Aaarrrggghh! How hard is it to pronounce it right...

[andyjeffries]

I was just listening to an interview (not in depth) with Aaron Cook on the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/xc3w1/ - forward to 49mins and 40 seconds) and throughout the interview everyone pronounces it as Tie/Thai Kwon Do (to be fair, I don't remember hearing Aaron pronouncing it wrong, but if everyone around him does...).

This really is my number one peeve...if you can spend years learning and practicing the movements, how frickin' hard it is to learn to pronounce the name properly!!

For reference here is what I believe to be the correct pronunciation:

http://www.forvo.com/word/%ED%83%9C%EA%B6%8C%EB%8F%84_taekwondo/

Sorry, just had to vent...

 

[crushing]

That's why I pronounce it Korean Kerrotay.

:angel:

 

[miguksaram]

Based on the Korean hangul used it should be pronounced Ta ('a' sound = pat) kwon ('o' sound = on) do ('o' sound = toe)

 

[andyjeffries]

Based on the Korean hangul used it should be pronounced Ta ('a' sound = pat) kwon ('o' sound = on) do ('o' sound = toe)

Yep

The advantage of that link I posted is it has it audio of it being pronounced by two native Koreans (and someone else that has correct pronunciation).

Never mind, in England most lay-people pronounce the last syllable as doo...

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Based on the Korean hangul used it should be pronounced Ta ('a' sound = pat) kwon ('o' sound = on) do ('o' sound = toe)

What he said.

Daniel

 

[Steve]

Considering the variations in pronunciation between the UK and the USA on... just about every single word in the language, I can't get too worked up about a word that is foreign to begin with. Heck, even within America, getting someone from New York, Boston, Tennessee and Seattle to say a word the same way would be a real accomplishment.

 

[Lord-Humongous]

Never mind, in England most lay-people pronounce the last syllable as doo...

Hahaha, so true. My wife's cousin keeps asking me about Taekwon Doo, he lives just north of London. I thought he was patronizing me at first, then I figured he was one of the few Englishmen who hadn't mastered the language. Now I know otherwise.

As an aside, he can't tell the difference between my "accent" (I am Canadian) and a Texan twang. Says it's all the same to him. The word that he picks up on is hot. Sounds to him like I am saying hawt.

 

[mango.man]

For some reason I am reminded of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS1oJJdxG70

 

[granfire]

That's why I pronounce it Korean Kerrotay.

:angel:

Pft, it's Karadee!

 

[Tez3]

Considering the variations in pronunciation between the UK and the USA on... just about every single word in the language, I can't get too worked up about a word that is foreign to begin with. Heck, even within America, getting someone from New York, Boston, Tennessee and Seattle to say a word the same way would be a real accomplishment.

In the UK we have differences in how we pronounce the most simple English words so foreign words don't stand a chance.
I'm from the south of England I say bus with the bus said as you would in bust, my other half is Yorkshire so it's a 'boos', 'right' is 'reet' to him and 'water' is said as 'wah-ter'. So TKD can be said in one of many accents!

I can tell the difference between American and Canadian accents but I have got an ear for accents, I enjoy people using them.

 

[Blindside]

For reference here is what I believe to be the correct pronunciation:

http://www.forvo.com/word/태권도_taekwondo/

Sorry, just had to vent...

I listened to those several times and well, they both sound like "tie" to me.

 

[Steve]

In the UK we have differences in how we pronounce the most simple English words so foreign words don't stand a chance.
I'm from the south of England I say bus with the bus said as you would in bust, my other half is Yorkshire so it's a 'boos', 'right' is 'reet' to him and 'water' is said as 'wah-ter'. So TKD can be said in one of many accents!

I can tell the difference between American and Canadian accents but I have got an ear for accents, I enjoy people using them.

I don't have an accent. Everyone else does.

Seriously, though, I think I'm what you'd call generic American. If anything closer to how a Western Canadian would sound than my Texan upbringing would suggest.

 

[Tez3]

I don't have an accent. Everyone else does.

Seriously, though, I think I'm what you'd call generic American. If anything closer to how a Western Canadian would sound than my Texan upbringing would suggest.

I bet there's individual words that give you away every so often though

I think there's no point in worrying how people pronounce martial arts words. The Koreans don't all speak with the same accent so even if you learn from a native speaker you won't pronounce something 'perfectly'. Well you can see the difference if I and my other half both werre to teach English to Koreans they'd end up pronouncing words differently, get a Scotsman to teach another Korean you get something else and so on. As long as we get the words as close as we can there's no point in getting uptight about it.