Hi guys. In this video we're going to look at how to pronounce the names of some European cities
in English. Most of these cities are not in English-speaking countries, so naturally they
are pronounced differently and sometimes even spelt differently in those countries.
However, they all have a standard or a few standard pronunciations in English.
And before anyone says something like "Oh, English speakers are arrogant and they should learn how
these names are pronounced in their original languages", I just want to point out that this
is something that happens in all languages. For example, in Spanish "London" is spelt like this
and it's pronounced "Londres". In French it's also spelt like this and it's pronounced
"Londres". And if we look at the capital of France, in French it's pronounced "Paris", in English
it's pronounced "Paris", in Spanish there's an accent on the I and it's pronounced "París",
and in Italian it's "Parigi". So yes, it's very common to change the names of places in different languages.
I apologise in advance if I miss your country. Please don't be offended. This is a pronunciation
lesson, not a geography lesson, and I decided to focus on cities which are quite large and/or
well-known internationally. We're going to start in the west and move towards the east. Sort of.
First we have the capital of Portugal. In English this is Lisbon.
Lisbon. And now the capital of Spain. In English this is Madrid.
Madrid. And now a couple of other Spanish cities. This one in British English is Barcelona.
Barcelona.
In American English it's Barcelona. Barcelona. This one is Seville.
Seville. We don't say "Sevilla" or "Sebilla" in English. And now some French cities. This one is Paris.
Paris. In British English this one is Marseille. Marseille.
In American English it's Marseille.
Marseille. Okay, this one is not so clear-cut. Native English speakers pronounce this several
different ways. The pronunciations that I've heard the most are as follows. British pronunciation: Lyon.
Lyon.
Or Lyon.
Lyon. American pronunciation: (just like the first British one) Lyon. Lyon. And another way is Lyon.
Lyon. This one is Nice.
Nice. Which is very similar to how it's said in French. And now some English cities. First we have London.
London. In British English this one is Birmingham.
Birmingham. In American English the R is pronounced, so it's Birmingham.
Birmingham. In any case, we never pronounce the H. The H is silent. This one actually has
two common pronunciations in British English. The first one is Manchester.
Manchester. The other one is Manchester. Manchester. In American English it's Manchester.
Manchester. The R is pronounced at the end. And now on to Scotland. In British English
this is Edinburgh. Edinburgh. In American English it's Edinburgh.
Edinburgh. In British English this one is Glasgow. Glasgow.
In American English it's Glasgow.
Glasgow. And now the capital of Wales. In British English this is Cardiff.
Cardiff.
In American English it's Cardiff.
Cardiff. Now the capital of Northern Ireland. In British English this is Belfast.
Belfast.
In American English it's Belfast.
Belfast. The capital of the Republic of Ireland
is Dublin. Dublin. Moving on to Belgium. Here we have Brussels.
Brussels. And now a couple of cities in the Netherlands. In British English this is Amsterdam.
Amsterdam.
In American English it's Amsterdam. Amsterdam.
This one is The Hague. The Hague.
This is a city and a country. In British English it's Luxembourg.
Luxembourg.
In American English it's Luxembourg.
Luxembourg.
Oh, Frank fell down. Now let's look at some German cities. In British English this is Berlin. Berlin.
In American English it's Berlin.
Berlin. In British English this one is Hamburg. Hamburg.
In American English the R is pronounced again, so it's Hamburg.
Hamburg. This one is Munich. Munich.
We don't say "München". And the last one for Germany... In British English this is Cologne.
Cologne. In American English the second O is pronounced a bit differently, so it's Cologne.
Cologne. And now on to Switzerland. There are a couple of different ways to pronounce this one.
In British English it's either Zurich.
Zurich.
Or Zurich.
Zurich. In American English it's either Zurich. Zurich.
Or (like in British English): Zurich. Zurich. This one is Geneva.
Geneva. Now the capital of Italy. In British English this is Rome.
Rome.
In American English it's Rome.
Rome. And some more well-known Italian cities... In British English this is
Milan. Milan.
In American English it's Milan.
Milan. This one is Naples. Naples. We don't say Napoli. And now we have the city which is "Firenze"
in Italian. In British English this is Florence. Florence. In American English it's Florence.
Florence. This one is Venice.
Venice. And now the capital of Austria. This is Vienna.
Vienna. In German it's actually spelt like this and it's pronounced "Veen", but yeah... In English we
say "Vienna". Let's now go north. Here we have the capital of Norway. In British English this is Oslo.
Oslo.
In American English it's Oslo.
Oslo. And now the capital of Sweden. In British English this is either Stockholm.
Stockholm.
Or Stockholm. Stockholm. In American English it's either Stockholm. Stockholm.
Or: Stockholm. Stockholm. So yes, some people pronounce the L and some people don't. Now the capital of
Denmark. In British English this is either Copenhagen. Copenhagen.
Or: Copenhagen.
Copenhagen. In American English it's either Copenhagen. Copenhagen.
Or: Copenhagen. Copenhagen. In English the capital of Finland is Helsinki.
Helsinki. And now the capital of Poland. In British English it's Warsaw.
Warsaw.
In American English it's Warsaw. Warsaw. This city is Cracow.
Cracow. But sometimes in the UK it's pronounced Cracow.
Cracow. The capital of the Czech Republic is Prague.
Prague. And now the capital of Slovakia. In British English it's Bratislava. Bratislava.
In American English it's Bratislava. Bratislava.
Or: Bratislava. Bratislava. The capital of Hungary is pronounced
several different ways in English. I'd say the most common ways are Budapest. Budapest.
And Budapest.
Budapest. Now the capital of Croatia. This also has
a few different pronunciations in English, but I'd say the most common one is Zagreb.
Zagreb. Now the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In British English this is Sarajevo.
Sarajevo.
In American English the O is pronounced a bit differently. It's Sarajevo.
Sarajevo. Now the capital of Serbia. This is Belgrade.
Belgrade. But some people put the stress on the second syllable, so they say Belgrade.
Belgrade. Now the capital of Romania. This is either Bucharest.
Bucharest.
Or Bucharest.
Bucharest. Now the capital of Ukraine. This is Kyiv.
Kyiv. Though some people say Kyiv. Kyiv.
The capital of Greece in English is Athens.
Athens. Now we have the largest city in Turkey. In British English this is Istanbul.
Istanbul. In American English it's very similar, but the stress is on the first syllable. So it's
Istanbul. Istanbul. Now the capital of Russia. In British English this is Moscow.
Moscow.
In American English it's either Moscow.
Moscow.
Or Moscow.
Moscow. The last one for this video is another Russian city. This one is
Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg.
Yes. "Saint" here is reduced to "snt". And most of the time people barely pronounce the T, so they say:
Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg. In American English it's Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg.
But again, most people barely pronounce the T in "Saint", so they say:
Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg.
That's it, everybody. I hope you found this educational.
If you did, don't forget to hit the thumbs up. And I'd also like to remind you that
every two weeks, I send out an advanced English email lesson. If you'd like to
subscribe to those, you'll find the link in the description. See you next time!
Okay. Okay...
Zagreb.
Bugger.
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Motorbikes...
We're goin...
So windy...
Peters...