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Does Barcelona have an “s” sound or a “th” sound? If you don’t call Edinburgh a “burg”, should you say “Bull” or “Bull”? Is Phuket’s first letter “f” or “p”?
These are pronunciation questions that many travelers have when visiting different places.
We’ve all experienced it. A new language in a new destination, or even different languages of the same language, such as Mexican Spanish and Castilian Spanish, can cause confusion and anxiety.
In a May survey conducted by Omio, 54% of 2,000 U.S. adults said they had stopped booking a trip because they were afraid of “getting it wrong.” It’s more than just a place name. 47% said they would avoid ordering food if they couldn’t pronounce it with confidence. Even domestic destinations like New York’s Skaneateles and Poughkeepsie can trip up travelers.
These concerns can also cause travelers to miss out, with 33% of respondents saying they are more likely to stick with destinations they know how to pronounce. One in five people said they felt traveling to destinations that were difficult to pronounce was more complicated and stressful.
However, many people want to expand their horizons, with research showing that 61% of travelers want to improve their pronunciation skills. To help remove language barriers for travelers, Omio recently collaborated with language expert and multilingual Alex Rawlings to develop a free pronunciation guide with audio spellings designed for English speakers.
“We put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect that we pronounce names and words that we’ve never heard in our lives, and of course we can’t pronounce them correctly,” Rawlings, who speaks more than 11 languages, told USA TODAY. “I really hope we can get back to being just a little bit more curious about each other and different places around the world and different languages and different languages.”
Social anxiety over mispronunciation
Taylor Beal has had a lot of trouble with pronunciation. She runs Traverse with Taylor, a travel blog about Europe that primarily covers Amsterdam and Scotland.
It is the latter destination that causes problems. Beal, who lives in Delaware, said that despite her deep knowledge of Scotland, she still gets “confused” by other online users about her pronunciation when sharing content about Scotland on social media.
“It’s like there’s different ways to pronounce it, right or wrong, and oh, you can’t be from there. I’m like, well, obviously I’m not from there. It doesn’t mean I don’t know this city or anything like that,” Beal said.
For many travelers, fear of mispronunciation is rooted in social anxiety. In the survey, 22% of American travelers said they were worried about sounding rude, 23% were afraid of being embarrassed, and 20% said they thought people would judge them.
Although Beer’s mispronunciation won’t keep him from continuing his trip to Europe, he admits he’s hesitant to mention the city’s name in conversation. “As Americans, I feel like we’re always trying to dismantle it,” she said. “I think some of me find myself thinking, “I know that’s not how you pronounce it.”
stay curious
Travelers use a variety of tools to overcome language barriers. Beer said she often Googles the pronunciation of place names and pays close attention to how locals say them, but even that varies from person to person and can be confusing.
The survey found that 39% of respondents use YouTube, and more than a third say they use AI tools and search engines.
Omio’s pronunciation guide is intended to be a starting point for hesitant travelers to build confidence. This will help you learn how to say eight of Europe’s most mispronounced destinations, including Reykjavik in Iceland and Gdańsk in Poland.
“I think steps like this pronunciation guide with Omio are really important to remind people that they should actually enjoy this,” Rowling said. “We can have fun, explore and share while respecting other cultures and languages.
Rawlings said the biggest challenge for many Americans is how different vowels are pronounced in other languages. He encouraged people to keep an open mind and accept that these words will never sound the same as they did back home. “But also remember that every time you make a mistake, you are one step closer to getting it right,” he said.
In the end, Rawlings said humility and curiosity go a long way. When locals see tourists trying hard to pronounce words in the host language, they are usually excited that the tourist is connecting with the culture of the place. Even if it’s imperfect.
