Pretty city that’s been named the hardest in the world to pronounce correctly
It’s not unusual for foreign cities to leave British travellers baffled with their pronounciations, but one city which has been named the world’s hardest to say correctly might surprise travellers who are probably unaware they’ve been getting it wrong for years.
Rio de Janeiro in Brazil has been branded the trickiest city name to pronounce in the world despite its relatively simple name, with word experts claiming it is in fact pronounced ree-oh dey zhuh-nair-oh, rather than the more common ree-o de janero often said by native English speakers.
The Brazilian city received the acolade as part of research by Word Tips, a word game website, which looked at the most commonly mispronounced cities in each country.
Its research found other commonly mispronounced cities included Sarajevo (correctly pronounced sa·ruh·yay·vow), Tokyo (correctly pronounced tou-kyou) and Medellin (correctly pronounced meh·duh·leen).
Revealing the top placed city, a spokesman for Word Tips said: “Taking the top spot was Rio de Janeiro. As Portuguese is a notoriously tricky language to get right, especially as pronunciation varies throughout the different regions in Brazil.
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“It’s no wonder so many people have needed help along the way.
“Much like learning a language, the trick to mastering the correct pronunciation of city names is to decipher each syllable.”
Brazil’s second most-populous city is a favourite with tourists for its sun-drenched beaches, samba beats and football mad folk with four of the country’s biggest teams Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo and Vasco da Gama based in the city.
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Some of the city’s best-loved attractions include the Christ the Redeemer statue, Sugarloaf Mountain and Museu do Amanha, which translates as the museum of tomorrow.
The city is commonly mistaken to be the capital of Brazil, which is in fact Brasilia.
Those wishing to sample Rio de Janeiro for themselves can get a return flight from London for about £500.
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