webster(webster toys)

课程导读近年来，一名拥有十多年葡萄酒酿造经验的视频博主在YouTube越来越红，不过他如今日益高涨的人气不是因为葡萄酒，而是因为教英语这位名叫Julien Miquel的法国人已经

 

课程导读近年来，一名拥有十多年葡萄酒酿造经验的视频博主在YouTube越来越红，不过他如今日益高涨的人气不是因为葡萄酒，而是因为教英语这位名叫Julien Miquel的法国人已经录制了几万个短视频，教人们如何正确读出最难发音、最容易读错的英文单词。

大家为什么都喜欢向他咨询发音问题？为何连英文母语者也要向他这名法国人请教？

本篇课程首发于2023年11月14日文本难度：CSE8中英文对照版How to Pronounce the Trickiest English Words: Ask This Frenchman最难的英文单词都该怎么读：问问这位法国人

By Joe Pinsker①The next time youre googling how to correctly pronounce potable, cache, macabre or gnocchi, or gauging whether the U is silent in gauge, you can be assured of two things. Youre not the only one

wary of butchering words. And waiting near the top of your search results will be Julien Miquel.下次当你在谷歌上搜索如何正确发音“potable”（适于饮用的）、“cache”（储存空间）、“macabre”（恐怖的）或 “gnocchi”（用面粉或马铃薯做成的意大利团子），或者当你想判断“gauge”（测量仪）中的U是否不发音时，有两件事你可以放心。

首先，你并不是唯一一个担心发错音的人其次，在搜索结果的前列，朱利安·米奎尔（Julien Miquel）在等你②Miquel, age 43, makes short YouTube videos that sound out English words, much like many other online instructors. But his work in the genre 。

is distinguished by a curious feature: his conspicuously French accent.现年43岁的米奎尔和很多其他在线教育博主一样，制作YouTube短视频，教人们读英文单词，但他有一个与众不同的特点，让他在同行中

独具辨识度：他那明显的法语口音③Mon Dieu! Thats right—Americas go-to expert for English pronunciation is a Frenchman.。

天哪！你没看错——美国人去请教的英语发音专家是个法国人④He is now one of the most-watched makers of pronunciation videos in the world, according to YouTube. His videos have gotten 50 million views so far this year in the U.S. 。

Rightly or wrongly, people judge each other by their pronunciation, and Miquel has tapped into a widespread desire to avoid sounding like a fool or a philistine.

YouTube称，他现在是全球视频播放量最高的发音教程博主之一今年以来，他的视频在美国已经获得了5000万次观看不管对错，人们会根据发音来评判彼此，人们也普遍希望能避免说英语时，听起来像个傻瓜或是庸人，米奎尔正是。

抓住了人们的这一痛点⑤He has produced more than 40,000 of the brief, visually spare clips, including some 12,000 this year. One recent day, he 。

cranked out 31, for words such as submariner, distraught and bas-relief. 他已经制作了超过4万个内容简短、画面简洁的视频，其中今年制作的有大约1.2万个，在最近的一天里，他

很高产地制作了31个视频，内容包括“submariner”（潜水艇乘员）、“distraught”（心烦意乱的）和 “bas-relief”（浅浮雕）等词⑥Some of his most popular videos in the U.S. cover food terms such as Worcestershire and açaí. The insecure or the curious consult him to avoid verbal 。

flubs—and settle disputes.  在美国，他有一些最受欢迎的视频介绍了食品术语，如“Worcestershire”（此处指“伍斯特酱”）和“açaí”（巴西莓）缺乏安全感或者好奇的人会请教他，以避免口头。

错误，并解决争议生词好句1.be wary ofIf you are wary of something, you are cautious or careful about it because you think it might be dangerous or it might cause problems. 。

She is wary of strangers on the internet and doesnt share any personal information. 她对网上的陌生人很警惕，从不分享任何个人信息。

He was wary of investing in the stock market after his friend lost a lot of money. 在他的朋友亏了很多钱之后，他对投资股市持谨慎态度。

2.butcher 英 [ˈbʊtʃə] 美 [ˈbʊtʃər] v. to make mistakes or errors in speaking or writingDuring the speech, he butchered several words because he was so nervous. 

他演讲时太紧张了，说错了几个词She completely butchered my favorite song when she tried to sing it for me. 当她试图为我唱这首歌时，她彻底毁了我最喜欢的歌。

3.be distinguished byIf something is distinguished by something else, it means that feature or quality stands out and makes it special

. It shows how its different from other things. The opera singer was distinguished by her unique voice.

这位歌剧演唱家以其独特的嗓音而出名The pizza in this restaurant is distinguished by its thin and crispy base.这家餐馆的比萨饼以其薄而脆的饼皮而著称。

4.conspicuously 英 [kənˈspɪkjuəsli] 美 [kənˈspɪkjuəsli] adv. It means in a way thats very noticeable, easily seen, not hidden, not secret. 

Three cars with black windows were parked conspicuously outside his house house. 三辆黑色车窗的汽车停在他家门外，异常醒目。

We all arrived for the meeting, but the boss was conspicuously missing. 我们都来开会了，但老板显然不在5.rightly or wrongly。

It means something is true. It might not be fair or right or morally correct, but its a fact. Rightly or wrongly, he was promoted to national manager. 

不论是否合适，他都被提拔为全国总经理A lot of people believe, rightly or wrongly, that this is the best solution. 很多人相信，无论对错，这都是最好的解决方案。

6.tap intoIf you tap into something, you connect to it, you use it in a way that probably has good results. 

The company tapped into new markets by expanding its product range. 该公司通过扩大产品的范围开拓新市场She tapped into her creativity to solve the problem in a unique way.。

她利用自己的创造力以独特的方式解决了这个问题7.philistine 英 [ˈfɪlɪstaɪn] 美 [ˈfɪlɪstiːn] n. A philistine is a person who doesnt like beautiful art, music, literature and things like that, a person who doesnt really appreciate fine art things. 。

When it comes to movies, hes a philistine. He only likes action movies. 说到电影，他一窍不通他只喜欢动作片Many people disliked and criticized her paintings, but she just called them philistines.。

许多人不喜欢并批评她的画作，但她只当他们对艺术一窍不通8.spare 英 [speə] 美 [sper] adj. It means plain and simple without any fancy decoration. 。

The room had a very spare, simple design, very plain furniture. 这个房间的设计非常简洁，家具也很朴素Her very spare wardrobe contained just two pairs of blue jeans and ten white t-shirts, nothing more. 。

她空荡荡的衣柜里只有两条蓝色牛仔裤和十件白色t恤，没别的了9.crank outTo crank out means to produce something quickly and in large quantities. 。

The factory can crank out hundreds of thousands of toys in a single day. 这家工厂一天可以生产出几十万件玩具The author can crank out one full length detective novel every single month. 。

该作者每个月都能写出一部长篇侦探小说10.flub 英 [flʌb] 美 [flʌb] n. A flub is a mistake or an error, especially a mistake when youre speaking or performing something like a song or music in a concert. 。

The actor made a flub during the live performance. =The actor flubbed during the live performance.这位演员在现场表演中出现了失误。

英文原文How to Pronounce the Trickiest English Words: Ask This FrenchmanBy Joe Pinsker@The Wall Street Journal 

Oct. 30, 2023 10:00 am ETThe next time you’re googling how to correctly pronounce potable, cache, macabre or gnocchi, or gauging whether the U is silent in gauge, you can be assured of two things. You’re not the only one wary of butchering words. And waiting near the top of your search results will be Julien Miquel.

Miquel, age 43, makes short YouTube videos that sound out English words, much like many other online instructors. But his work in the genre is distinguished by a curious feature: his conspicuously French accent.

Mon Dieu! That’s right—America’s go-to expert for English pronunciation is a Frenchman.Miquel—pronounced mee-kell, per one of his videos—is a former winemaker who works from his studio outside the historic medieval center of Argelès-sur-Mer (ar-zhuh-less sir mair, Miquel recommends for an English speaker), a seaside town in southern France.

He is also now one of the most-watched makers of pronunciation videos in the world, according to YouTube. His videos have gotten 50 million views so far this year in the U.S. Rightly or wrongly, people judge each other by their pronunciation, and Miquel has tapped into a widespread desire to avoid sounding like a fool or a philistine.

“People are worried about being evaluated as not sufficiently cultured or worldly or wealthy,” said Nicole Holliday, a linguistics professor at Pomona College. If you bungle the pronunciation of something fancy, she said, “you’ve kind of exposed yourself as the proletariat.”

“Americans in particular are very insecure about French,” Holliday added, in part because of its association with sophistication. In that sense, Miquel’s accent is an asset.

Miquel started learning English in school at age 10, and speaks Spanish, Italian and, of course, French. He has a passion for language that began in childhood and continued during his career as a winemaker.

He made his first pronunciation videos in 2019, after years of hearing people stumble over the names of wines. He put out how-to-say videos for classics such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir as well as less-known (and trickier-to-pronounce) geographic designations such as Gevrey-Chambertin and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

“People have no idea how to pronounce them most of the time,” Miquel said. “Most of the village names in Burgundy have many struggling,” including Auxey-Duresses and Puligny-Montrachet.

When he saw how popular his early wine videos were, he ramped up his output and branched out to the many other phrases we massacre or struggle with, from Qatar and hygge to Chopin and General Tso (as in the popular Chinese American dish). Now, Miquel said, the videos generate more than half of his income.

He has produced more than 40,000 of the brief, visually spare clips, including some 12,000 this year. One recent day, he cranked out 31, for words such as submariner, distraught and bas-relief.

Some of his most popular videos in the U.S. cover food terms such as Worcestershire and açaí. The insecure or the curious consult him to avoid verbal flubs—and settle disputes. “My brother argues with me on the pronunciation, glad this helped me prove him wrong!” one commenter wrote under a Miquel video on how to say charcuterie. 

Other top Miquel videos give guidance on saying high-end European brands such as Louis Vuitton, Versace, and Hermès, which involves dropping that H and saying the S, for something like air-mess. (“So many say Her-mess. at least in US- thanks,” one commenter wrote.)

Miquel intends his videos for both lifelong English speakers and those learning the language, and his YouTube channel recently reached one million subscribers. There is a dependable audience for videos like his because the English language teems with unintuitive pronunciations. 

“English is so very inconsistent. We have omnipotent but omnipresent,” said Peter Sokolowski, the editor at large at the dictionary company Merriam-Webster. 

Much of the confusion, Sokolowski said, arises because the language has at different points in its history absorbed words from other tongues that had their own systems of spelling and phonetics, such as Latin and French. 

Those vexing inconsistencies are behind many of the most clicked-on audio pronunciations on Merriam-Webster’s website, Sokolowski said. The top look-ups include schadenfreude, quinoa, hegemony, homage and succinct.

Merriam-Webster has also compiled a list of words that people often mangle because they are typically encountered while reading rather than in conversation. It features the mischievous inchoate, debacle, and albeit. 

Miquel starts his day with a cup of coffee, drops his daughter off at school and rides on his scooter across town to his studio, where he starts work around 9 a.m.

He combs news sources and Google Trends search patterns to find words for his videos, and supplements those with others he comes across in daily life. He then researches a word’s pronunciation by consulting dictionaries and recordings of people using it in everyday speech.

There are stakes for our pronunciation misfires. Politicians get called out for messing up chutzpah, or for saying nucular instead of nuclear. During memorial services for Queen Elizabeth II in Edinburgh, some viewers said U.S. newscasters had the pronunciation of the city all wrong.

And on an episode of the game show “Jeopardy!” earlier this month, two contestants said something approximating the right response—Tenochtitlan—but were ruled to have pronounced the ancient Aztec city’s name incorrectly. J! Archive, a fan-run site, transcribed their responses as “Tenochitlan” and “Techno-cheech-lan.”

Apparently, the players missed Miquel’s 36-second video “How to Pronounce Tenochtitlan,” which had more than 100,000 views when the episode aired.

Previously, “Jeopardy!” dinged a contestant for saying sherbert instead of sherbet. “I’m from New York,” pleaded the player who spoke the name of the frozen dessert. “That’s how we say it.” 

Merriam-Webster’s Sokolowski himself occasionally discovers that even he has been mispronouncing a word, as happened to him with imprimatur and quotidian. But he wasn’t embarrassed. “If you work as a lexicographer, you have total humility before the English language,” he said.

One reliable category for Miquel is Irish names that defy English conventions. Head-scratchers such as Aoife, Niamh, and Caoimhe are in his 50 most-watched videos in the U.S. Siobhan, which popped up on the TV shows “Succession” (as “Shiv”) and “Mare of Easttown,” drew even more American interest. The only first name among those top 50 that beat out the Irish was one that Elon Musk gave to one of his children, X Æ A-12.

When Miquel makes videos for French words that English has adopted, he often provides both a faithful French pronunciation and a more English-friendly one. With brand names like Givenchy and Yves Saint Laurent, he explained, “Some people say, ‘Well, if I go to the store in the U.S. and pronounce it that way, nobody’s going to know what I’m talking about.”

He himself isn’t a purist about having Americans pronounce French words exactly as the French do. People in the U.S. needn’t go out of their way to pronounce croissant kwa-sahn, he said. Kruh-sahnt is just fine.

“I have nothing personally against it,” he said, “even as a Frenchman.” 

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