Comments on: Caen

By: Deb

Deb — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:41:07 +0000

thanks for this, we are off to visit Laon in a few weeks, staying near St Quentin and i have been searching for the pronunciation! One of the posters here has given it to me. I heard one online that said it was Lown (as in town)

By: Anglofille

Anglofille — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:25:45 +0000

Those are nothing compared to South West!

By: Jan

Jan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:49:16 +0000

I need to disagree with your South West Trains joke. Ever tried Southern (to Brighton / Gatwick) or First Capital Connect through Southall? That is an adventure!

By: Anglofille

Anglofille — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:03:28 +0000

Ahhh, so Caen and “quand” do sound alike! How can two words with such different spellings sound alike?! As for “ou” and “u,” I’d pronounce those exactly the same way.

By: Lulu

Lulu — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:02:27 +0000

Caen sounds like “quand” indeed. It’s called a diphtongue. It’s like Laon, which is basically pronounced like Caen, but with a “L”. Too funny!
I think I can always spot an English-speaker when they talk in French, because they never pronounce the letter “u” correctly. It always sounds like “ou”.
Anyway, have fun in Caen!