Do You Know How to Say Beijing?
I apparently don’t, but at least I’m not alone. I was just reading a story on Yahoo Sports about “NBC’s pronunciation conundrum in Beijing“ (August 15, 2008.) AP Journalist David Bauder writes about the pronunciation faux-pas of several American sports commentators as they report on the Olympic host city. The correct pronunciation is “Bay-jing” not “Bay-zhing”, which I’ve been saying. In other words, it’s just a regular old “j” as in jellybean, not “zh” like the middle of pleasure.
I’d like to say it’s my French training that’s getting in the way. Truth is, I picked up that lovely little French flourish to Beijing right here in the US. My apologies to the citizens of Beijing and Mandarin speakers everywhere. I just never knew.
In my continuing quest to learn Mandarin Chinese, I went back to the beginning (not very far back in my case!) to master the correct pronunciation of Beijing. Enjoy this fun little Chinese lesson by the “Two Chinese Characters” and you’ll master it, too! I love these guys . . . for the first time I don’t feel intimidated by this beautiful, but challenging language. Visit the Two Chinese Characters website to learn more.
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