20 Brisbane Places You’ve Been Saying Wrong – How to Say Them

A recent study by Preply, a language learning platform, has shown that even Brisbane’s most popular places can pose a challenge when it comes to pronunciation.

In a new report, Preply analyzed the most frequently mispronounced place names in and around Brisbane. It ranked them based on the pronunciation difficulty score (ranked from 100 being the most difficult to pronounce to 1 being the least difficult). This score evaluates various factors, such as undefined sounds in English, unusual stress patterns, and discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation.

The following list reveals the top 10 hardest-to-pronounce locations in Brisbane, along with the correct pronunciation and tips to say them correctly.

20 Most Mispronounced Brisbane Locations

Here are the 20 most mispronounced locations in and around Brisbane:

1. Woolloongabba – Incorrect: wool-on-ga-ba, Correct: woo-lun-gab-buh, Tip: Emphasize the first syllable: “WOO-lun-GAB-buh.”
2. Kangaroo Point – Incorrect: kang-ah-ro point, Correct: kang-guh-roo point, Tip: Stress on the first syllable: “KANG-guh-roo Point.”
3. Vulture Street – Incorrect: vul-ture street, Correct: vuhl-cher street, Tip: Stress on the first syllable: “VUL-cher Street.”
4. Indooroopilly – Incorrect: in-doro-pe-lee, Correct: in-dur-pil-lee, Tip: Emphasize both: “IN-dur-PIL-lee.”
5. Boundary Street – Incorrect: boun-dree street, Correct: bown-duh-ree street, Tip: Emphasize the first syllable: “BOWN-duh-ree Street.”
6. Toowong – Incorrect: to-wung, Correct: too-wong, Tip: Emphasize: “too-WONG.”
7. Turbot Street – Incorrect: tar-bot street, Correct: tuhr-bot street, Tip: Stress on the first syllable: “TUHR-bot Street.”
8. Taringa – Incorrect: tair-ing-gah, Correct: tuh-reen-guh, Tip: Stress on the second syllable: “tuh-REEN-guh.”
9. Lutwyche Road – Incorrect: lut-wy-che road, Correct: lut-wich road, Tip: Emphasize the first syllable: “LUT-wich Road.”
10. Wacol – Incorrect: wa-kol, Correct: way-kol, Tip: Stress on the first syllable: “WAY-kol.”
11. Chermside – Incorrect: cherm-side, Correct:  cherm-sid, Tip:  Stress on the first syllable: “CHERM-side.”
12. Jindalee – Incorrect: jin-duh-lee, Correct:  jin-duh-lay, Tip:  Emphasize: “jin-duh-LEE.”
13. Morningside – Incorrect: morn-ing-side, Correct: morn-inside, Tip:  Stress on the first syllable: “MORN-ing-side.”
14. Nundah – Incorrect: nun-duh, Correct:  nu-ndah, Tip:  Stress on the first syllable: “NUN-duh.”
15. Kedron – Incorrect: ked-run, Correct:  ked-ron, Tip:  Stress on the first syllable: “KED-run.”
16. Wavell Heights – Incorrect: way-vell heights, Correct:  wuh-vell heights, Tip:  Stress on the first syllable: “WAY-vell Heights.”
17. Wynnum – Incorrect: wyn-num, Correct: win-um, Tip: Stress on the first syllable: “WYN-num.”
18. Annerley – Incorrect: ann-er-lee, Correct: an-er-ley, Tip:  Stress on the first syllable: “ANN-er-lee.”
19. Mitchelton – Incorrect: mitch-el-ton, Correct: mit-shel-ton, Tip: Stress: “MITCH-el-ton.”
20. Bardon – Incorrect: bar-dun bar-don, Tip: Stress: “BAR-dun.”

It’s always good to learn the correct pronunciations of place names as a gesture of respect to the people who live there. Whether you’re planning a trip, or you simply want to improve your knowledge. This list of frequently mispronounced places will help anyone speak to Brisbane locals with confidence.

Preply can help conquer the most challenging pronunciations as a language learning platform. You can learn to speak like a local and enjoy Brisbane and its surroundings fully. 

Research Methodology

To establish this list, Preply evaluated the complexity of pronunciation based on several factors: the presence of undefined sounds in English, unusual stress patterns, rare sound combinations, discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation, word length, and the frequency of common mispronunciations.

About Preply

Preply is an online language learning marketplace connecting more than 32,000 tutors teaching 50 languages to hundreds of thousands of learners in 180 countries worldwide. With student-tutor matches suggested through a machine-learning algorithm, recommended tutors create customized lesson plans to suit the learner’s budget, schedule, and current knowledge.  Find out more at the Preply website.