Re: Beijing, Zhongguo, etc.

> Lars Finsen <lars.finsen@...> wrote:
> At least, what's wrong with trying to imitate a reasonably correct
> pronunciation of Milano and Torino for example? That shouldn't be
> so difficult. Tradition is the only reason not to.
What's wrong with it, as I understand it, is that those names are not
English.  Once a start is made with Milano and Torino (relatively
easy) where does it end?  Am I then supposed to say Moskva, Lisboa,
Bucharesti, etc.?

> I think I could tell you, too, without offending, that between
> ourselves, we foreigners sometimes have our own laughs at the ways
> in  which you English-speakers pronounce our names.
I hope you realize that "turn about is fair play."  It may not be
charitable behavior, but it is done.  I really think that "we
foreigners" is a gross exaggeration.  I'm sure that there are
Anglophones and "foreigners" who are unkind, but certainly not all of
them.

> I think it's like I said, that you are handicapped due to the
> difference in phonetics, and that carelessness isn't that much a
> part of it.
This is a two-way street.  I encounter this frequently with our
Mexican immigrants.  They really mangle place names and street
names.  I often must ask them to write it for me.  However, I'm not
about to make fun of them because of their "handicap."

Charlie