European Girls tried to Pronounce The Hardest English Words!

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🇺🇸 Christina
christinakd...
/ @christinadonnelly
🇫🇷 Athalane
/ athalane_model
🇪🇸 Claudia
/ westclau
🇩🇪 Francesca
/ frxxca

[@Tenseiken_]

The french girl removing the letters she didn't like was probably the one most french thing she could've done. Actually hilarious

[@benjaminmorris4962]

Nah. Adding extra silent letters because they make the work look more beautiful is more French - and is legitimately the real reason French has so many silent letters...

[@stoicazoo7845]

English removes more letters than French and is way more irregular

[@ZachWilsonsMomsFriend]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@foxymetroid]

@@benjaminmorris4962 The French with their words are like the English with half their town/city names: they pronounced the whole word/name centuries ago, but slowly pronounced fewer of the letters as time went on and speakers got lazier.

[@xolotlnephthys]

Half the words are of french origin anyway

[@ChristinaDonnelly]

Many words in English can be quite hard to say, but these girls did great👏👏 Also please keep in mind that there are many accents in the US, so some words may be pronounced differently depending where you're from! Hope you enjoyed the video 😄 -Christina 🇺🇸

[@anndeecosita3586]

I think oftentimes in the USA because we understand one another that we don’t pay as much attention to the pronunciation differences. For example aunt has two pronunciations in the USA but no one is going to skip a beat if someone used one over the other.

[@ChristinaDonnelly]

@@anndeecosita3586 so so true! There are so many accents. I also say aunt both ways 😆

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

I totally agree with you, Christina 🤗🤗

[@vooides]

Nice voice of yours, irish girl 😊

[@roberto-qy2ys]

infrastructure; maybe my favourite word for non native english speakers

[@francescatv6377]

Thanks for having me 🥰🥰🥰

[@spk1121]

You did a great job! 😁👍

[@emperorarima3225]

Should have had words like onomatopeia, rhododendron, phlegm, anathema, enthralled and pragmatic

[@Adrian13rams]

I lived near Pflugerville! Texas had a lot German migrants in their history so I'm not surprised the German got it ❤️ I pronounce Arkansas like Arc-Kansas because it's more fun to say 😆

[@PongoXBongo]

Arc-Kanasas is more fun. Love from the great state of Oregano.

[@benjaminmorris4962]

Arc- Kansas is more fun to say, but also illegal lol. They have a sate law that forbids mispronouncing the name...

[@henri191]

Christina was an english teacher , so I would say that she is pretty good teaching the other girls , once a teacher , dancer and even a secret agent 😂😎

[@luiz3459]

​@@Nicole-kt5qf Did you take things so seriously like that ? He even said "secret agent" about the movie "Carter" , about the "teacher" thing he isn't wrong , she had been in the classroom teaching English , her video with Saki from Japan already revealed that

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

🥰🥰❤❤

[@jwb52z9]

@@Nicole-kt5qf She actually did say she was a teacher in a video not long ago.

[@kurtsnyder4752]

Shh, no "need to know " here!

[@kurtsnyder4752]

Kurt Snyder I was never here, this was a hacked account.

[@henri191]

United States and Germany were the countries that had different members on the channel, Francesca is the 7th German member of the channel

[@gaetano.4230]

True

[@KiWi_BoO]

She is not, I dont think there were so many germans

[@janslavik5284]

@@KiWi_BoO Francesca, Shannah, Nele, Emilie, Lara, Ellena and Hendrik can you tell i like this channel? 😆

[@ajeettv]

@@KiWi_BoO Definite statement followed by a speculative explanation. hmm

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

🥰🥰👍👍

[@daylonmurray8068]

Many of these words actually come from French: comfortable (comfortable), genuine (génuine - fell out of use), refrigerator (réfrigérateur) and mortgage (morgage). Zucchini is actually named courgette in the British Isles, like in French. As a bilingual kid, I would always struggle with these borrowed words, so my dad had to correct me to get them right :D

[@JVeg-kk4cs]

Though, most probably, English got these words from old French, they come from Latin, in Spanish we have "comfortable", "genuino", and "refrigerador, mortgage is very similar too, "hipoteca" ;-)

[@danemon8423]

@@JVeg-kk4cs comfortable doesn't come from latin tho it's a word from old french but it doens't have any latin origin. Roman borrowed words from other languages too. And btw some worsd can have latin roots but still be from a specific latin langage . The word "capitano" has latin roots but was invented by itlians and was later used in other latin languages. There are a lot of words like this.

[@user-ue9jq6fp9b]

I'm surprised the French girl didn't get Colonel because it's French "Coronel"

[@danemon8423]

@@user-ue9jq6fp9b it's also colonel in french

[@michealrosen]

zucchini is American English, everywhere else it's courgette, same as Americans call bell peppers, instead of capsicums

[@jacky64]

The French girl is so funny i love her

[@the98themperoroftheholybri33]

In the UK we call Zucchini "Courgette" too, Zucchini is an American word for them

[@AvioftheSand]

Probably. I know, as an American studying Italian, they also call it Zucchini.

[@angeldude101]

From what I can tell, it's an Italian word that the Americans stole.

[@the98themperoroftheholybri33]

@@angeldude101 I've heard that's also why Americans say Oregano the way they do, Italian immigrants brought the Italian pronunciation and Americans bastardised it, British pronunciation of Oregano developed more naturally which is why it's completely different to the Italian pronunciation

[@angeldude101]

@@the98themperoroftheholybri33 From what I can tell, the American pronunciation of "oregano" (which was the only version I knew of before now) was actually borrowed from (Mexican?) Spanish rather than Italian, which seems to have referred to a different plant. The Spanish pronunciation appears to have the same stress pattern as the American pronunciation. _Then_ it was bastardized to make the vowel sounds better align with English orthography and phonology.

[@ktrayan1]

The French girl sounds a little bit Chinese in that she doesn’t (or can’t?) say the ‘th’ sounds in English. I love hearing these! Who cares how they pronounce them since they’re all understandable in their second language!! ❤❤

[@jakemonkey7]

If anyone feels like they're struggling with English pronunciations, it can help to remember that English is the combination of a couple of different languages German and French being the closest modern laguages (English being a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Norman French languages with some Gaelic and Norse mixed in)

[@MrTangent]

You’re correct, but Dutch is actually closer to English. Frisian is even closer, but not many people speak it. Also, we have a ton of Latin in the language, in addition to those you mentioned.

[@elderblackdragon]

Now let's add the twist that a LOT of regional American English words have been heavily influenced by the local Native language. Many of the odder place names are often the agreed upon English spelling of some local Native American language word for the area.

[@shawnv123]

there’s like no gaelic in english at all

[@Argentvs]

Zucchini is also in latinamerica. Only Spaniards say calabacín. Zucchini is a green pumpkin variety breed in Italy, that is why has an Italian name.

[@okhti_dov3424]

Not only Spaniards tho cause Im Mexican and we say Calabasa (then again we call any squash Calabasa)

[@Argentvs]

@@okhti_dov3424 we call calabaza only the orange ones and medium size. Big are zapallos.

[@okhti_dov3424]

@@Argentvs interesting 🤔

[@asmodevsluxuria]

En Colombia también se usa calabacín

[@cervecero6466]

Solo en argentina

[@cjkim2147]

Good to see Pflugerville, didn't expect that place to come up. lol I lived near Pflugerville LOL Maybe they should try pronouncing Korean last names, because I noticed all of these countries pronounce "eu" differently, and we use a lot of "eu" in our names, like Eunjin, Eunshil, Jeong-eun, etc.

[@Cillian-wwweeee]

Those aren’t Korean surnames

[@EdgarRenje]

6:48 That's basically sums up French 🤣

[@moonlitegram]

For refrigerator, I'd advise the ladies to just say "fridge". 99% of the time people just shorten it to fridge anyway. So I wouldn't fret about it too much. Saying the full word constantly will make you sound less native anyways.

[@MN-vz8qm]

In french, the full word is refrigerateur, but we often shorten it in frigo.

[@aldik_dj]

This is why I always say English is such a funny (weird) language 😂

[@PROVOCATEURSK]

They really put half German half Italian girl next to the French girl, daaaamn.

[@oceanchaos1]

This is the third video where Massachusetts is misspelled, which is surprising since the host is from there?!

[@hmvollbanane1259]

You can tell that Francesca is from the south of Germany by the way she pronounces Zucchini with a k sound (they do that with pretty much any ch sound so China become Kina, Chemie becomes Kemie), etc.. Here a bit further up we use the infamous German back of the mouth half-r hissing ch

[@gunterkastenfrosch698]

Für Zucchini ist die einzig korrekte Aussprache die mit k.

[@hmvollbanane1259]

@@gunterkastenfrosch698 dann komm mal ins Rheinland

[@juangutierrez4644]

me: i want to start to learn french my friend: how will you do it? me: 6:44 xD

[@HermanVonPetri]

Arkansas and Kansas both derive from the names given by the Native tribes for each other in the area, but interpreted differently by the early French and English speaking explorers of the time. Arkansas retained the more French pronunciation, while Kansas retained the English style pronunciation.

[@JosephOccenoBFH]

I lived in Kansas where they have the 'uhr-KAN-sas' river (emphasis on the second syllable) but when talking about the state, it's the regular pronunciation, AR-ken-saw.

[@MultiKswift]

Massachusetts is also a Native name.

[@MrTangent]

You misspelled Massachusetts in two different videos. Just a head’s up. Great series. Not trying to be a spelling nazi, but since this is kind of a learning channel someone might get confused. :)

[@nukeboy4939]

I want to learn French now.😁

[@goofygrandlouis6296]

I was actually too "distracted" to hear what Athalane was.. saying. 😋

[@nukeboy4939]

@@goofygrandlouis6296 👍

[@chadmote3466]

Pflugerville is a town outside of Austin where I live. It was founded by German immigrants like many towns in Central Texas, so the German girl nail the pronunciation correctly. There are even people who speak a form of German still in parts of Central Texas.

[@DamonKClark]

Pflugerville was a German settlement and still has some German speakers; specifically Texas German.

[@kmart1396]

I'm watching this back to back with the British English one that also has my home state at the end, y'all misspelled Massachusetts in the captions!! There is no E next to the U!

[@mahu5766]

The prettiest squad ever 🌹❤️

[@Gadavillers-Panoir]

Funnily enough 'mortgage' is actually of French origin. It meant 'dead pledge'.

[@bobbob22146]

yeah but now french people don't use that word anymore, we use "hypothèque" which is completely different. (it's the thing in monopoly right ?)

[@ARCtheCartoonMaster]

@@bobbob22146 Oh... I get it now. Yeah, it's like how Esperanto borrowed _knabo_ "boy" from German, even though German no longer uses _Knabe_ , instead using _Junge_ in modern speech. Or how Esperanto borrowed _geja_ "merry/cheery" from English, and... well, I don't think I have to explain that one.

[@xenotypos]

A lot of those words are from old French. Because the Normans.

[@danemon8423]

comfortable too

[@bobbob22146]

@@danemon8423 yes and there are lots of french word in English, 29% of English words have french origins :)

[@rsking6120]

Schenectady got me too, but these vids are always fun

[@ycplum7062]

Christina has a Northern, with a bit of Boston, accent while Francesca is closer to a Midwestern colloquial. For the record, I grew up in NYC and nearby Long Island with some time in Pittsburgh

[@IIIOOOUS]

Germany, France, Spain and back. That is how we used to drive to our holidays before planes become more popular and cheaper.

[@lelandunruh7896]

I live in Round Rock, which borders Pflugerville, and can confirm that plenty of native English speakers from other places mispronounce it the first time they say it, too!

[@permatsmark64]

English speakers thought that long words are complicated but not for spanish people. Long words are easier than to distinguish between dumb, dump, dun, dam, damp, damn, dang, than, den..

[@angeldude101]

Using short morphemes with only subtle vowel or consonant differences I think might be a property English inherited from the Germanic languages. The longer but phonologically simpler words tend to be of Greek or Latin origin.

[@kellylyn1986]

Cool to see Schenectady on here. I don't live to far from it. It's considered part of the capital region and is near Albany.

[@englishlessonswithsilviopa4139]

The word ‘comfortable’ is mostly now pronounced “KUMF-ter-bul” (/ˈkəmftərbəl/) even in American English since around the mid-1980s. The British pronunciation is similarly “KUMF-tuh-bul” (3 syllables). We recall the typical American pronunciation was “kum-FOR-ta-bul” (4 syllables) throughout the 1960s and ’70s - best enunciated by the actor Leonard Nemoy in many episodes of Star Trek as well as by President Richard Nixon. This change was once the subject of some scholarly discussion in linguistics back in the 1980s, if I recall correctly.

[@dealwolfstriked272]

The German girl saying most correctly shows how much English comes from Germanic language.

[@lauriazoldyck]

And the fact that both languages use a lot of common mouth muscles is also helping a lot

[@AllUpOns]

I think it also says a lot about the people. An absolutely massive portion of white America has German heritage. This is especially true in the midwest, which is where the "standard" American accent comes from.

[@journeyneverends_1]

Yeah Cristina is back! 😆

[@odetm267]

Yayayay I missed Christina

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

Me too, my friend

[@margefoyle6796]

These are not the most difficult words. But it was fun.

[@2000blackstang]

You should try Monticello, Cokato, Minnewawa.

[@fanofallaroundaudreyandjus544]

Hil I’m so glad that Christina is back. I love Christina.

[@gaetano.4230]

She is amazing girl and very funny

[@fanofallaroundaudreyandjus544]

@@gaetano.4230 Yes. Those are the reasons why I love Christina.

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

Me too, my friend

[@ChristinaDonnelly]

🥰❤

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

@@ChristinaDonnelly 🥰🥰🤗🤗

[@marayu8656]

Thank you.

[@JerryGs-Cards]

Being half German and half Italian myself, I adore Francesca. So sweet and cute. Although I bet she's one tough cookie if necessary.

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

🤗🤗👍👍

[@Hososugi]

"Mortgage" is interesting because a long time ago we didn't spell it with a 't', so it was written more like it sounds. But it comes from Old French mort+gaige meaning "dead pledge". Because it's such a big loan that it ends either once it's paid off or once the person dies. Lol. But they don't use this word in modern French.

[@bobbob22146]

We use "hypothèque" now which is completely different

[@nevfancy777]

Beautiful girls all over the world

[@Hailz-ik1uv]

I’m from Pflugerville!🤭 Never expected to see it, but I was told that it was named after a German immigrant Henry Pfluger and we even have a big celebration called Deutschen Pfest…It’s also a thing where we add a P to any F starting word😂

[@EdgarRenje]

Yeah, I thought it's probably German based when I saw it. Pflug is a plow.

[@AutoReport1]

Yes, one of the Texas German towns. There are still German speakers, all with their own individual dialects, but it's no longer being passed down. Czech migrants settled in the same areas.

[@joshuaphanisnaraine8381]

As someone who lives in Schenectady, that caught me way off guard 😂

[@canadianeh4792]

Mortgage is a french phrase that got adopted into english. It means death (mort) pact (gage).

[@dcngn_]

I think I've heard courgette in English too, but maybe BE?

[@matamoros6525]

Love to see them pronounce Sault Ste. Marie

[@seungtakho]

mortgage actually comes from two french words, morte and gage meaning dead pledge

[@loribach534]

Refrigerator - The "fridge" for short!

[@chrisfleming3078]

Schnectedy is hard. I'd say try doing some of the native language cities or geographic places. Like Skaneatlas or Scajacquada

[@MogAnarchy]

Doesn't mortgage come from French anyway? Mort meaning death? Death pledge, or death payment?

[@lisa1212ification]

Schenectady is in upstate NY

[@beyza-rp5jy]

First of all hi guys it's not about the topic but do you guys know a website that we can speaking with only our voice. I need to improve my english. Thank you so much 💗

[@alexhaplau-colan5414]

The French were educated by the Italians, who were educated by the ancient Greeks England was educated by the French, and England managed to educate everybody else

[@courtneybarton1320]

Schenectady is in up state New York and most people can’t pronounce it but when some one say Schoharie not sure I spelled it right, then there like oh I know it now

[@dmitrydmitry716]

was surprised to see "the most hardest")

[@oliverhuhn9889]

I love this videos. Always sad if they are already over. I vote for longer ones 🙂

[@jonathanross149]

There is written English and verbal English and sometimes they are loosely related.

[@BaronAnon]

Schenectady is basically Mohawk xD

[@kurtsnyder4752]

There was an actress with the name JoAnne Pflug. Said "floog".

[@jlpack62]

English, and often American English, can be really difficult to learn. There are so many influences from other languages and places that it makes having rules about pronunciation impossible.

[@dutchgamer842]

American English, is easier than British or Australian. Since most media is American and so people hear, while growing up. British and Australian less than American

[@jmaz0444]

@@dutchgamer842 agreed also going back on that American English is easier in general spelling wise and vocabulary wise, e.g in England we spell words from their old roots suck as leukaemia, paediatric, manoeuvre etc whereas in American English they simplify it leukemia, pediatric, maneuver etc

[@yanksrule4me]

Sticking with the Massachusetts vibe, so sad they didn’t do Worcester at the end. Even Americans often won’t get that one.

[@petitsjoujoux5011]

Happy to see Claudia back in the video!

[@daureenchavarriadiaz4854]

No, I prefer Andrea

[@Serenity_Dee]

How I (L1 American English) pronounce "comfortable" and "genuine" depends on the context. "Comfortable" in casual speech has three syllables, "comf-ter-bull", but if I'm emphasizing the word or speaking in my academic prestige register, it'll be four syllables. "Genuine" has a short "i" if it's not being emphasized, but a long "i" if I'm emphasizing the word or if my country accent comes out for a visit.

[@module79l28]

4:32 - Mortgage is "hipoteca" in Spanish, Claudia (just like in Portuguese). 😉

[@PierreMiniggio]

And "Hypothèque" in French :P

[@inotoni6148]

"Hypothek" in German

[@pierreabbat6157]

Hay aztecas, zapotecas, guatemaltecas, e hipotecas. The T is silent, just as in French «mort».

[@westclau]

Thank you!!

[@module79l28]

@@westclau - De nada! 🙂

[@Kyropinesis]

Pflugerville (FLOO-gur-vil) is a city in the Austin metro area, north of Austin, near Cedar Park and Round Rock

[@AtomicGarden1983]

Squirrel would have been a fun one…

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

Great video. I love your all videos. So useful and informative 🥰🥰🤗🤗

[@christophermichaelclarence6003]

Can't get my eyes off on the German Girl She's really pretty. She's my type

[@deutschmitpurple2918]

@@christophermichaelclarence6003 ❤❤😊😊

[@patrick6449]

@@deutschmitpurple2918 korrekter typ bist du🤝🏼

[@patrick6449]

@@christophermichaelclarence6003 I wished you a great and happy new year I still remember that 😂how is 2022 going for ya man? Ça va?

[@christophermichaelclarence6003]

@@patrick6449Je vais bien merci. I'm doing great but after seeing what's going on the World. I think I'm losing my mind 😆 Inflation. Climate change. War Ukraine.

[@audreymattson1347]

Mate, I’m American and I can’t even say Massachusetts correctly 💀

[@jmaz0444]

Did you just say mate😭 I’ve never heard an American say mate so casually since it’s mainly a Brit and Aussie thing

[@76Scutter]

I would LOVE to meet Athalane in person😍😍😍 Anyway possible???

[@bajikimran2304]

Why is it "Arkansas " and not "Kansas "? Because the French fur trappers who were the first Europeans to inhabit the area spelled it and pronounced it that way.

[@rayovalle9399]

En América decimos también refrigerador

[@humphreychannel582]

We call Zucchini, courgette in the uk

[@popvoid]

Hey, Christina. You're from Massachusetts. How about teaching whoever puts the videos together how to spell it?

[@GB-ek2em]

I largely prefer english accent to this odd american one. And I'm not english, but french!

[@FlightpathPE]

As an American, I completely failed the last one

[@marioplaygames_47]

As a spanish I can't say "order" because I don't really know how to pronounce the r

[@buccaschie]

I'm from Washington state and had never heard of these cities before. Whenever I go to a different state I always mispronounce cities and towns names. That's pretty normal.

[@anndeecosita3586]

I’ve heard of the one in New York not the one in Texas. Also in the USA sometimes towns will have same spelling and different pronunciations

[@STOCKHOLM07]

Pflugerville isn't that bad. Try Nacogdoches.

[@breezyischeezy8634]

I'm also from WA. Try not to feel bad, imagine how out of state people feel trying to pronounce our cities and counties since they're all named after native American tribes/people/places 🤣

[@i-o-u1username708]

@@breezyischeezy8634 listening to people not from WA try and pronounce Puyallup always makes me laugh

[@brendantoungate8287]

As someone who grew up in a town right next to Pflugerville, seeing it included here was a pleasant surprise! And yes; it's pronunciation makes no sense at first glance, lol.

[@otakubancho6655]

Totally adorable!💖💖💖

[@Ahmed-rx5yx]

So brilliant ♥️♥️

[@completeddreams9853]

Lots of German immigrants in the US, so you will see cities Pflugerville, the German girl nailed it. Lots of Native America words in American English. Try Waxahachie or Yosemite(enemy) Truckee(OK).

[@videomailYT]

^^ they shared the same lipstick XD

[@benparker1822]

Yeah. A lot of American place names are tricky. Not only do you have plenty of names derived from Native American words/names (edit: Arkansas), but then you have regional dialect choices. So, you get two or three different ways to say Buena Vista, depending on which town it is in which state. Because of that, I don't think place names should count as part of 'the language' of American English.

[@raphaeldemo9966]

I think the word Comfortable can be pronounced they way they're saying it but also as it looks Com-Fort-able.... I grew in new York and the latter is how I say it

[@kurtsnyder4752]

That Millennium should be easy, the ship Han Solo flew in Star Wars, the Millennium Falcon.

[@Navyuncle]

I like these videos because of the eye candy.

[@jadorealissawhite-gluz5706]

You credited the wrong person in the description box. It’s not Lauren it’s Christina

[@georgeprchal3924]

Wait until they get to Forecastle, Boatswain, or Coxswain.

[@t0dd000]

Rural. - just difficult to say for many people. Colonel. Rendezvous.

[@Golfdad8356]

Genuine can rhyme with pine or mine. Both are acceptable in the US

[@thekrone1513]

The German Girls always pronounces it perfect and the American is always like yea not bad

[@thisisnotausernameXD]

Tbf, a lot of place names in the US are derived from native languages, so they will not make sense trying to pronounce them with English rules. But of course, there are colloquial ways of pronouncing them.

[@LittleSparrow17]

I’m from Texas and I didn’t know how to say that town, lol.

[@t0dd000]

Gen-you-wine is also correct, but less common. Zucchini ... it's interesting that it has an Italian name even though it came from the Americas.

[@kurtsnyder4752]

Genuine, you all said ONE way of saying it, I have heard another: Jen you wine. Guarantee as in to promise as in a warranty. Gare un tee, but "Down South" it's Ghar on tee.