Finally, miss Fede has managed to publish her famous 'pronounciation post' here on her blog. You're happy, aren't you? ;) Unfortunately I couldn't publish it before of today because I've been very busy with school over the last days, so I couldn't write this post any earlier.
Before starting our pronounciation class, however, I'd like to say some brief things about TDU, which ended on Sunday. The stages of this race were won by Goss (24 year old), Swift (he's just 23 and got two victories), Michael Matthews (born in 1990), Cameron Meyer (22, he won a stage and the GC) and Ventoso (29). As you can see, all those guys (with the little exception of Ventoso) are really young and they all showed their great talent in the Australian race. Matthews, in particular, was born two years before of me and he has already proved to cycling lovers that people born in the 1990s are the best ones in the world ;)
Talking about young guys, a special mention must go also to Andrea Guardini, Italian rider of Farnese-Vini. He's 21 and this is his first year as a pro. He had his first race on Monday and he won it; he had his second pro race yesterday afternoon and he won it too. I think it's still too early to start screaming 'We have a new cycling star!' all over the blogosphere, especially because there are some little differences between Tour de Langwaki and Tour de France, but however I think that starting your professional career with 2 victories in 2 races is simply great. So, chapeau to Andrea.
Before starting our pronounciation class, however, I'd like to say some brief things about TDU, which ended on Sunday. The stages of this race were won by Goss (24 year old), Swift (he's just 23 and got two victories), Michael Matthews (born in 1990), Cameron Meyer (22, he won a stage and the GC) and Ventoso (29). As you can see, all those guys (with the little exception of Ventoso) are really young and they all showed their great talent in the Australian race. Matthews, in particular, was born two years before of me and he has already proved to cycling lovers that people born in the 1990s are the best ones in the world ;)
Talking about young guys, a special mention must go also to Andrea Guardini, Italian rider of Farnese-Vini. He's 21 and this is his first year as a pro. He had his first race on Monday and he won it; he had his second pro race yesterday afternoon and he won it too. I think it's still too early to start screaming 'We have a new cycling star!' all over the blogosphere, especially because there are some little differences between Tour de Langwaki and Tour de France, but however I think that starting your professional career with 2 victories in 2 races is simply great. So, chapeau to Andrea.
Together with this explosion of young talents, however, we must remember that TDU also saw the second (and last) cycling retire of Lance Armstrong. I've never liked Armstrong as a rider (although I must admit that I don't remember much from his 7 Tour de France victories), but I've always admired him because he managed to defeat cancer and is now a symbol of the world fight against this horrible disease.
Anyway, either you like him or hate him as a rider, you can't deny that Armstrong marked cycling history for the last 19 years, from his first Tour de France stage victory in 1993 to his retire, a few days ago. So, it's with a strange mix of relief (I hated the Armstrong fever!) and respect that I say 'bye bye' to this Texan rider.
However. After being so nice to read the usual random reflections of mine, I think you completely deserve to read the 'pronounciation post' that I've just finished to write. Before of beginning, anyway, let me say three things:
Firstly, I can't guarantee you that this post is mistake-free. I tried my best to avoid mistakes, but I might have made some of them anyway. After all, no one is perfect. In case you notice a pronounciation mistake, I'd really appreciate it if you could kindly let me know about it. The goal of this post in fact is to improve our pronounciation of difficult riders' names and everyone who can help us to reach this goal with advices, corrections or so will be warmly welcomed.
Second thing I wanted to say, in this post I've talked about some of the names that I don't find easy to pronounce. If you would like to know the correct pronounciation of names that I didn't include in this post, don't be shy and feel free to ask for the correct pronounciation in the comment area. You may not be the only one who has problems with a certain name, so your request could be useful for everyone.
Third and last thing, I looked for some names but couldn't find any video with their pronounciation. If someone can help me, they're welcome.
After these boring advices, let's enjoy the class now!
CANADA:
We never mentioned Canadian riders in the comment area, but I must admit that, imo, two of the most difficult names to pronounce correctly in the peloton are 'Ryder Hesjedal' and 'Svein Tuft'.
CANADA:
We never mentioned Canadian riders in the comment area, but I must admit that, imo, two of the most difficult names to pronounce correctly in the peloton are 'Ryder Hesjedal' and 'Svein Tuft'.
To know the correct pronounciation of Hesjedal, click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18mR3JypOdU . They say Ryder's name already at the beginning, so you don't have to watch the whole video.
As far as Svein Tuft is concerned, you can find the pronounciation of his surname here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOto7BxfHns (0:14).
UNITED STATES:
Remaining in America, the only American name about which I have horrible doubts is 'Levi Leipheimer'. I've already mentioned that the pronounciation of Levi's name changed completely over the last 2 years here in Italy, but now we're finally going to discover what the correct pronounciation of said name is. Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, because we Italians are finally going to discover the truth about this name! Aaaand the correct pronounciation of this name is...Livai Laipaimar!!!! (or something similar ;)
As far as Svein Tuft is concerned, you can find the pronounciation of his surname here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOto7BxfHns (0:14).
UNITED STATES:
Remaining in America, the only American name about which I have horrible doubts is 'Levi Leipheimer'. I've already mentioned that the pronounciation of Levi's name changed completely over the last 2 years here in Italy, but now we're finally going to discover what the correct pronounciation of said name is. Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, because we Italians are finally going to discover the truth about this name! Aaaand the correct pronounciation of this name is...Livai Laipaimar!!!! (or something similar ;)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8-o8HwhNgU&feature=related , 0:06).
SPAIN AND SOUTH AMERICA:
I've decided to dedicate just one chapter to names of Spanish origins because I actually don't have problems with them. If someone would like to know the correct pronounciation of some Spanish names, let me know: I speak Spanish, so I might be able to help you.
GERMANY:
The only tricky German name I can think of right now is 'Jens Voigt'. This rider's surname in fact seems to be very difficult for everyone, journalists and supporters included. If you've always pronounced it as 'Voyt', I'll tell you that you're wrong. The correct pronounciation of Jens' name in fact is 'Fokt'. To listen to the correct pronounciation, read the 'Holland' part of this post ;)
POLAND:
Ah, Polish names! Who doesn't love them? Some months ago, our dear blogmate Ania was so kind to write me the correct pronounciation of the Polish name 'Przemysław' in the phonetic alphabet. If you can read it, here it is: pʃemɪswʌv . Nice, isn't it? I know that you're now going to name 'Przemyslaw' your gold-fish, your son, your dog, whatever else, but do you actually know who Przemysław ('Przemek' for friends) is? If you don't, write the name 'Przemysław Niemiec' somewhere. According to my predictions, you're going to hear about him pretty often this year.
Other tricky Polish names are Sylwester Szmyd and Jaroslaw Marycz. To hear the correct pronounciation of those names (and also the correct pronounciation of 'Przemyslaw Niemiec'), go on http://translate.google.it/#plen and have fun with the 'Listen' button.
DENMARK:
As far as Danish names are concerned, I think that the most of us know how to pronounce 'Sorensen' and are therefore able to indicate the surname of half of the Danish population in a correct way. The problems begin when poor fangirls come across Danish names like Jakob Fuglsang or Matti Breschel. As far as the first name is concerned, I admit that I've always pronounced it as 'Foogle-sang', before that Susanne enlightened me by saying that the correct pronounciation of the name of the hero of many fangirls is 'Ya'cobb Fool-sang'.
As far as Matti Breschel is concerned, Susanne kindly gave me the link to this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CypDAWtD_Vc (Matti's name is said at the beginning of it and after 38"). It is a very nice vid and I'm sure that some of us will really appreciate it (nice blue eyes on the horizon, girls, nice blue eyes!)
PS: I know that it has nothing to do with cycling, but on Thursday I have a philosophy test about Kierkegaard. How do you pronounce that?
OCEANIA:
My doubts about Oceanian names were kindly resolved by Cougar Girl. Here you have her answers to my doubts:
Cameron Wurf = Kammer-on Wuhrr-f. Travis Meyer = Tra-viss My-ehrr (not May-ehrr). Hayden Roulston = Hay-D'n Rahl-st'n. Richie Porte = Ree-chee Por-turr.
HOLLAND and BELGIUM:
Ah, Dutch names! Apparently, names like 'Boom', 'Mollema' and 'Gesink' seem very easy to pronounce, don't they? Unfortunately for us, not every Dutch name is that simple. For example, amongst Dutch riders we can find Tom Stamsnijder and Steven Kruijswijk. 'How do you pronounce that?', I hear you wonder in despair. Well, the answer is simple and it comes from an amazing vid that our blogmate Mar (http://whatmarlikes.tumblr.com/) prepared for us last week. Here you have it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx6q3DiUCzk . In it, Mar says the following names: Steven Kruijswijk (I'l never be able to say it correctly!), Robert Gesink, Bauke Mollema, Tom Stamsnijder, Lars Boom, Koos Moerenhout.
Moreover, Mar also gave us the pronounciation of two Belgian names, Wouter Weylandts and Jurgen Van Den Broeck. Dulcis in fundo, she also pronounces 'Jens Voigt' in a perfect way towards the very end of the video (1:36). Once again, great work Mar!
SWEDEN:
No one ever mentions them, but Swedish names can be tricky too. Just think about the name 'Thomas Lovkvist'. Luckily, you can hear Tom's name pronounced by himself on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW82TsrGyAg .
RUSSIA:
Russian names can be difficult too, especially because accents rule the Russian world and accents are never written on the names of Russian riders. Anyway. I did try to look for Russian videos of YouTube, but my quest wasn't actually that successful.
SPAIN AND SOUTH AMERICA:
I've decided to dedicate just one chapter to names of Spanish origins because I actually don't have problems with them. If someone would like to know the correct pronounciation of some Spanish names, let me know: I speak Spanish, so I might be able to help you.
GERMANY:
The only tricky German name I can think of right now is 'Jens Voigt'. This rider's surname in fact seems to be very difficult for everyone, journalists and supporters included. If you've always pronounced it as 'Voyt', I'll tell you that you're wrong. The correct pronounciation of Jens' name in fact is 'Fokt'. To listen to the correct pronounciation, read the 'Holland' part of this post ;)
POLAND:
Ah, Polish names! Who doesn't love them? Some months ago, our dear blogmate Ania was so kind to write me the correct pronounciation of the Polish name 'Przemysław' in the phonetic alphabet. If you can read it, here it is: pʃemɪswʌv . Nice, isn't it? I know that you're now going to name 'Przemyslaw' your gold-fish, your son, your dog, whatever else, but do you actually know who Przemysław ('Przemek' for friends) is? If you don't, write the name 'Przemysław Niemiec' somewhere. According to my predictions, you're going to hear about him pretty often this year.
Other tricky Polish names are Sylwester Szmyd and Jaroslaw Marycz. To hear the correct pronounciation of those names (and also the correct pronounciation of 'Przemyslaw Niemiec'), go on http://translate.google.it/#plen and have fun with the 'Listen' button.
DENMARK:
As far as Danish names are concerned, I think that the most of us know how to pronounce 'Sorensen' and are therefore able to indicate the surname of half of the Danish population in a correct way. The problems begin when poor fangirls come across Danish names like Jakob Fuglsang or Matti Breschel. As far as the first name is concerned, I admit that I've always pronounced it as 'Foogle-sang', before that Susanne enlightened me by saying that the correct pronounciation of the name of the hero of many fangirls is 'Ya'cobb Fool-sang'.
As far as Matti Breschel is concerned, Susanne kindly gave me the link to this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CypDAWtD_Vc (Matti's name is said at the beginning of it and after 38"). It is a very nice vid and I'm sure that some of us will really appreciate it (nice blue eyes on the horizon, girls, nice blue eyes!)
PS: I know that it has nothing to do with cycling, but on Thursday I have a philosophy test about Kierkegaard. How do you pronounce that?
OCEANIA:
My doubts about Oceanian names were kindly resolved by Cougar Girl. Here you have her answers to my doubts:
Cameron Wurf = Kammer-on Wuhrr-f. Travis Meyer = Tra-viss My-ehrr (not May-ehrr). Hayden Roulston = Hay-D'n Rahl-st'n. Richie Porte = Ree-chee Por-turr.
HOLLAND and BELGIUM:
Ah, Dutch names! Apparently, names like 'Boom', 'Mollema' and 'Gesink' seem very easy to pronounce, don't they? Unfortunately for us, not every Dutch name is that simple. For example, amongst Dutch riders we can find Tom Stamsnijder and Steven Kruijswijk. 'How do you pronounce that?', I hear you wonder in despair. Well, the answer is simple and it comes from an amazing vid that our blogmate Mar (http://whatmarlikes.tumblr.com/) prepared for us last week. Here you have it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx6q3DiUCzk . In it, Mar says the following names: Steven Kruijswijk (I'l never be able to say it correctly!), Robert Gesink, Bauke Mollema, Tom Stamsnijder, Lars Boom, Koos Moerenhout.
Moreover, Mar also gave us the pronounciation of two Belgian names, Wouter Weylandts and Jurgen Van Den Broeck. Dulcis in fundo, she also pronounces 'Jens Voigt' in a perfect way towards the very end of the video (1:36). Once again, great work Mar!
SWEDEN:
No one ever mentions them, but Swedish names can be tricky too. Just think about the name 'Thomas Lovkvist'. Luckily, you can hear Tom's name pronounced by himself on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW82TsrGyAg .
RUSSIA:
Russian names can be difficult too, especially because accents rule the Russian world and accents are never written on the names of Russian riders. Anyway. I did try to look for Russian videos of YouTube, but my quest wasn't actually that successful.
As far as Denis Menchov is concerned, I found a nice video on http://diaadiano.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-post_18.html . It is in Russian and the only things I could understand from it were: 'skandali', 'Tour de France', 'na ulitza' and 'Alberta Contadora' (yes, AlbertA ContadorA). Btw, when I was already losing hope, I finally heard it: 'Denis Menchov', at 2:28. The journalist actually seems to say 'Menchova' and it does so in a very unusual (for me at least) way.
Unfortunately trying to understand Russian in that vid was a hard task for me, and it was even harder to find Russian videos with the correct pronounciation of 'Kolobnev' and 'Ignatiev'. So, I'm waiting for a volunteer to help me in my research.
LITUANIA, BELARUS AND UKRAINE:
Unfortunately this evening I didn't have time to look for the correct pronounciation of 'Grivko' and 'Konovalovas'. If there is someone from Lithuania and Ukraine reading this blog, I'd really appreciate it if they could help us all with the pronounciation of these names.
To make you forgive me for this lack of information about Ukrainian and Lituanian name, however, I'll tell you what the correct pronounciation of 'Siutsou' is (*drums rolling*). It is 'Sizzov' and not 'Siutsu' (Italian chronists used to say 'Siutsu' some years ago, then they corrected themselves on time).
ITALY:
Dulcis in fundo, here we arrive at pronounciation of Italian names. As I already said, accent is important in Italian names. It is Nìbali and Cùnego, not Cunégo and Nibàli. It is Viganò and it is Ballàn, it is Bàsso and it is Riccò.
Unfortunately trying to understand Russian in that vid was a hard task for me, and it was even harder to find Russian videos with the correct pronounciation of 'Kolobnev' and 'Ignatiev'. So, I'm waiting for a volunteer to help me in my research.
LITUANIA, BELARUS AND UKRAINE:
Unfortunately this evening I didn't have time to look for the correct pronounciation of 'Grivko' and 'Konovalovas'. If there is someone from Lithuania and Ukraine reading this blog, I'd really appreciate it if they could help us all with the pronounciation of these names.
To make you forgive me for this lack of information about Ukrainian and Lituanian name, however, I'll tell you what the correct pronounciation of 'Siutsou' is (*drums rolling*). It is 'Sizzov' and not 'Siutsu' (Italian chronists used to say 'Siutsu' some years ago, then they corrected themselves on time).
ITALY:
Dulcis in fundo, here we arrive at pronounciation of Italian names. As I already said, accent is important in Italian names. It is Nìbali and Cùnego, not Cunégo and Nibàli. It is Viganò and it is Ballàn, it is Bàsso and it is Riccò.
To hear some of these names, go on http://translate.google.it/#ititchicchi%0D%0A and write Chicchi, Riccò, Visconti, Viganò, Petacchi, Basso, Cheula and Agnoli . If you want to have a little clue about how to pronounce Italian names, remember those things:
1) double letters and accents, when present, aren't there just for beauty.
2) 'Che' and 'Chi' are pronounced as if they were German: 'ke' and 'ki'. In English, the 'chi' sounds like the 'ki' in 'kickey' (listen to 'Chicchi' and Cheula' to get a pratice example).
3) To listen to the correct pronounciation of the 'GN' sound, go on Google Translate and write 'Agnoli'.
4) Italian double 'z' is pretty difficult to pronounce. To listen to its correct pronounciation, you can hear the name 'Pellizotti' being pronounced in this video, right after the commercial: http://video.gazzetta.it/ciclismo-franco-pellizotti/4e99e29a-786f-11de-a581-00144f02aabc . Instead, to hear Pozzato's correct pronounciation (which I dedicate to miss Sansen), go on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-bKX0YNhb4 and wait 14 seconds.
Unfortunately it's already very late for me, so I'm forced to close this post here. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, I might make a new pronounciation post in the next weeks/months/ years ;)
1) double letters and accents, when present, aren't there just for beauty.
2) 'Che' and 'Chi' are pronounced as if they were German: 'ke' and 'ki'. In English, the 'chi' sounds like the 'ki' in 'kickey' (listen to 'Chicchi' and Cheula' to get a pratice example).
3) To listen to the correct pronounciation of the 'GN' sound, go on Google Translate and write 'Agnoli'.
4) Italian double 'z' is pretty difficult to pronounce. To listen to its correct pronounciation, you can hear the name 'Pellizotti' being pronounced in this video, right after the commercial: http://video.gazzetta.it/ciclismo-franco-pellizotti/4e99e29a-786f-11de-a581-00144f02aabc . Instead, to hear Pozzato's correct pronounciation (which I dedicate to miss Sansen), go on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-bKX0YNhb4 and wait 14 seconds.
Unfortunately it's already very late for me, so I'm forced to close this post here. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, I might make a new pronounciation post in the next weeks/months/ years ;)
EDIT: For those of you who are too lazy to read the comment section, here I'm going to list the videos/ voice posts/ suggestions/ whatever else that some dear blogmates have wrote me in their comments over the last days (unfortuntely I couldn't do it before because I was too busy).
First of all, let's talk about RUSSLAND AND LITUANIA:
Our kind blogmate Ania sent us a video with the correct pronounciation of Konovalovas (0: 10) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjFWDqOT7Hw . She also sent me another vid about Menchov (0:07) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee-idgG32IY , one about Kolobnev (0: 57 and also earlier) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x04vp805Xd4 and one about Ignatiev (4:02) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA_97E_MUGA . Nice work, isn't it? Now, all together: 'Thank you miss Ania!!'
NORWEGY AND SWEDEN:
Another dear blogmate, Susanne, sent me two very good videos in which you can hear the names 'Hushovd' and 'Ljungqvist' being pronounced correctly. The Hushovd one is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbYgmBonYaE (go at its beginning), the other one is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXmFsijkCVg (0:14). If you want to have fun, look for the other Hushovd video that she posted in one of her comments. In it, you can hear the Norwegian chronists clearly going bananas because of a Norwegian victory at the Tour!
Back to the pronounciation issue, dear Ingrid kindly told us that Hushovd should be pronounced as 'Hus-hovd', and not as 'Hush-vod' like I've been saying it for the last 5 years or so. Instead, Ljungvist should be pronounced as 'Jongkvist'. Thank you for your help, Susanne and Ingrid!
Last but not least, OCEANIA, SOUTH AFRICA AND WALES:
Leela kindly recorded a voice post on her tumblr in order to make us listen the correct pronounciation of some English sounding names. In it she shows us how to pronounce Cameron Wurf, Travis and Cameron Meyer, Hayden Roulston, Richie Porte, Chris Froome, Daril Impey and Geraint Thomas' names in the correct way. Here is the link to her great voice post: http://spokesandracquets.tumblr.com/post/2983428167/voice-post-for-the-lovely-miss-fede-and-co . Thank you a lot for it, Leela!
So, this seems to be the real end of this post. Thank you to all those who heped me writing it and let's hope that you all had fun while reading it and that you found it useful!
So, this seems to be the real end of this post. Thank you to all those who heped me writing it and let's hope that you all had fun while reading it and that you found it useful!
Questo commento è stato eliminato dall'autore.
RispondiEliminaSorry my mistake. One more time ;)
RispondiEliminaKonovalovas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjFWDqOT7Hw at: 0:10.
Menchov: also in your video at 0:22. Another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee-idgG32IY at 0:07.
Kolobnev: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x04vp805Xd4 at 0:57 (also earlier)
Ignatiev: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA_97E_MUGA at 4:02.
Hihi I love this post!
RispondiEliminaI'm very happy that I've been on vacation to Poland and brought a little book before called: How to: Polish. So that makes it a lot easier.
Dutch journalist are also very nice because they speak many languages, so I just realised they make no mistakes with the Italian ones! :D
They do make lots of mistakes in English however. That's so silly. Now I do that too. Still don't know how to pronounce Richie Porte. I always do it the Dutch way. *wrong*
I can make a voice post on my blog soon for you with the English names, let me know if there are any others you want to hear besides Porte, Wurf, Meyer and Roulston ok :)
RispondiEliminaThanks for the pronunciations Fede! :)
OK, I'm done laughing at the Sorensen-bit! (And you'd think that it's the most common name in Denmark but it's not xD) Actually, about that, I might be offending a bunch of people here (:P) - but are you sure you know how to pronounce that? It's spelled Sørensen (you know, with the funny o, I'm not sure you can see that?) and Google Translate says it right (and it even translates 'Sorensen' to 'Sørensen' if you translate from English to Danish). Chris Anker tends to pronounce it the English way when he speaks English, I've noticed.
RispondiEliminaBut great post! I'm practising hard in front of my dog (she's the only one home right now :P). Like Dutch journalists, Danish ones usually speak several languages as well. The Danish commentators on the Tour de France speak French, Italian and English so they've brought me up well (and so has my brother who took Spanish in school) :P
I never think of Swedish (or Norwegian) names as tricky because there're so close to Danish. If you have any other Swedish or Norwegian names I might be able to help ^.^
Oh, I almost forgot: Kierkegaard (I'm glad I'm not the only one suffering with him!) You can use Google Translate for him too. And bonus info: it actually means 'cemetery' without the e ('kirkegaard') :P
Kierkegaard! What a killjoy :P Imagine him, Young Werther and Giacomo Leopardi together in a room...
RispondiEliminaThank you for the post and the links, I'll use it as a reference for the upcoming season.
Unfortunately we Italians aren't so keen on foreign languages, so we italianize almost everything. A Scandinavian student in my uni once made me notice that we don't make the effort to try and pronounce correctly names while they do and, as a matter of fact, I'm still practicing "Mollema".
Francesca
@ Ania: thank you very very very much dear! Yesterday evening I tried to look for Russian videos, but I couldn't find any. I must admit that it was late in the evening and, when I saw that I had so many problems with Menchov, I gave in and decided not to look for other Russian videos. Luckily you came here to help me!!
RispondiEliminaI was actually surprised to discover that my pronounciation of Russian names isn't actually that bad. As far as Konovalovas is concerned, instead, now I can finally say what its correct pronounciation is! What a happiness!
Thank you again for your great work, Ania!
@ Mar: Considering that I sometimes have problems ordering food in English, German or Spanish restaurant, I really don't want to imagine what problems I could have in a Polish restaurant.
English names can be tricky because there aren't many rules for English pronounciation. Moreover, some English names seem German (Wurf, Meyer,Haussler) or even Italian (Porte), so I tend to pronounce them as if they actually were German or Italian (and pronouncing 'Richie Porte' in the Italian way is teeeerribly wrong).
@ Leela: Hi Leela! I hope you had fun at the tennis tournament :)
I'd really appreciate a voice post about English names! I personally need a helping hand with 'Chris Froome', 'Geraint Thomas', 'Graeme Brown' (I actually have problems with the names of these two riders, not with their surnames) and 'Daril Impey'. Other names?
@ Susanne: Sorensen isn't the most common Danish surname?!? I'm shocked! XD
RispondiEliminaI know that it should be written with the strange 'o', but unfortunately Italian keyboards can't produce it :(
I actually knew how to pronounce 'Sorensen', I learned it while watching a Tour de France video (the 'one Sorensen, two Sorensens!' one made by Chris Anker himself) and some Danish videos about Chris Anker (I didn't understand anything, but I had fun watching them anyway).
Btw, I must confess that before of watching those videos I shamelessy pronounced Sorensen with an open 'o' :S
Italian chronists are good at pronouncing French and Spanish names, but they often have troubles with the English and the German ones. For example, they shamelessy say 'Ricky Porte' rather than 'Ree-chee Por-turr'.
Swedish and Norwegian names... I actually have problems with Swedish names beginning with 'lju', like 'Ljungqvist' or 'Ljungblad'. As far as Norwegian names are concerned, instead, I'm not 100% sure of how 'Hushovd' should be pronounced :S
Kierkegaard means 'cemetery'? Well, Soren is actually as happy and lovely as a graveyard, so I kind of expected it ;)
To my surprise, I've just discovered that my Philosophy teacher pronounces Kierkegaard correctly. I had doubts about it because last year he kept on pronouncing 'Tycho Brahe' in a very unusual- at least for us Italians- way. He thought that that was the correct pronounciation and he sometimes complained when we said 'Brahe' in the Italian way. Unfortunately for my teacher, I soon found out on a Danish website that the way he pronounced Tycho's surname was as wrong as the Italian one and that his efforts in making us change our pronounciation were completely useless. Since that moment, I've always had doubts about his way of pronouncing the names of foreign philosophers, especially the Danish ones! ;)
@ Francesca: YOU FORGOT SCHOPENHAUER!!!!! You can't leave him out when we talk about happy, carefree guys who love life and are always very cheerful! ;)
Btw I must admit that Leopardi, Werther and Kierkegaard should be enough for just one room :P We have the Anonymous Association of Vino's Lovers, they could have the Anonymous Association of Pessimistic, Depressed and Lonely Intelligent People (or something similar).
Mollema is terribly tricky! It has that 'l' that really leaves me speechless. As far as I'm concerned, I've given in with Stamsnijder. Now I'm trying to learn 'Moerenhout' and 'Van Den Broeck' ;)
I know - cemetery fits quite well with Kierkegaard - oh, I am glad that I'm done with him! He really is a kill joy. And if only he was a readable, understandable kill joy...
RispondiEliminaOn my search for Hushovd I found this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS9qqXSoANM It's of the Norwegian commentators from a stage in the Tour de France that he won and it's really funny! Sometimes they show situations like those on Danish TV just so that we can laugh at it xD They do mention his name but I think it might be hard to make out in all their yelling so I found another video where they mention his name clearly in the very beginning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbYgmBonYaE
Ljungqvist is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXmFsijkCVg (at 0:14) The 'lj' combination is a bit tricky and I'm actually not 100% sure how to pronounce it but it's in this video.
Most Danes would just ignore the j. Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are very close to each other but Norwegian and Swedish are more melodic languages (Danish is a very flat language) so when Danes say Swedish or Norwegian names they come out in a slightly flatter version :P
Hushovd is actually pronounced 'Hus-hovd', not 'Hush-ovd' as some might pronounce it. Ljungkvist pronounced more like 'Jongkvist'
RispondiEliminaIngrid
@ Susanne: That first video is great! Norwegian commentators always sound terribly entusiasthic when a Norwegian rider wins a race, they almost scare me! Just take a look at this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjAAZhv08jc&feature=related (it was posted by A Beautiful Freak some months ago, her blog is in the list at the left of my post). I can't imagine how those two guys behaved when Thor won the Worlds! :P
RispondiEliminaThank you very much also for the other videos, they helped me a lot with the pronounciation (Hushvod is pronounced that way?!? I've been pronouncing it in the wrong way for the last 5 years! And I call myself a 'language student'!!).
The 'Lj' sound is tricky indeed, luckily it is in the video and Ingrid gave us a good advice about it!
I must confess that, two summers ago, I did try to learn Danish, but my results weren't that good. Honestly, I actually didn't try to study it seriously. After all, I was on holiday! :P
@ Ingrid: Welcome on my blog, Ingrid, and thank you very much for your help!
I must admit that, before of reading your comment, I was in the group of people who say 'Hush-ovd' rather than 'Hus-hovd' (shame on me!) :P
However, thanks to your correction now I'll change my way of pronouncing that name :)
Thank you also for the 'Jongkvist' advice. I listened to Susanne's vid some times, but it's not always easy to say the names correctly without any 'pronounciation help'! :)
You made my sister's day.. "people born in the 1990s are the best ones in the world". My sister was born in 1990 haha ;)
RispondiEliminaI really like this post and everyone contributing to it and learning from each other, it's great :) I think I find the Polish names the hardest.. those are really difficult to pronounce!! ;)
Hey, it's cool that your sister was born in the 1990s too :) Of course we, the great people of the last decade of the last century, perfectly know that we're the greatets generation ever, we just need to prove it to the rest of the world (Michael Matthews and Peter Sagan are already doing it, whereas me tried to communicate this fact to other people with this post)! ;)
RispondiEliminaPolish is difficult indeed, but I actually think that Dutch names are the trickiest ones.
Yes, of course people born in the 1990s are the best in the world! :D I'm glad someone is trying to prove it to the rest of the world 'cause I'm certainly not xD
RispondiEliminaYeah, the Norwegian commentators are scary in a very funny way! I actually have heard them commenting on the Worlds. I think they showed it on Danish TV2 and it was... yeah, words can't describe it :P
Actually, the video you posted, Fede, is from Danish TV2 as well - they really, really like showing us the Norwegian commentators go crazy :D
How come you tried learning Danish? (It's always a mystery to me why anyone would want to learn Danish - what would you use it for? Except of course talking to Jakob, Matti or Chris and so on :P) I wasn't very successful in my quest for learning Italian either :P
Oh, another supporter of the 1990s theory! Ahaha, I must admit that I'm not making many efforts to demonstrate it to the rest of the world either ;) After all, it's better to leave this task to some young, charming cyclists, isn't it? :P
RispondiEliminaI really like Danish Tv2, they always have nice videos.
'Words can't describe it...' Lol!!!
So you Danish make fun of Norwegian commentators eh? Uhm... Well, I can't say you're wrong after seeing those videos!!!
I have a big interest in languages and, being also very interested in a Danish cyclist (read: Chris Anker Sorensen) who has a Danish blog that Google Translate often have troubles translating, I said to myself: 'Hey, why don't I learn Danish?' I was already able to understand some words because sometimes Danish looks a bit like German, so I thought it wasn't going to be a difficult task. Unfortunately, when the initial enthusiasm faded, I gave in without fighting :P
Danish isn't actually very used for international communication. But still, there is an Italian university (I can't remember what it is) that has a degree course in Danish :P
Actually, I have the same question as you about people who decide to learn Italian...Better learn some Chinese, it is much more useful!!
Yes, let's leave it to the cyclists - they're doing so well, anyway (I'd just ruin it for them xD)
RispondiEliminaDanish TV2 do make great videos and I'm really going to miss the ones with Andy D:
There's really an Italian university that offers Danish? xD I see what you mean, Italian isn't that used internationally either but at least there're more than five million Italians - and Italian is prettier than Danish, I think. Chinese is definitely more useful but I'd rather learn Japanese :P I love languages too so I have a list (that never gets any shorter).
I can imagine that Chris' blog isn't easy to translate for Google. His writing style probably doesn't really come across (and he makes a lot of spelling mistakes :P).
Michael Matthews and Peter Sagan are already doing great things :) Now I can't wait for the guys born in my same year to start rocking the cycling scene! ;)
RispondiEliminaIt will be a big loss for Andy's fans if TV2 stops making videos about him :( (hopefully they'll still make videos with Fuglsang and Breschel!).
I also have a list of languages that never gets any shorter!! There are so many great countries and languages in the world...
Chris Anker makes lots of spelling mistakes?!? Oh dear, how can that be? A myth of mine has just fallen!!! Desperation!!!
Which myth is that? :P
RispondiEliminaHere's the girl that studies Swedish which falls under "Scandinavian languages and cultures", so yes, you can also study Danish in Amsterdam, but there was only 1 girl who did that in my year and she quit.. and I know it is/was not any better in other years.. so I guess it's not a popular language.. Norwegian and Swedish always get the most students.. ;)
RispondiEliminaI don't think it matters what language you choose to learn, if you like it, then why not learn it =) Chinese, oh my, that's soooo difficult!! ;) I like Italian, same goes for Spanish.. I would love to learn it..
Even in Denmark if you want to study Danish you have to take "Nordic languages and literature" (although, obviously Danish is the main language) So I'm always kind of surprised when you can study Danish in other countries :P
RispondiEliminaNow I have to check if you can study Dutch in Denmark...
... and you can in Copenhagen but I see it's not very popular either :P Apparently they only take in new students every other year and in 2009 only seven started.
Thank you for that, Fede :) I'm rarely at my computer, and since my iPhone dosn't allow me to comment, the last one was actully my first comment. But if there are any other Norwegian names you have problems with, I will sure help you :)
RispondiEliminaUps, I see that I spelled 'Ljunqvist' wrong. My bad! :)
About the Norwegian commentators; they are just hilarious! They make cycling (espescially the tour) even funnier to watch.
Ingrid
@ Susanne: it is the myth according to which Chris Anker Sorensen is the most clever boy of the peloton! Logic has often tried to tell Fangirl that this was a wrong myth because in the peloton there are also guys who have a degree, while Chris Anker didn't even go to university. Unfortunately Fangirl has always ignored Logic's protests against this myth, but now she has to surrender in front of the hard reality... Chris Anker Sorensen makes lots of spelling mistakes! Geez, I'm shocked.
RispondiEliminaI've looked for a list of Italian universities where you can learn Danish and Dutch :D According to my research, you can study Dutch in Trieste and Padova (and perhaps also in Milan). Danish instead can be learned in Milan, Florence, Pisa and Rome.
@ Marleen: Swedish and Norwegian sound very fascinating too but, if I had to make a choice between the 3 Scandinavian languages, I would probably pick Danish.
At my soon-to-be university you can't study Scandinavian languages but, if you want, you can choose unusual languages like Chinese, Japanese, Arabian and Russian (actually, Bergamo's university is said to be the best one in Italy as far as Russian is concerned). However, the idea of studying Oriental languages terrifies me, they are so different from the European ones! Moreover, I'm not that keen on Chinese, I'd prefer to learn some Japanese (just like Susanne :)
I think that Italian shouldn't be very difficult for people who already know French or Latin. And Spanish words look a lot like the Italian ones, I usually invent half of the words in my Spanish tests and I manage to get away with it veeery often (other times instead I badly fail with these desperate inventions of mine)! :P
@ Ingrid: Hi Ingrid and welcome back! I've just seen your comment, it appeared as soon as I wrote my last one :P
RispondiEliminaI'll surely count on you the next time I have problems with a Norwegian name. Just let the season begin, and be sure that I'll soon come across new foreign names that I won't be able to pronounce!
Don't worry for spelling mistakes, even Chris Anker Sorensen makes some! (I haven't got over this discovery yet :P)
The next time that Italian commentators talk about their colleagues (they sometimes tell the viewers about their reactions to victories or exciting stages), I'll pay more attention than usual to see if they mention the Norwegian guys. I'm sure they're not easy to ignore when they start screaming at the Worlds or at other important races where chronists are all together in the same place!!! :P
It must be great fun indeed to hear them commentating the races!
Ha, ha, I'm sorry I ruined your image of Chris, Fede! I do think he's pretty clever. To be fair, I think most of the mistakes typos and such because he doesn't really pay that much attention to it :P
RispondiEliminaPersonally, I hate making spelling mistakes, but sometimes it happens to even the best D:
At my soon-to-be university you can study Japanese too (my best friend is studying Japanese there). But, yeah, those languages are terrifying!
I used to do the same as you, Fede, with my French tests with English words - sometimes that went horribly wrong! xD
I didn't think Italian was that difficult because, as you say, it's so close to French. If I'd really made an effort... but I didn't! :P
@ Ingrid: Do you know if the Norwegian cycling commentators also commentate handball? I'm asking because some time ago Danish TV2 discussed the Norwegian handball commentators and showed videos in which they were going just as crazy as the cycling commentators and so I wondered if they were the same guys or if all Norwegian commentators are that crazy? :P
@ Susanne: Chris Anker usually apologises for his mistakes by saying that he was tired when he made them. Not a very original excuse, I must say ;)
RispondiEliminaI hate making spelling mistakes too and in fact, when I saw that 'commentating' in my last comment, I would have liked to delete the whole comment and write it again.
English words in French tests? Uhm, sounds funny!
This summer we may try learning a new language each. Then I'll write you in Danish and you'll answer me me in Italian :P
Ha, ha, I know, I get the urge to delete whole comments and write them again if I notice a mistake!
RispondiEliminaWell, some English words come from French, so sometimes it works...
Oh, yes, great idea, Fede! I've actually been thinking of brushing up on my German (I never paid attention in my German classes, ha, ha! xD) but learning Italian sounds so much more fun! :D
Oh, I should just stop commentating :( I see all my mistakes when I've just posted the comment. I should really do something to my iPhone so it makes me able to comment.
RispondiElimina@Susanne: No, the cycling commentators don't commentate handball. Even though I love the cycling commentators, the handball commentators are even better. My favourite sport is handball (yeah, crazy, I know) and it's just so much fun listening to them during every match in every championship.
BTW, congratulations on the silver medal :) you totally deserved it!
Ingrid
Thanks, Ingrid ^.^ They were really doing well and I was so disappointed when they lost the final!
RispondiEliminaI'm not that much into handball but I like watching the championships (mostly when we're doing well, though, I'm such a hypocrite :P)
All we can boast off in the crazy commentator section is Thomas Kristensen (handball) who screams like a girl (which is quite fun, ha, ha! xD)