why English is tough

[cosworth151]

But we (you and I) aren't Brits. The Beeb is. 

[Alianora La Canta]

It used to be that we could rely on the BBC to get the correct Pronunciation but now even Auntie B caters for local dialect and in some cases international tones. Therefore the BBC will tell us about a carsel (Castle) in New Cassel (Newcastle); or send a report from Beyching (Beijing); or Saragother (Zaragoza) and yet they still call Paris - Paris not Paree. Confused of London!

On a recent episode of Pointless, a contestant infamously declared Paris to be a country ending in two vowels.

I don't think the BBC is in much of a position to change people's opinions of what Paris is. People are prepared to admit they don't know Beijing/Peking or Zaragoza all that well (I'm not sure what else Zaragoza would be called, and I'm pretty sure nearly everyone educated in British state schools who is younger than me was raised without ever being told Beijing had a former name), and so are more prepared to accept the BBC's way of saying it. (The BBC has, in the last 25 years, taken an attitude of localism, and applied it where possible to international as well as local places).

[Jericoke]

(The BBC has, in the last 25 years, taken an attitude of localism, and applied it where possible to international as well as local places).

I wonder how they would pronounce Toronto.  Most Canadians say it pretty phonetically:  tore ON toe.  Torontonians, on the other had, run it together: ch'RANnah.

The best is when local newscasters or politicians slow down and ensure they say "tore ON toe".  It's like they've switched to a different language for one word.

[Alianora La Canta]

(The BBC has, in the last 25 years, taken an attitude of localism, and applied it where possible to international as well as local places).

I wonder how they would pronounce Toronto.  Most Canadians say it pretty phonetically:  tore ON toe.  Torontonians, on the other had, run it together: ch'RANnah.

The best is when local newscasters or politicians slow down and ensure they say "tore ON toe".  It's like they've switched to a different language for one word.

BBC, from what I've heard, says it phonetically.