Australian city Melbourne has been ranked at number 21 on a list of the most mispronounced places in the world.
Experts note that the Victorian capital, Melbourne, is correctly pronounced “Mel-buhne”, but many incorrectly pronounce the R.
The language learning platform Preply used Google search data to rank most common searches for how to pronounce place names. It said in a statement:
“Preply has analyzed Google Search data for 68 well-known “hard to pronounce” places around the world. They looked at the places people ask about “How to pronounce” most often. They then ranked each place according to how difficult it is to pronounce by the number of people searching for it.”
Here’s the list of 20 places often mispronounced:
1. Cannes, France
Correct pronunciation: KAN or KAN-uh / Incorrect: CON or CONZ or CON-es
2. River Thames, London, England
Correct pronunciation: TEMZ / Incorrect: THAYMZ
3. Yosemite National Park, USA
Correct pronunciation: yoh-SEH-muh-dee or yoh-SEH-muh-tee / Incorrect: yoh-SEH-mi-nee or YOH-se-might
4. Louvre Museum, Paris, France
Correct pronunciation: LOO-vruh / Incorrect: LOOV or LOO-vray or LOO-vraa or LOO-ver
5. Versailles, France
Correct pronunciation: vair-SIGH / Incorrect: ver-SALES or ver-SAY-les
6. Seychelles, East Africa
Correct pronunciation: SAY-shellz / Incorrect: say-CHE-les
7. Ibiza, Spain
Correct pronunciation: ee-BEE-tha / Incorrect: ih-BEE-za or eye-BEE-tha or ee-BEE-za
8. Phuket, Thailand
Correct pronunciation: poo-KET / Incorrect: FUE-ket or fue-KET or FUH-ket
9. Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda
Correct pronunciation: an-TEE-guh / Incorrect: an-TEE-gwah
10. Dubai, UAE
Correct pronunciation: doo-BAY / Incorrect: doo-BYE
11. Oaxaca, Mexico
Correct pronunciation: wah-HAH-kah / Incorrect: OAK-suh-kuh or oh-AX-uh-cuh
12. Maldives, Indonesia
Correct pronunciation: MULL-deevz / Incorrect: mal-DIVES or MAL-deevz or MOLE-deev
13. Laos
Correct pronunciation: LOUSE (like “blouse”) or LOU (like “loud”) / Incorrect: LAY-os or LA-ose or LOSS
14. Beijing, China
Correct pronunciation: bay-JING / Incorrect: beige-ING
15. Seoul, South Korea
Correct pronunciation: SUH-ool or SOLE / Incorrect: SEE-ole or see-ULE
16. Reykjavik, Iceland
Correct pronunciation: RAKE-yah-veek / Incorrect: RAKE-juh-vick
17. Worcester, England
Correct pronunciation: WUSS-tuh or WUSS-ter / Incorrect: WAR-chest-er or WAR-cess-ter
18. Budapest, Hungary
Correct pronunciation: boo-da-PESHT / Incorrect: boo-da-PEST or BOO-da-pest
19. Qatar
Correct pronunciation: KUH-ter / Incorrect: kuh-TAAR or KAT-aar
20. Edinburgh, Scotland
Correct pronunciation: ED-in-bruh or ED-in-bur-uh / Incorrect: ED-in-berg or ED-in-buh-row or EED-in-berg