Life's little victories

[dr_tectonic]

We went out for dinner tonight at Pho 120 and the waiter complimented me on my pronunciation when I ordered pho tai chin. Yay!
(Micro-review: great spring rolls, awesome noodle bowl, only okay pho.)

Comments

[bikerbearmark.livejournal.com]

<intrigued>So, just how does one pronounce pho tai chin properly?

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

Well, pho is basically "fuh".
tai is just like it's spelled, except the T is unaspirated.
And chin is halfway between "chin" and "cheen".

I think. That's what I've picked up about the pronunciation and how I think of it when I'm saying it; how it actually comes out and what the bearing is on the real pronunciation is another question entirely.

Really, it's probably not that my pronunciation was good, just that it was a lot less bad than the average Coloradan. (Several of the students in my high-school German class spoke it with the most god-awful twang you've ever heard.)