Hardest language to learn? (217)

139 Name: Here's the Perkele : 2008-06-10 11:46 ID:GwUZSNnp

I'm just a simple minded fool, but pronouncing the letters can be tricky too.

From the Finnish point of view, English is a strange language.
For a finn, the Finnish alphabet sounds "right" and the English one is twisted.

Here's how finns pronounce English alphabets
============================================

A - Ei
B - Bii
C - Sii
D - Dii
E - Ii
F - Ef
G - (Tsh)ii
H - Ei(tsh)
I - Ai
J - (Tsh)ei
K - Khei
L - El
M - Em
N - En
O - Ou
P - Phii
Q - Kjuu
R - Aa(r) *
S - Es
T - Thii
U - Juu
V - Vii
W - Vii
X - Eks
Y - (U/V)ai **
Z - (Z)ii ***

  • English R is 'soft', instead Finnish R is 'hard'
    - search youtube for "children of bodom + oops i did it again" and you'll hear the singer shout "Perrrrkele"

** U/Vai has 'open' or 'soft' V in it

*** (Z)ii has 'soft' Z

Here's how english pronounce Finnish alphabets
==============================================

A - U in fuck / A in car
B - B in bee
C - S in see * in swedish-based names, it sometimes is K
D - D in down
E - A in hate
F - F in fuck
G - G in gun
H - H in hate
I - I in shit
J - Y in you
K - K in fuck
L - L in lame
M - M in milk
N - N in no
O - O in open
P - P in please
Q - Q[?]
R - *english doesn't have this sound
S - S in snake
T - T in shit
U - U in you
V - W in wait
W - W in wait
X - X[?]
Y - *english doesn't have this sound
Z - Z[?] - 'hard sound'
Å - O in open
Ä - A in dad
Ö - A in 'a chair', 'a candle', 'a cat', 'a car'

Finnish letter, pronounced as a "letter" and how
it's pronounced when spelled
===================================================

A - a - aa
B - b - bee
C - s - see *in some names like Carlsberg it's K
D - d - dee
E - e - ee
F - f - äf * snobs prefer 'ef'
G - g - gee
H - h - hoo
I - i - ii
J - j - jii
K - k - koo
L - l - äl * snobs prefer 'el'
M - m - äm * snobs prefer 'em'
N - n - än * snobs prefer 'en'
O - o - oo
P - p - pee
Q - k - kuu
R - r - är * I've never heard anyone say 'er'
S - s - äs * snobs prefer 'es'
T - t - tee
V - v - vee
W - v - vee [tuplavee - double v]
X - ks - äks * snobs prefer 'eks'
Y - y - yy
Z - ts - tset
Å - o - oo
Ä - ä - ää
Ö - ö - öö

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