[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Since I mostly read lace names and rarely discuss them, I tend to say Point as we say it in English. I realize that it is pronounced Pwont in French. How should I pronounce it for the slide show.
Devon,
I definitely see the problem. Here's the way I do it: If I'm speaking English, and there is an English translation for the French term, I use the English translation. Same in French, if there is a French translation. For example, when speaking in French, I refer to London as Londres. Why? Because otherwise, people just don't seem to understand.
On the other hand, if there is no translation, then I use the original pronounciation, of the other language. If I get lots of blank stares, I stop and explain the term, then keep on using it.
I guess I may be a bit more sensitive to some of this than most, because I'm French Canadian, but live and work in a bilingual society that is mainly English. You have no idea how many times my name can be anglicized in one day, and it gets frustrating. I feel like a keep on repeating myself. My first name is Lise-Aurore, but stop at Lise. Simple. Pronounced like lees. You have no idea how many times I get to say, "No Lise, not Lisa, there is no A at the end". Or, "No Lise, not Liz, it's with an se, not a z at the end". And that's just the first part of the name. Personally, I find that I understand if someone pronounces it wrong if they have only seen it in writing and never heard it, but for people who have heard the pronounciation, then I find it rather insulting when they anglicize it.
So, given all that unnecessary information, I guess I'm suggesting that you use the English translation when possible, and then the French pronounciation when there is no translation. And that should be really good and confusing!!!
Lise-Aurore in Ottawa, where the sun is shining and the temperature is headin to 29C
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