March 26, 2012

How To Pronounce Those French Brand Names

As a French speaker, I have to admit to the occasional wince when watching beauty youtube videos. French is a difficult language to master, so the butchered pronunciation is not unexpected. However, names can be learned phonetically, so when I came across this set of videos from the lovely LifeInColors55, I thought they were perfect and deserved to be shared.

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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous28.3.12

    Wanted to give you a heads up Maggie that the videos must have been disabled by Youtube, if that's where you got them from (I've had the same issue lately when I try to embed a Youtube video into one of my posts), so we can't see them...and now you piqued my curiosity to hear them! PS: for us Montrealers, it's particularly hilarious watching our American neighbours mangle some of the pronunciations - not their fault, though!

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  2. Eugenia28.3.12

    Had to update my first comment: it seems that I inadvertently disabled something on my laptop and can't view any videos cause when I accessed your post on my desktop, they all work just fine! So ignore my previous stupidity, please!

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    1. Maggie31.3.12

      Lol, no worries! I'm just glad they seem to play ok. =)

      Being in a bilingual province does have the occasional advantages, doesn't it? For what it's worth, I'm sure I sound equally atrocious trying to pronounce Italian brand names. ;)

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  3. Anonymous30.3.12

    Great videos, thanks for sharing! I'm struggling to reproduce the exact French accent, but generally I can pronounce the names correctly. The problem is that when I go to the shops in the UK, the sales people look at me like I'm froma different planet!

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    1. Maggie31.3.12

      You're welcome! And sometimes when I shop in the States I get the same reaction, or people thinking I'm trying to be pretentious. On the other hand, I got a very nice compliment from a Lancome SA in NY the other month regarding my French. =)

      Eh, maybe it's a pet peeve, but I think it's basic respect to at least try to get the name right, much as you would a person's name.

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  4. Aayushi21.4.12

    How do you pronounce the brand name - estee lauder ? Is it a french name too?

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