Joining My Husband on a Business Trip to the U.S.

Next month, due to my husband’s business trip, my daughters and I will be going to the U.S. for about a week. Since we’ll be there, we’re planning to visit the Porsche Experience Center Los Angeles (PECLA).

What’s the Correct Way to Pronounce “Porsche”?

It suddenly got me wondering. In Japan, we clearly say “Porushe” (ポルシェ), but how do Americans pronounce it? If I get a chance to chat with locals and say something like, “We’re going to see the Porsche effect!”, how should I pronounce it so they understand?

By the way, my 4-year-old daughter can’t quite say Porsche properly and calls it “Pōshi,” but surely that’s not right (-_-)…

Then my husband showed me this video.

Its title is “How to pronounce Porsche.”

Surprisingly, Porsche officially uploaded a video on YouTube explaining the correct pronunciation of “Porsche.”

The YouTube description says this:

Have you ever wondered about the right way to pronounce Porsche? Or do you know someone who pronounces it in a wrong way? Be sure to let them know about this video.

Have you ever wanted to know the correct way to pronounce Porsche? Or do you know someone who pronounces it incorrectly? If so, please be sure to share this video with them.

Something like that?

Apparently, Many People Mispronounce It.

The fact that Porsche felt the need to upload a video about the correct pronunciation suggests that many people get it wrong. After some research, it seems English speakers often pronounce Porsche differently from the original (maybe on TV shows?), and in response, Porsche officially posted this video.

Andit’s been viewed over 1.6 million times!!
So, with a bit of excitement, I watched the video right away.

Let’s Watch the YouTube Video.

At first, this screen appears.

A man quietly says “Porsche” twice at normal speed.

Then he breaks it down into “Por” and “sche,” saying each part twice.

And that’s it.

…What!? That’s all!? It’s over already ( ﾟдﾟ )!?

The video is just 15 seconds long.

To sum it up, it sounds like “Porshuh.” It’s a sound between “pa” and “po,” like “Porshuh.” It’s probably a sound that doesn’t exist in Japanese.

But after listening over and over, I started to get confused about what exactly I was hearing. Reading the English comments, I saw the word “Parshuh,” so maybe “Parsha” is closer.

So I’m thinking I’ll try saying “Parsha” when I’m in the U.S. and see if it gets through (￣ー￣)

I’m not a returnee nor fluent in German, so I can’t explain it well—please check it out with your own ears (lol).

Here’s the video again.