10 Words You're Definitely Mispronouncing in 5 Languages
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10 Words You're Definitely Mispronouncing in 5 Languages
You've ordered bruschetta a hundred times. You've talked about croissants at brunch. You've probably said "karate" today without thinking about it.
And you've been saying all of them wrong.
Don't worry — almost everyone does. English speakers absorb words from other languages constantly, but we almost never absorb the pronunciation that goes with them. We just guess. And we've been guessing wrong for so long that the wrong version feels right.
Here are 10 common words from 5 different languages that you're almost certainly mispronouncing — and exactly how they're supposed to sound.
Italian
1. Bruschetta
How you're saying it: broo-SHEH-tah
How it's actually said: broo-SKEH-tah
This is probably the single most mispronounced food word in the English-speaking world. The "ch" in Italian is always pronounced like a K. Always. There is no "sh" sound in Italian — that letter combination simply doesn't exist in the language.
So it's bruSKETta, not bruSHETta. Once you know this rule, you'll also correctly pronounce gnocchi (NYOH-kee), chianti (kee-AHN-tee), and Machiavelli (mah-kee-ah-VEL-lee).
One rule. Dozens of words fixed.
2. Gnocchi
How you're saying it: NOH-chee or guh-NOH-chee
How it's actually said: NYOH-kee
That "gn" at the beginning makes a sound that doesn't exist in English — it's similar to the "ny" in "canyon." And the "cch" follows the same rule as bruschetta: it's a hard K sound.
Most English speakers either try to pronounce the G separately or turn the whole thing into something unrecognizable. The reality is simpler than it looks: NYOH-kee. Two syllables.
French
3. Croissant
How you're saying it: kruh-SAHNT
How it's actually said: kwah-SOHN
Almost everything about the English pronunciation of this word is wrong. The "r" in French is produced in the back of the throat, not with the tongue. The "oi" makes a "wah" sound. And the final "nt" is completely silent — the word ends with a nasal vowel that has no English equivalent.
This is a perfect example of why French pronunciation trips up so many English speakers. The spelling gives you almost no clues about how the word sounds.
4. Niche
How you're saying it: NITCH
How it's actually said: NEESH
This French word has been so thoroughly anglicized that many dictionaries now accept both pronunciations. But the original French — and the version still used in British English — is NEESH, rhyming with "leash."
The "tch" sound doesn't even exist in French. If you want to sound like you know what you're talking about, NEESH is the way to go.
Spanish
5. Jalapeño
How you're saying it: jah-lah-PEE-no
How it's actually said: hah-lah-PEH-nyoh
The letter J in Spanish is never pronounced like the English J. It makes an H sound — always. So jalapeño starts with "hah," not "jah."
And that ñ at the end? It's not just a fancy N. It's a completely different letter that makes a "ny" sound, like in "canyon." Put it together: hah-lah-PEH-nyoh.
This single rule — J sounds like H in Spanish — also fixes "José" (hoh-SEH), "San José" (san hoh-SEH), and "mojito" (moh-HEE-toh).
6. Quinoa
How you're saying it: KEEN-oh-ah or kwin-OH-ah
How it's actually said: KEEN-wah
This word originally comes from Quechua, an indigenous language of South America, and entered English through Spanish. It's two syllables, not three: KEEN-wah. The "qu" makes a K sound, and the "oa" blends into "wah."
German
7. Volkswagen
How you're saying it: VOHLKS-wah-gen
How it's actually said: FOLK-svah-gen
Three things go wrong with this word in English. First, the "V" in German is pronounced like an F. Second, the "W" is pronounced like a V. And third, the final syllable is "gen" with a hard G, not "jen."
So "Volkswagen" literally sounds like "folks-vah-gen" — which makes sense, because it literally means "people's car" in German.
8. Porsche
How you're saying it: PORSH (one syllable)
How it's actually said: POR-shuh (two syllables)
This one drives car enthusiasts crazy. Porsche is not one syllable. The final "e" is pronounced — it's a soft "uh" sound. POR-shuh. The brand is named after Ferdinand Porsche, and in German, that final E is never silent.
Japanese
9. Karate
How you're saying it: kah-RAH-tee
How it's actually said: kah-RAH-teh
The difference is subtle but important. In Japanese, the final syllable is "teh," not "tee." Japanese vowels are always pronounced the same way — the "e" at the end of a word always sounds like the "e" in "bed," never like "ee."
This same rule applies to sake (SAH-keh, not SAH-kee), karaoke (kah-rah-OH-keh, not carry-OH-kee), and ramen (RAH-men, not RAY-men).
10. Karaoke
How you're saying it: carry-OH-kee
How it's actually said: kah-rah-OH-keh
This word has four syllables in Japanese, not three. And once again, that final "e" is "eh," not "ee." The word literally means "empty orchestra" — kara (empty) + oke (short for orchestra).
Most English speakers compress it into three syllables and change multiple vowel sounds. The Japanese original is rounder, more evenly paced: kah-rah-OH-keh.
Why Does This Keep Happening?
There's a simple reason English speakers mispronounce foreign words so consistently: English pronunciation rules are chaotic, and we project that chaos onto other languages.
In English, the letter "a" can sound like six different things depending on the word. The "ch" combination can sound like "ch" (church), "k" (chaos), or "sh" (chef). There's no consistency, so English speakers learn to guess — and when we encounter words from other languages, we keep guessing.
But here's the thing most people don't realize: most languages are far more consistent than English. Spanish is almost perfectly phonetic. Italian follows clear, reliable rules. German pronunciation is logical. Even French — despite its reputation — follows predictable patterns once you learn them.
The problem isn't that foreign words are hard to pronounce. It's that nobody shows you the rules.
When you learn a language with visual pronunciation guides — where you can literally see how every word is pronounced, right next to the word itself — these mistakes don't happen. You don't have to guess. You don't rely on hearing audio once and hoping you caught it. You see the pronunciation, you say it right, and it sticks from day one.
That's the difference between someone who's been saying "broo-SHEH-tah" for 20 years and someone who gets it right the first time.
Ready to Stop Guessing?
Whether it's Italian, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, or any of the 15+ languages we cover — our ebooks come with visual pronunciation guides on every single word. No guessing. No audio required. Just clear, visual pronunciation from A1 to C2.