Pronouncing it right is a challenge

I was once on a train in England and two girls in front of me were chatting about whether they would get off in Reading or Slough. I immediately knew they weren’t local as they were referring to Slough as ‘sloth’. There again perhaps they knew what was in Slough, this was in the 1980s after all!  As usual though I am getting sidetracked.

The point I am attempting to highlight is how we pronounce a place-name is often a good indication as to whether or not we are first time visitors, tourists or a local. Shrewsbury is an absolute classic in England, and it certainly took us a while to work out Olhão. So if you are anything like me with attempting to get your head (and tongue) around place names you will probably like the list we came across a year or so ago in Len Port’s ‘Get to Know the Algarve’. He’s very kindly allowed me to produce the list here for you.

Len’s book might be a couple of decades old now but we really like it. And we think his ‘pronunciation of place names’ list was and still is one of the most useful things we have come across in a guidebook. Obviously they are approximate and are designed for the English tongue, so if you know of a different way to help someone pronounce one of these place names or have come across another pronunciation guide then do let us know by leaving a comment below. By the way Len still writes about the Algarve, and has a great blog reflecting on Portuguese current affairs. The blog is Portugal Newswatch, do visit.