English might be the most commonly used language on the internet, but that doesn’t mean that having a good knowledge of it will help you get through any situation. The English language has some tones that are very unkind to other languages, sometimes making foreign words hard to pronounce. This is especially amusing when talking about foods, since you’ll usually only read those names on a recipe. Let’s take a look at some of the hardest to pronounce foods for people that speak English as a native language.
Quinoa
This superfood is pronounced less weird than it’s written: keen-o-ah. If you’re not English, it’s just quinoa. We got this.
Tzatziki
Oh you Greeks. Ta-dzee-kee is what you should be saying here.
Paella
This lovely Spanish dish is pronounced pah-yeh-rah. Or something like that. “The rice thing with the shrimp” is also fine.
Bruschetta
In Italian, a “ch” will always be pronounced as a “k” so just say “brusketta” and you’re fine.
Tapenade
French words will always be pretty difficult for English speaking people since those two cultures don’t really have a history of getting along. Tapenade is pronounced tah-puh-nah-duh. Just say it quickly so it doesn’t sound too stupid.
Bouillabaisse
Another French word, and you’d probably be best off digging deep into YouTube to find a good pronunciation for this one if you don’t speak French. I doubt the phonetic writing will do anything but confuse you even more.
Gnocchi
The “gn” is pronounced as “ny” so this word probably comes close to something like “nyoh-kee”.
Coq Au Vin
Honestly, they’ll understand you perfectly fine if you say “chicken in wine” so why bother? It’s “cock oh vehn”. Sort of.
Charcuterie
Charcuterie, the name for all sorts of stuff you can eat with bread, is pronounced “shar-coo-ta-ree”.
Croissant
Crwa-sahnt. There is no other option here. It’s basically French heritage so at least try to say the word correctly.
Crème Brûlée
This amazing dessert is another one that won’t quite translate well to English phonetics so either back to YouTube or keep pronouncing it wrong!
Niçoise
I think the French just hate the English and decided their language shouldn’t be compatible in any way whatsoever. This salad is pronounced “nee-swaz”.
Jalapeno
This spicy pepper is really only easy to pronounce if you have no difficulty with Mexican or Spanish pronunciations. “Halapaynyo.”
