How to pronounce city names

The single most useful idea in city names is the exonym: the English name a city is given that differs from what the people who live there call it. München becomes Munich, Praha becomes Prague, Wien becomes Vienna, al-Qāhirah becomes Cairo. Both names are real; the English name is simply the one used when speaking English, and it has its own pronunciation you are expected to know.

The pattern means two separate jobs: learning the English pronunciation of the exonym for everyday use, and learning the local name if you want to be accurate abroad. This guide covers the English forms — and marks where the two diverge so you are never caught out.

These three account for most everyday mispronunciations, and each has a single rule. Moscow is stressed on the first syllable and ends in -oh: MOS-koh. The temptation to stress the second syllable, “mos-KOW” to rhyme with “cow”, is the classic error. Prague is one syllable — PRAHG — with the vowel of “father”; the spelling -gue makes English speakers want to rhyme it with “vague”, which is wrong. Seoul is also one syllable, merely the word “soul”. Two-syllable “see-oul” is a marker of inexperience.

City names are placenames, and placenames keep the pronunciation of the language they came from plus whatever English has done to them since — usually both at once. Worcester is WUSS-ter because Anglo-Saxon co-existed with Norman French; Lisbon is LIZ-bun because Portuguese Lisboa passed through Mediterranean trade languages before settling. There is no rule that predicts these; they are learned individually, exactly like the names of people. The reliable method is the same one the names guide gives for people: hear the city name spoken aloud by the people who live there when accuracy matters, and by local news readers when it is the English form you need.

A useful distinction when travel plans are involved: the English name is for speaking English, the local name is for being there. Saying “München” in Munich will be appreciated; saying it in London is simply the wrong name for the same city. International media make this call constantly and so can you.

How to pronounce country names — the -stan countries and the other state names people stumble over. How to pronounce names — the same hear-it-first method applied to people. How to pronounce Arabic names — where Cairo, Mecca and Baghdad get their guttural sounds.

Read slowly first. Pronounce each syllable deliberately before trying to blend them at full speed. Rushing hides the vowel and consonant shapes your ear needs to learn.

Record yourself. Most phones have a voice memo app — record a word, then compare it to the playback here. Hearing the gap between your version and the model accent makes targeted practice far easier.

Focus on one accent. Jumping between American, British and Australian in the same session creates confusion. Pick the accent you encounter most and stick with it until the patterns feel natural.

Every word above is a button. Set the accent and voice you want on the main screen, then come back — the guides use whatever you chose. To hear two accents against each other, use Compare; to test whether you can actually hear a contrast, use the listening quiz.