The word surface is often mispronounced as [ˈsɜfeɪs], that is, with the second syllable, face, pronounced just like the word face itself. I have the impression that this mistake has become much more frequent here in Germany owing to the increased popularity of Microsoft’s Surface tablet. The correct pronunciation of surface in both British and
Have you ever asked yourself why words such as curry, courage, and hurricane are pronounced differently by different people? Well, I did, and I recently learned that there is a very simple explanation for this phenomenon: the two different versions represent the British and American pronunciation. In my experience, even advanced non-native speakers have difficulties
English words which are frequently used in German often acquire their own, modified pronunciation (for example, London). Less frequently used words do not have their own German pronunciation, but are supposed to be pronounced as in English (for example, Boston). Today I want to explore the difference between English and German pronunciation of English words,
Thinking back to my time in school and at university, I remember that the word cache (a type of computer memory, see here) was pronounced [keɪʒ]. Therefore, it differed from cash, which was always pronounced as [kæʃ] at the time. I’m not sure if this was related to the absence of native speakers around me,
The Greek alphabet is used in many fields, including science (mostly physics and mathematics, where one often runs out of letters to use in equations), finance, and technology. Some of you may even use it on a post card from your holiday in Greece. Once you are able to write and correctly identify a given
Happy Birthday has spread way beyond the English language, and is commonly seen and heard in many different countries. It is not surprising that it is often mispronounced, in particular as it contains the tricky th. A quick youtube search produced the following video (which was certainly made with the best intentions and well received,
Mastering pronunciation is a difficult task when learning a language. However, isn’t it ironic that the word pronunciation is spelled and pronounced differently than the word pronounce? The first difficulty is that many people misspell pronunciation as pronounciation. However, even if you get the spelling right, it is important to notice that “pronounce” is to
The word quantum has made it all the way from physics to areas such as movies and parcel services (knowing about the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, the name quantum view for a parcel tracking service causes some mild anxiety). The phrase quantum leap (Quantensprung in German) is commonly used, even though it typically refers
London, Boston and Washington are not only very nice cities to visit but also happen to be very often pronounced incorrectly by non-native speakers. This includes people on television, radio, and even English teachers. As I will tell you below, there are many other examples of the same mistake. English and other pronunciations Before calling
Non-native speakers often make mistakes pronouncing the words multi and multiple in English. A possible reason is that these words have their origin in Latin, and hence are used in a number of other languages. The typical mistake involves an incorrect pronunciation of the letter u, listen here: Instead of pronouncing it as in the