post title: @Denis

Some Russian words are a little tricky when used within a different language.
If I said that I’m reading DAstAevskj and TAlstoj, and that I visited the ErmitaSH museum and the BAlshoi theatre when talking to other Italians, they would think that I got two teeth extracted at the dentist’s and lost the ability to speak properly.
So I lay low and pronounce those words the way they are generally pronounced in my language…

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | I think

Samuel Murray — Sat, 13 May 2023 18:03:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: I think

I think the owners or editors-in-chief of a radio or television news station should ask themselves whether correct pronunciation is part of ethical journalism, and if so, then they should have a committee whose job it is to decide how to pronounce names that appear in news stories, and coach the news readers. Two newsreaders at the same station will have two different accents (unless that, too, was considered unethical journalism and consequently only people with all the same accents got hired), but is it okay for them to pronounce a foreign name in two different ways that can't be explained away as a quirk of their accents?

That said, the above usually applies to personal names only, and not place names. Place names are special because place names are translated (or transliterated), whereas personal names are not (they are, at worst, mispronounced). However, the author makes a good point: if one pronunciation has become common in the local area, at what point does the station no longer have the right to insist on correcting it? This is also true of US vs UK pronunciation. Should a UK station be mindful not to adopt US pronunciations of words that UK news readers already have a different pronunciation of? Take Pakistan: CNN says pack-ee-stan but BBC says pah-kee-stahn. Ditto Iran -- CNN says eye-ran but BBC says ee-rahn.

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | Trying too hard should make it sound funny

Denis Fesik — Sat, 13 May 2023 12:29:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Denis Fesik
Post title: Trying too hard should make it sound funny

Or ugly. I've never heard English speakers trying too hard though. Maybe they can do it gracefully, who knows. I suggest the native sounds of English can be modified sometimes. I'd probably do it myself when pronouncing, e. g., a French place name I'm not sure how to pronounce in English. But saying "Paris" the French way when speaking English is too much, especially if you can't parler gras (I can). Unlike (what I think is) the majority of native English speakers, I can pronounce the name of Ukraine's capital the Ukrainian way, but there's no way I'll do it when speaking Russian (unless I'm making a joke), or English for that matter (because it'll sound ridiculous). When someone with a proper Russian accent pronounces names of places or people with an American accent (which often happens with folks who have lived in the US for a long time), this jars on my ears

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | @Tom

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Sat, 13 May 2023 11:26:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Post title: @Tom

To say it correctly it should be BOR (like in born) + GES (like in allonges), but when I was living in Belgium it was pronounced quite often as Borgès or even Borjes (with a Spanish accent). In French it’s much more difficult to pronounce correctly my last name (Almeida), but not in English as you have an Almeida Street and an Almeida Theatre. I’ve been told that they have been named after the Portuguese town of Almeida, but I have no idea why…

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names | So

Tom in London — Sat, 13 May 2023 10:37:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: So

So how should I pronounce "Borges"?

And why do my Brazilian friends sound like "Londoners born and bred" when they pronounce the letter L?

( as in the pronunciation of the word "Brazil" which they pronounce "Brazio")

[Edited at 2023-05-13 10:37 GMT]

The hazards of pronouncing foreign names

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida — Sat, 13 May 2023 09:02:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: The hazards of pronouncing foreign names
Poster: Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida

Another very interesting article published on “The Economist” on May 11th 2023. Even though its focal point is not translation, ultimately it also affects us…

“The hazards of pronouncing foreign names on air

Trying too hard to get it right is better than not trying at all

A journalist named Antonio Mendoza—played by Jimmy Smits, an actor with Puerto Rican heritage—walks into a new job at a television station. The room of (non-Hispanic) old hands begin discussing “our coverage of Nicaragua”, with a preposterously Spanish pronunciation of the country’s name. Someone offers Antonio “enchiladas”, again with an absurdly overdone Spanish accent. Another brags that he learned to love Latino food in “Los Angeles” in the same vein.

Antonio begins to get irritated, and asks, “What do you call the kind of storm you get with high winds and a big funnel cloud?” “A tor-NAH-do, why?” And on it goes. The sketch from “Saturday Night Live” is considered a bit
of a classic.

But it is not just comedy. Viewers and listeners of broadcast journalism write in with genuine annoyance when they notice journalists saying names of the places and people they cover as if they were natives. The same scorn adheres to the gap-year traveller just back from “Barthelona” or “Budapesht”. Some think it is an emerging trend, perhaps even a cousin to leftish virtue-signalling.

This, however, is a long-standing gripe. That “Saturday Night Live” sketch originally aired in 1990. The problem has recurred ever since for a simple reason: finding a perfect solution for pronouncing foreign names is not always easy. A reporter working in another country and fluent in its language might have heard prominent names (the president, the capital, etc) pronounced in English many times. But they may have heard of smaller places or less familiar names only in the local language.

That means that when speaking English, they naturally tend to use the only pronunciation they have heard. Listeners who would prefer a “natural” English pronunciation are really asking for the journalist to devise a new and unaccustomed one, overriding the most comfortable version. In such cases, journalists using native-like pronunciations are not really being accused of trying too hard. They are, in effect, decried for not trying hard enough, by avoiding the extra effort to make foreign names sound English.

This is to say nothing of the fact that, though some foreign sounds are easy to adapt to English equivalents, others have no close analogue. This widens the gap between the only two options: an English-inflected pronunciation that sounds nothing like the original, or an accurate one by foreign standards that gives rise to accusations of swottery, or even snobbery.

For example, the last syllable of the surname of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, sounds like ohn, only without the tongue quite touching the teeth as with a usual n-sound. (It is in fact a nasalised vowel, an oh-sound made with the air coming from the nose.) English has nothing particularly close. This leaves a few bad options. Pronouncing “Macron” as though it were English, rhyming with “micron” (with first-syllable stress, too) distorts the name considerably. And if you pronounce the -on as French, you might find it odd to use an English-style -r- in the middle of the name, and so adopt the uvular French one. Now you are back to a gap-year accent, open to criticism for showing off.

Attempts at authentic native pronunciation can go wrong, too. Ukraine has asked that its capital be called Kyiv, as in the Ukrainian language, and not Kiev, as in Russian (and, heretofore, in English). Many reporters want to show they are on team Kyiv, and pronounce the name as unlike “Kiev” as possible, coming out with “Keev”. But that isn’t quite right, either. Like “Kiev”, Kyiv in Ukrainian is properly pronounced with two vowels back to back. But they are something like the i in “fish” followed by the first e in “Steve”. This unusual combination doesn’t exist in English, and so many outsiders mangle it.

As “Keev” hints, there really is such a thing as trying too hard, so getting the wrong result by any standard, whether that of native accuracy or natural English. Barack Obama liked to showcase his worldliness; the former president pronounced “Pakistan” as Pakistanis do, with two broad a’s (as in “father”). But he did the same with the a in “Copenhagen”, which is not how Copenhageners say it in English. (The Danish “Koebenhavn” is another matter.) Thus he unwittingly called the city by its German name.

Still, trying your hand at foreign pronunciations is a sign of openness and accommodation. It is often impossible to please everyone. In a world torn by national antagonisms, it is no great crime to make an effort. Save your scorn for those who do not try at all.”

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Teresa

Mimicking a foreign accent | そうですか

P.L.F. Persi (X) — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 12:30:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: P.L.F. Persi (X)
Post title: そうですか

[quote]Michael Newton wrote:

As a sidebar, many Japanese get their knickers in a snit when a foreigner speaks Japanese "too well". [/quote]

I still have a long way to go, then, before I can even hope to start "upsetting" their underwear.

Mimicking a foreign accent | hmm

Tom in London — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 11:42:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: hmm

[quote]Michael Newton wrote:

As a sidebar, many Japanese get their knickers in a snit when a foreigner speaks Japanese "too well". F [/quote]

Ah so!

Mimicking a foreign accent | Jack was great

Tom in London — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 11:41:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: Tom in London
Post title: Jack was great

[quote]Mervyn Henderson (X) wrote:

I now see that Jack died last year. Again, I realised it had been a while since he'd posted. He was always eager and entertaining - another loss for the site. [/quote]

Jack was one of the best. It's amazing how you can tell what a person is like, just by reading his posts. Miss him. Though perhaps not all his jokes and songs.

Mimicking a foreign accent | Foreign accent

Michael Newton — Sun, 16 Jan 2022 09:59:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: Michael Newton
Post title: Foreign accent

As a sidebar, many Japanese get their knickers in a snit when a foreigner speaks Japanese "too well". Foreigners who appear on TV game shows in Japan (and there are many of these) are instructed to dumb down their accents and to speak Japanese "like a foreigner should" (gaijinrashiku). This has happened to me several times and I have declined to play along. That said, I can say without humility that I can pass for a Japanese on the telephone. I have applied for jobs on the telephone and after we have discussed the details, they ask for me name. They are speechless when they find out I am a foreigner. I have even got some of these jobs. This is because Japan is an island country and Japanese-speaking foreigners are perceived as "invaders". The Chinese on the other hand expect foreigners to speak Chinese as they do. Anything less than pitch-perfect Chinese is considered an insult to Chinese civilization. Both attitudes are interesting and they have their pluses and minuses. I was once being measured for contact lenses in Tokyo and the optometrist, knowing full well that I was fluent in the language, wanted to give his presentation in English. To be truthful, his English was quite good.
At one point, he hesitated and then broke into Japanese: "Eigo-de ranshi was nante iundesu ka?" [How do you say 'astigmatism' in English] ."Astigmatism" I answered. He continued in English "Ah, you have astigmatism". We continued with the charade in English. He saved face. I got my contacts and was quite satisfied with them.

Mimicking a foreign accent | Find it so hard!

Xiaoqing Cui — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 09:59:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: Xiaoqing Cui
Post title: Find it so hard!

I find mimicking accent so hard for me! My mother language is Mandarin and Cantonese, and I find that I can't pronounce certain words in a different language. I mean I can pronounce them, but not in a native way. Just curious whether adults can develop their accents to a native level?

How can I pronounce them? (from Irish) | @Juan

Samuel Murray — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 19:41:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: How can I pronounce them? (from Irish)
Poster: Samuel Murray
Post title: @Juan

[quote]Juan Gil wrote:
What is the most close-to-english pronunciation of this words in Irish (Ulster dialect)?
A name: Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin.
A song: Oíche Chiúin. [/quote]

Google says:
[url removed]

You can also try hiring an Iris voice artist on [url= [url removed] ]Fiverrr[/url].

How can I pronounce them? (from Irish)

Juan Gil — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 18:43:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: How can I pronounce them? (from Irish)
Poster: Juan Gil

I'm a broadcaster (and a translator, of course), and I believe words in other languages must be pronounced the proper way - the way natives pronounce it.

What is the most close-to-english pronunciation of this words in Irish (Ulster dialect)?
A name: Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin.
A song: Oíche Chiúin.

BTW, I'll be speaking in spanish (my mother tongue) when I'll say that; spanish pronunciation of that words will be also fine. They will be used in my podcast, an episode for the holidays.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Juan.

Mimicking a foreign accent | Oh...

expressisverbis — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 10:55:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: expressisverbis
Post title: Oh...

[quote]Mervyn Henderson wrote:

I now see that Jack died last year. Again, I realised it had been a while since he'd posted. He was always eager and entertaining - another loss for the site. [/quote]

I'm really sorry to hear that! My deepest condolences!
I have raised this topic because I found it very interesting.
I'm speechless!

I could see now "In memoriam" below his name... I should be more careful and pay more attention!

[Edited at 2020-09-22 10:58 GMT]

Mimicking a foreign accent | Jack

Mervyn Henderson (X) — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 09:40:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: Mervyn Henderson (X)
Post title: Jack

I now see that Jack died last year. Again, I realised it had been a while since he'd posted. He was always eager and entertaining - another loss for the site.

Mimicking a foreign accent | Nobody did ...

Matthias Brombach — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 08:36:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: Matthias Brombach
Post title: Nobody did ...

[quote]Mervyn Henderson wrote:

With another famous Monty Python sketch in mind, for the record I'd like to point out that I didn't mention the war. [/quote]
... and I´m sure Jack, who started this post, would have liked these late contributions.

Mimicking a foreign accent | A thread from a bygone age

The Shredder — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 16:28:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: The Shredder
Post title: A thread from a bygone age

These days it is only acceptable to mimic or mock people who are exactly the same as you.

Mimicking a foreign accent | And many more...

expressisverbis — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 15:14:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: expressisverbis
Post title: And many more...

In recent cinema movies:
The Pink Panther (2009) and Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia (2012).

Mimicking a foreign accent | Thanks Matthias and expressisverbis

Mervyn Henderson (X) — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 14:36:00 +0000

Forum: Pronunciation
Topic: Mimicking a foreign accent
Poster: Mervyn Henderson (X)
Post title: Thanks Matthias and expressisverbis

I'd forgotten both of those! With another famous Monty Python sketch in mind, for the record I'd like to point out that I didn't mention the war. Except just at the end of that last sentence.