You can recognise a word on a menu, understand what it means and still hesitate when it is your turn to order.

Quinoa is one example. Worcestershire is another. Then there is Aoife, an Irish name whose pronunciation is much shorter than its spelling might suggest.

A TimesLIVE report describes an analysis of pronunciation-related searches in South Africa, using Google Trends and search-volume estimates from Ahrefs. Porsche, Shein and Worcestershire led the reported list.

Those searches reveal curiosity and uncertainty. They don't show how many people actually mispronounce a word.

Try These Out Loud

These simplified spellings are speaking aids. Capital letters indicate the syllable to emphasise, and accents can change the exact sound.

• Aoife: EE-fuh. Two syllables. The Irish name begins with the sound in “see”. 
• Huawei: WAH-way. The company used this English-friendly pronunciation in its own promotional pronunciation video. 
• Worcestershire: WUUS-tuh-shuh. In the British pronunciation, the first syllable has the short vowel in “put”. Trying to pronounce every written letter makes the word much harder. 
• Charcuterie: shah-KOO-tuh-ree. The emphasis falls on “KOO” in Cambridge’s British pronunciation. 
• Jalapeño: hal-uh-PAY-nyoh. Cambridge’s British pronunciation starts with an “h” sound and includes the “ny” sound near the end. 
• Quinoa: KEEN-wah. This is one accepted British pronunciation. Cambridge also lists another British form, showing that a word can have more than one recognised reading. 
• Spaghetti: spuh-GET-ee. The “h” is not pronounced separately. 
• Gnocchi: NYOK-ee. Start with “ny”, keeping the “n” and “y” sounds together. The written “g” is not pronounced separately
• Epitome: ih-PIT-uh-mee. Four syllables, with the emphasis on “PIT”. The ending sounds like “uh-mee”.

A Little Tongue Test

Read this sentence aloud, then check the sound guides above:

“Aoife ordered quinoa and gnocchi, while I searched for the Worcestershire sauce.”

Try it slowly first, then at your normal speaking pace.

Different Does Not Always Mean Wrong

Schedule is a useful example. Cambridge lists SHED-yool for British English and SKED-jool for American English. Both belong to established varieties of English. 

Dachshund also varies. Cambridge gives a British pronunciation approximately DAK-suhnd, alongside an American form closer to DAHKS-huund. 

Local speech has recognised variations too. The Dictionary of South African English provides audio recordings and lists the standard South African English pronunciation alongside common alternatives. 

Hear It Before You Say It

For an unfamiliar word, listen to a recording in the Cambridge pronunciation guide, then try it in a sentence. Separate British and American recordings help you hear the differences.

For a person’s name, ask how they pronounce it. A pronunciation guide is a useful starting point; the person can tell you their preference.

The Bottom Line

A different accent is not automatically a mistake. Before correcting someone, check whether their pronunciation is an accepted variation.

And when you are unsure yourself, listening once can be more helpful than staring at the spelling.