Are you pronouncing these company names correctly?

Hey, it's Hadar and this is the Accent's Way

and today we are going to talk about

how to pronounce the names of 10

of the largest tech companies in the world.

The reason why you want to learn

how to pronounce those names properly

is because you just want to be clear

and not to have to repeat yourself

when speaking to native speakers

because if they don't hear it the way

they're used to hearing it,

then they may not understand you.

And you want to be in a place of power

where you know that you pronounce things clearly

depending on who you are speaking with.

Let's get started.

Apple.

We begin with the a as in cat.

Drop your jaw, pull your lips to the sides

and push your tongue forward

so it doesn't sound like uh, upple,

but ah, ah.

Also make sure that you open your mouth

so it doesn't sound like eh, epple.

It's right there in-between.

Ah, ah.

The second syllable is pl.

A P sound, a reduced vowel, and the dark L.

For the dark L you really don't have

to bring the tip of the tongue

to touch the roof of the mouth.

You can just pull it in

and create that weird sound in the back.

Pl.

Pl.

If that's hard for you,

think as if you're adding an o sound,

a neutral o sound between the P and the L.

A-pol.

Pol.

Apple.

Amazon.

The first syllable is the a as in cat.

A as in apple,

and you already know how to pronounce that.

Ah.

That's the primary stress so it's going

to be longer, louder and higher in pitch

than the rest of the syllables.

The next syllable is muh, muh.

So, close your lips and then release it

to a very neutral vowel sound, uh, the schwa.

Muh, muh, muh.

A-muh.

A-muh.

So, these two vowels are not pronounced

the same way.

A-muh, right?

Even though they are both spelled with an A,

one is the a as in cat,

and the other one is a reduced vowel.

A-muh.

The last syllable is zaan.

It's a Z sound and then the O

is actually a back open aa sound.

Aa, as in office and job.

Zaa.

You close it with an N,

bring the tip of the tongue up

and make sure your lips are apart.

Zaan.

Zaan.

Amazon.

Not Ama-zon.

Then we have Alphabet,

which is the parent company of Google.

So let's talk about how to pronounce both of them.

Alphabet.

Guess what, we begin with the ah

as in cat here as well.

Ah.

But then we move on to the dark L.

Al.

Remember you don't have to lift

the tip of the tongue up

to touch the roof of the mouth,

you can just create a lot of tension

in the back of your mouth.

Al.

Al.

And then fuh, fuh.

An F sound and a schwa.

Al-fuh, fuh, all right?

It's not fah.

Don't open your mouth too much,

it's not al-fah, but al-fuh,

and then end it with bet.

Bet.

A B sound, the eh as in red,

and a T that is usually a held T

so you don't really release it,

you just stop your voice abruptly.

Al-fuh-bet.

However, if you do choose

to pronounce the T at the end,

al-fuh-bet, it's totally fine.

Then of course we have Google.

You start with a g sound,

then it's the oo as in food.

The oo sound is a long, beautiful,

kind of like transitional sound.

Why transitional?

'Cause you hear the sound forming up

as you pronounce it.

Think as if you're starting from a neutral position

until you pronounce an oo sound at the end.

u

You actually hear the back of the tongue

coming up, u,

and the lips going forward for the u sound.

You can also think of it

as if you're adding a W at the end.

Guw-gl.

Make sure it's a long vowel

and you don't pronounce it like google,

google, but double it up.

Goo, goo.

The next syllable is gl.

Gl.

A g sound, a schwa and the dark L

which actually takes over the schwa.

Gl.

Just like with apple,

google is pronounced the same.

Imagine like you have an o sound

right there in the middle

between the g and the dark L.

Gol.

Google.

Google it and see that I'm right.

Microsoft.

Again, three syllables.

The first syllable is mai.

Mai as in my company.

Mai.

Then the next syllable is kruh.

Kruh.

Connect that k sound and the R, kr,

round your lips and pull the tongue in

so it doesn't touch anything.

So it's not kruh, kruh.

Kuruh.

And then you release it to a neutral vowel,

the schwa.

Kruh, kruh.

Mai-kruh.

And then soft.

An s sound, the aa as in father,

and then ft at the end.

Microsoft.

Soft.

Wait, wait, just a sec.

I just want to point out something

before we continue.

Notice how whenever we have names

that have three syllables

and the first syllable has a pure vowel in it,

the middle syllable is usually reduced to a schwa.

Amazon.

Alphabet.

Microsoft.

Right?

So, I want you to pay attention to it

as you're listening to words

with three syllables, especially

when the first syllable

has a pure vowel in it.

Just something to pay attention to

to develop your awareness.

Okay, let's continue 'cause we still have a few

to go through and I know you are busy.

Samsung Technologies.

Samsung.

You begin with an s sound,

then the a as in cat, sam.

When the a sound appears before an M,

then the a is a little milder.

Consider it to be an eh sound

that doesn't really want to get to that a sound.

Saaam.

It's like it's doing you a favor.

Saaam, right?

Rather than sam.

Saaam.

And then the second syllable is saang.

Saang, like sing a song.

Saang.

Notice that I don't pronounce a g sound at the end,

even though it's spelled with a G,

but I'm pronouncing an NG,

which is basically an N

that is produced in the back of the throat.

Sam-saang.

Ng-ng-ng.

Saang.

And if you want to find out more about the NG,

check out my video How to Pronounce the NG Sound.

Samsung.

Huawei.

This is a Chinese company,

therefore the name is originally in Chinese.

In Chinese it's pronounced Huawei.

Huawei.

Actually this sound does exist

in American English and it's the WH sound

that some people pronounce as hwa,

like hwhy, hwhere, and hwhat.

Since most people pronounce the hwha sound,

the WH sound as the W,

same thing here.

Instead of saying huawei

you pronounce it as waa, waa-wei.

Waa, so it's a W sound, then the aa as in father,

waa, and then wei, as in no way

you pronounce it that way.

Waa-wei.

Waa-wei.

Facebook.

Now, this seems to be like a really simple name

to pronounce, especially since we use it

all of the time.

Facebook.

But there is a trick here

and let me explain.

The first syllable is rather simple

for most speakers to pronounce

and that is fei.

Ei as in day, fei.

Make sure you don't pronounce it as eh,

fes-book, but fei.

So, add a little j sound at the end.

Feis.

Feis.

Then we have the word book.

Book.

Notice that it's not buuk.

But bʊk.

The sound there, the vowel there

is somewhere between u and and a and o.

bʊk

Drop your jaw, relax your lips,

create a lot of space in the back of your mouth,

be really chill, and say it with me.

Book.

Book.

Facebook.

Facebook.

Adobe.

We begin with an uh sound.

So, it's a very small reduced vowel,

it's the schwa sound,

so don't open your mouth.

Uh, uh.

Then the second syllable is dow

as in don't do this.

Dow.

It's a d sound, then the ow as in go,

and since it's the primary stress,

you already know this,

it is longer, louder and higher in pitch, uh-dow.

And then you end it up with bee.

As in this is who I want to be.

A b sound and a high ee.

Adobe.

Adobe.

The next company is Salesforce.

The reason why this name may be challenging

for non-native speakers

is because of the two words

that have long vowels in them,

the rhythm of the word and the actual sounds

'cause we have both an L and an R in the word.

So, let's break it down.

The first word is sales.

Sales.

It's an s sound, then the ei as in day,

so make sure you have the j sound at the end

so it's not sels, sels,

but sei, sei.

Then the dark L.

Pull the tongue in, seil,

create that tension, you hear that dark sound,

seil-l-l.

That's the dark l,

you can even round the lips just a bit.

Seil.

Not if you're a Portuguese speaker.

For you bring the tip of the tongue up

to touch the upper palate.

Don't make it sound like a W.

Seils.

Then immediately we move on

to the next word or syllable,

and that is force.

Force.

The secret here is to make sure

that the vowel is pronounced clearly

before you bring the tongue up for the R.

Force.

The vowel is or as in four.

Four.

So, prounnce the or sound, round your lips,

keep the tongue down, four, count to three.

No, I'm kidding but keep it down

and only at the end, before you hit the S sound

then pronounce the R.

Fors, right?

The R is just a fragment of the word.

Don't let it take over.

So, it doesn't sound like furs.

Furs.

Salesfurs.

Salesforce.

So, you've got to control your tongue

and your articulation organs.

Sales-force.

Salesforce.

Okay, that's it.

I hope this was helpful.

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