7 Places in Mexico Gringos Can't Pronounce - We can help!

[@MGPytb]

It’s 5am, I’m a native Spanish speaker, I’m Mexican, why am i watching this? I’m not sure, but hot damn am I enjoying it

[@nyk3334]

Lol

[@rigorobles3991]

I live in Calixtlahuaca and studied in Ixtlahuaca, no really 😂

[@deadpool113]

This video is really helpful but many mexicans and foreigners might think those are easy and mild ones of Mexico. There are Tlaquepaque, Tlajomulco de Zuñiga, Apatzingan, Xochitepec, Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos, Atequiza and Nezahualcoyotl. And one of my friend said there is a port named Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. And I don't know how to read this heck of a name

[@guyblack8550]

You forgot Parangaricutirimicuaro

[@silentscales8631]

Ni Yo Puedo Ptm:(

[@james-ck9py]

@@silentscales8631 I’m Mexican and I can barely pronounce that

[@elisaplays6163]

If only I could roll my 'R' sounds.

[@RxBrooks]

@@sonyaguerrero2034 press x to doubt

[@thereisnocarolinHR]

I can’t for the life of me. My nephews are half Cuban and could do it before they could speak in full sentences 🙈

[@ChimeraActual]

Thank you. Spanish speakers from Spain mispronounces indigenous mexican words as badly as any Gringo; ask one to say, "Oaxaca". It is unfortunate that english speakers don't have the variety of sounds available to a native Mexican, trilled "R's" for example, or the lisp of certain native spanish speakers for that matter, which is, I think, the main distinction you bring up here.

[@rlwemm]

There is Tlaquepaque, a suburb of Guadalajara.

[@caretakerfoch6103]

Been there. Quite a challenge to pronounce for the first time.

[@lecyamethyst4565]

I watched this when I was in Puerto Vallarta and somehow knew it would be on here

[@Diana-xm1dm]

The Gringos are not that off...it's the English pronunciation. I understand them perfectly (most of the time)...is it hahaha or jajaja?

[@mariebedard2111]

LOL at the crab joke!

[@SpanishandGo]

😅 Thanks for watching, Marie! -May

[@markl6122]

The scratching motion was an extra special touch. 😂

[@Daantjuwh]

I don't have problems with the ones you showed in the video. For me Querétaro is difficult to pronounce. I'm from the Netherlands. :)

[@SpanishandGo]

Excellent! Querétaro is a tricky one. Thanks for watching and commenting! 😊

[@VTSifuSteve]

Oye carnal, ¡para mí es más difícil decir Den Hague!

[@mavz87]

3:47 this girl maybe not said Puerto Vallarta well, but "Jalisco" maaannn, she spelled it very clear. ❤️❤️❤️

[@mangosday]

Nice, I needed to learn for a presentation

[@sharperguy]

First thing I had to pronounce when getting to Mexico was Taxqueña. Never had to tackle the 'xq' digraph before...

[@lk2015]

Can you tell us how to pronounce Felipe Xicoténcatl. It is the C-53 shipwreck artificial reef dive site in Cozumel named after the army general.

[@diegoenrique4510]

no no no , I need to learn english language, not español :v

[@Yha1000itz]

Nos gusta ver angloparlantes sufrir.

[@deadpool113]

Conoces todaviá...

[@d.lawrence5670]

Diego, ha sido dos años...has tú aprendido el inglés?

[@cassiusstroman4714]

May did a great job at slowing the words down on this lesson..much easier to understand☺👌

[@SpanishandGo]

Glad it helped! 😊 ¡Saludos! -May

[@jc71480]

This gringo lives in Tequisquiapan and my Spanish is terrible. And I'm from Texas, so my southern-draw makes my pronunciation very special! I have learned that Hua sounds like an English "W". I pronounced Oaxaca so badly, I laugh at myself. I love Mexico, the Mexican people, the landscape... People just don't know the beauty of Mexico.

[@jiminsunderwear7982]

Haha its ok, you will eventually get the hang of it. Thank you for loving my country!

[@jc71480]

@@jiminsunderwear7982 I spoke Spanish when I was a little boy. My abuela is Mexicana, but my family moved away when I was young and I had no one to practice with, so I lost it. I'm hoping it comes back soon. I've been living in Tequis, Que. for about a year and my Spanish is definitely getting better. I love Mexico.

[@arglebargle17]

OK, I learned something very interesting just before watching this. Maybe I should make a video of places Spanish speakers pronounce wrong. Basically, that's any place that has an X in it. Oaxaca was originally pronounced wah-SHA-ka. Since Spanish didn't have an "sh" sound, they borrowed the X from Galician or Portuguese. They punted entirely on one sound that's the plosive version of the Welsh "LL" (which does NOT sound like L) and they just used "TL" instead of what we now note as "tɬ". (OK, "TL" is sorta close. Say "T" with the tip of your tongue superglued to the roof of your mouth where you start "T".) But I'll let my fellow gringos struggle with Xicohténcatl , Tlaxcala, Mexico and I'll complain to Spanish speakers that it's "shee-koh-TEN-kahtɬ tɬash-KAH-lah MESH-ee-koh" :-)

[@SpanishandGo]

The X sound in words like _México_ comes from the Nahuatl language. I’d love to see where you read that is sound comes from Galician or Portuguese. Would you mind sharing that? But I wouldn’t say it’s “wrong.” It’s been that way for hundreds of years and the Real Academia Española accepts it. Languages just change over time. -Jim

[@arglebargle17]

@@SpanishandGo I found this little article fascinating: www.mexica.net/mexico.php Whether it is actually true or not, I didn't do more research.

[@nishantsingh1792]

Very helpful video

[@SpanishandGo]

Glad to hear you found it useful! Thanks for watching. 🙏 -Jim

[@thehistorianguy2178]

Did you know the word gringo comes from the Spanish word greigo and is spanish for Greek, there use to be a saying in spain because spain accent sounds very similar to Greek that if someone doesn't speak spanish its because they are speaking Greek, and so mexicans started to use the term gringo which just ment someone who is speaking Greek and doesn't know spanish but the meaning changed to a american who doesn't speak spanish.

[@joanlynch5271]

Tlayacapan?

[@ibraimeg8641]

There are more! Zacazonapan Texcoco Ixtapaluca Chihuahua

[@SpanishandGo]

There are so many! We just went for the most common ones we’ve heard. Maybe we’ll do a part two some day. Thanks for watching! -Jim

[@rlwemm]

The last one is relatively easy. There are dogs with that name, and, at least in my country of origin (Australia), the the dog name does not sound much different from my Mexican teacher who was born in the State pronounced that place. The main difference is that my compratriots used an unaccented sound (the schwa) for the "i" and Mexicans use a sound like ee in sweet for that letter.

[@gloriakadar3288]

I was born in colima but grew up in mexicali but I love guanajuato and puebla

[@face4radio]

¿Como see dice Poop (en Yucatán)?

[@Tattlingtourist]

Very helpful...but when I say the city names I THINK I sound like you...but I still sound like a gringo. haha

[@SpanishandGo]

:p Lol Practice makes perfect! Thanks for watching and commenting! -May

[@HotdogSosage]

"porque crabs??" LOL

[@daniielaacuhh6692]

OAXACAAA🔥🔥🔥

[@stvp68]

I had latino students tell me Oaxaca was Oashaca!

[@ArmandoXIII]

That saddens me

[@stevengreen8118]

Rolling the words just sound extra lol

[@halfhouse5760]

How would you pronounce, "Tlaxcala?"

[@AD-hj7cw]

Tlascala

[@stvp68]

Is it Tijuana? Or Tiajuana?

[@gerardocastro5665]

They even change my name all the time my name Is Gerardo and they always pronounce yeraro

[@pen4tenn]

Thank you. This gringo can not roll her r's to save her soul.

[@lytnin88]

La ciudad que, para mi, es muy dificil decir es un pueblo al lado del Lago Chapala, creo en el estado de Jalisco: Ajijic. Para mi lengua es dificil decirla.

[@SpanishandGo]

Si, esa también es difícil. ¡Gracias por el comentario! ¡Sigue practicando! 😊 -Jim

[@laloskallen4007]

Y solía escribirse como: "Axixic", aunque la pronunciación es la misma. -Saludos desde Ajijic

[@miguelbarrientos7276]

I got them all right but i still dont know how she'd pronounce teotihuacan. I always hear it in 2 versions when the greater mexico city says it one way and mexico State says it in another. Lol

[@rlwemm]

How about Volcan Popocatépetl? I can say it slowly, if I think hard. It is easier to just shorten it to Popo. Cheating, of course, but even the locals do it.

[@SpanishandGo]

That's a good one! We did think about that when we were preparing for this video. There's just so many! 😅Thanks for watching and commenting! -Jim

[@andrewmathematician7443]

I'm from Czechia and contrary to us almost every English speaker butcher the pronuciation of the foreign words. When we want to say something what comes from the foreign language, we do a little research first. For example, I came here to find out how to pronounce properly Cuidad de Mexico, cuz the Cui- part I don't know how to pronounce.

[@dodojarmann1314]

Gracias por la leccion. Creo que es bastante claro, excepto Oaxaca que sueno como un ”wah-wah pedal” en el comienzo 🙃

[@SpanishandGo]

¡Gracias a ti! 😊 -Jim

[@rlwemm]

That one had me most confused when I first came across it. I had to ask a local how to say it, and then practice a few times.

[@jackwaddill]

Then there is Tlaquepaque and Tlaxcala.

[@carlah6234]

and Popocatépetl

[@brianrice7084]

It just sounds more emphasized

[@MrAcer4]

Spanish is part of our heritage but so is nahuatl but no gringo has an interest in that or it seems people are more proud of their colonizer language. We need to expand and help our indigenous heritage survive not the gringo oppression. Mexico is becoming more of an Anglo Saxon expansion of spain/europe/usa... pialli

[@SpanishandGo]

Not just Nahuatl. There are many indigenous languages spoken in Mexico. There may have been languages that predate the known indigenous languages in what we now call Mexico as well. There are known knowns, known unknowns, and likely things we know practically nothing about whatsoever. 😅 The affects of globalization aren’t changing Mexico, but also the U.S. and virtually every other country in the world. It is projected that by 2050, the U.S. will be the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. I think it’s worth discussing the pros and cons of globalization. Obviously, there’s room for improvement when it comes to respecting local cultures and limiting gentrification. Thanks for watching.

[@turkishpunisher6386]

I knew all of them

[@margaretgarner5581]

Love pronunciations but best w/ o the sensual comments..

[@SpanishandGo]

What sensual comments?

[@paulstoneinc239]

Hi. Thanks for this. I suspect that most of these places were named before the Spanish turned up and imposed their language. At least you have retained some of the old pronunciations as in ‘México’ itself.

[@SpanishandGo]

Yeah, many places in Mexico have kept the names they had previous to the Spanish conquest. From the ones we mentioned in this video only Guanajuato, Oaxaca, and Zihuatanejo come from native languages in Mexico. Guadalajara and Monterrey were named after places in Spain. Puerto Vallarta and Quintana Roo were named after men who did important things for these places. :) Thanks for watching and commenting! -May

[@paulstoneinc239]

+Spanish and Go That is very interesting. Thanks

[@marcomarkproductions]

meh, there will always be something you cannot pronounce

[@SpanishandGo]

Thanks for watching, Marco! I think if there's something you want to improve you certainly can with practice. But perfect pronunciation isn't necessary for communication. ¡Saludos! -Jim

[@solomon4782]

Great job guys God bless you

[@SpanishandGo]

Thanks, Solomon! 🙏🏻-Jim

[@waterfordel]

Pay attention Lou Dobbs.

[@nyk3334]

What’s up with hard ll pronunciation? I thought northwestern Colombians did that only?

[@SpanishandGo]

Some countries practice yeísmo, others do not.

[@yosselin8592]

Los de oaxaca ➡️🇲🇽🇲🇽

[@marcarcoria7672]

I got them all!

[@two2young93]

Thank you both

[@SpanishandGo]

Thanks for watching! 😊

[@nyk3334]

Anytime an r is surrounded by vowels it’s pronounced with a d. No exceptions. Take Teresa. It’s not tay-Ray-sa. It’s Tay-Day-Sa

[@SpanishandGo]

Where are you from?

[@cartossin]

Is it me or does it sound like he's saying the same thing as her?

[@stuartgraham5045]

Can't take my eyes off that dude's ridiculous beard neckline.

[@SpanishandGo]

Try meditation. Or Ritalin. That world is full of things that aren’t meant to please you.

[@damienvalenzuela5159]

Anyone else a little sus about the title of this. I feel like its kinda offensive. P.S. no I'm not white

[@SpanishandGo]

_Gringo_ isn't a word to get offended over. In fact, we talk about the origins of the word in our podcast episode that just came out today: spanishandgo.com/podcast/origins-of-the-word-gringo -Jim

[@damienvalenzuela5159]

@@SpanishandGo Ah okay, thanks. I'll take a look.

[@cyrieldessers8428]

This is one of the worst beards ive seen in ages.

[@SpanishandGo]

It's always the people with no profile picture who have something to say about what other people look like. I wonder why? 🤔😂

[@cyrieldessers8428]

@@SpanishandGo Nice beard, dude.

[@SpanishandGo]

@@cyrieldessers8428 I choose to be who I am. I'm sorry you feel the need to put others down. There must be something you are working through, and I hope you get through it.

[@cyrieldessers8428]

@@SpanishandGo Thanks. I'll manage eventually.

[@chirp78]

I was hoping for how to pronounce OXXO

[@remyparaskovia5499]

The problem with mexico it's city and town names are must in other language than just Spanish.

[@Diana-xm1dm]

Como soy un poco sorda y como creci en los Estados Unidos, yo siempre creia que decian "Guanaquato" o "Guanacuato"...que vergüenza!

[@sidolanters1394]

it's MEKHEEKO tho; not MEKSEEKO

[@SpanishandGo]

Depends on if you’re using the English or Spanish pronunciation. Country names and pronunciations often do change in different languages. For example, Germany is Alemania in Spanish and Deutschland in German. Thanks for watching! -Jim

[@sidolanters1394]

@@SpanishandGo i know, but it makes more sense to use the authentic pronunciation; especially in a video that's about the correct pronunciation of mexican places

[@srbaruchi]

And a "shitload of tourists" ... jajaja. People who care about speaking the language properly will make the effort to pronounce proper nouns correctly, i.e., according to the native speech. Those who don't ... well, their dollars are just as green.

[@andreao3879]

Lady, you too have an accent when you speak English.

[@SpanishandGo]

@andreao3879 you’re right! Everyone has an accent. Here, we’re talking about the pronunciation of places in Spanish.

[@davidostrowski679]

I hope you asked for permission from kinetic kennons, tangerine travels etc before making them look like idiots. It's a good job you didn't use my footage. If someone doesn't speak Spanish, why on earth would they suddenly say a place name with completley different pronunciation/accent? It sounds stupid when people do that. I'm from the UK, live in Mexico and do not speak fluent Spanish. My pronunciation is awful. Amount of times Mexicans have corrected me? Zero.

[@SpanishandGo]

Hey David! Thanks for the comment. Our channel is for people who want to travel and improve their Spanish, and these are common names that people struggle with in Spanish. Just as we said at 6:06, this was made for educational purposes, not to make fun of anyone. And actually, we found Tangerine Travels while researching for this video and have since collaborated with them. Now we’re good friends. Everyone learning a language makes mistakes. It’s part of the process. But we believe that out of respect for the locals and the country you are visiting, at least attempting to learn the local language is important. The people we used in the video we know for the most part are at least trying to learn the language. You touched on a good point. It’s a common discussion among people learning a language: Do you say the name of a place the way it’s meant to be said and risk sounding pretentious to some, or do you say it wrong to fit in with other gringos and sound wrong to the locals? Our opinion is that you should always try to say it like the locals do. And Mexicans are so nice no one is going to correct your pronunciation unless you specifically ask them to. Even then, they probably won’t say anything. But living here and making videos about Mexico, people will respect you more for trying. Again, we never meant to offend anyone. It was just our way to help people better their pronunciation. I’m a gringo and I make tons of mistakes and I appreciate it when people correct me because I want to improve and show Spanish speakers that I’m trying. If you happen to see another video where people use footage from other channels, movies, or tv shows, know that if it’s used for educational purposes it falls under Fair Use in the United States and is a protected form of expression. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use ¡Saludos! -Jim

[@davidostrowski679]

@@SpanishandGo regardless of fair use policies, I would be reporting the video if anyone used my footage without permission

[@SpanishandGo]

@@davidostrowski679 That's fine. You're welcome to do that. Just know that KZbin would not be required to remove the video if it falls under Fair Use.

[@davidostrowski679]

@@SpanishandGo You should ask first, it's basic manners, regardless of law and policies. I always make an effort to learn a language (I travel full-time), but also as an English teacher, pronunciation is often irrelevant as many sounds are unnatural hence the pretentious aspect you mentioned. I did a video speaking Spanish and I speak Spanish in every video, but comprehension of viewers is more important than pronunciation to me personally.

[@SpanishandGo]

@@davidostrowski679 That sounds nice, but do you also think you should get permission from everyone who happens to appear in your video when you're recording in the street? Why or why not?

[@caseyspaos448]

Will I be forgiven for pronouncing it Puerto vaYARta?

[@karenvaught3995]

Why is more time dedicated to incorrect than correct pronunciation?

[@SpanishandGo]

Great question! Perhaps because knowing is half the battle. You can spend more time working on your pronunciation once you realize you’re saying something incorrectly with the help of websites like SpanishDict.com.

[@DonCuevas06]

Cute, but pretty lame. Can you pronounce Ixmiquilpan?

[@SpanishandGo]

Sorry you didn’t like it, Don Cuevas. We just picked the seven that we’ve heard people say incorrectly the most. Do a lot of gringos visit Ixmilquilpan? -Jim

[@rlwemm]

If I were to get smart, I could add in some of my father's native language at this point. Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch It is not as easy as it looks. :-) The double ll consists of an aspirated plus a hard form or the letter.

[@pep590]

Don Cuevas Lame??? Where's your channel Dandy Don?

[@chopin65]

The term gringo is really offensive. You two might think it is affectionate. It is not. It is just an ugly word. You want to know why racism exists? It's because words like this. When you label people because of their differences, you make them want to live apart from each other. Please, stop this.

[@SpanishandGo]

It might be offensive to some, considering that taking offensive is entirely subjective, but that’s not how it’s used in most cases. Nor is it fundamentally racist. Racism deals with the belief that some races are superior to others, and is not the common usage of the word “gringo.” We did a deep dive of the history and use of the word Gringo in our podcast which you can find here: podcast.spanishandgo.com/1040905/6376981-los-origenes-de-la-palabra-gringo-the-origins-of-the-word-gringo

[@mangosday]

Gringo alert ⚠

[@aaronfsteindler6569]

I'll learn to pronounce those correctly as long as you learn that there is no damn "D" in America!

[@SpanishandGo]

What does that even mean? And why is your learning dependant on someone else's learning? ¡Saludos! -Jim

[@aaronfsteindler6569]

@@SpanishandGo It's a reference to That 70's Show kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJvGh2R_iKh8iM0

[@SpanishandGo]

@@aaronfsteindler6569 😆I see now! Great show. Sorry I got defensive. You'd be surprised the number of people we hear from that don't think anyone should learn Spanish, or that they only want to get better as soon as everyone else speaks perfectly. haha ¡Saludos! -Jim

[@aaronfsteindler6569]

@@SpanishandGo All cool. Your channel is awesome. Keep up the good work.

[@SpanishandGo]

Aaron F Steindler ¡Gracias, amigo! Saludos. -Jim

[@fotinigavrilis537]

Why gringos? Not everyone who goes to Mexico is gringo..

[@SpanishandGo]

Because our target audience is primarily gringos.

[@stevengreen8118]

According to people from Ecuador Mexican speak wrong kinds like people from England think our English is broken.

[@zenmoon2543]

I cringe every time they show the Gringos trying to pronounce it lmao and I don't even speak full spanish

[@brucebrooker3633]

Gracias.. I always cringe at "gringos/ culturally imperialistic westerners" not even trying to use the accent. If you do not learn to say the words properly, you are not speaking the language. It is not PORTO VA LAR TA.