Italian Pronunciation: Cities

Hello dear hearts. I've been getting a lot of queries lately about how to pronounce the names of Italian cities - so, without further ado, let's pronounce them correctly!

 As explained in previous pronunciation guides, my pronunciation spelling overcompensates for the American pronunciation of the letter "e."

 Rome = Roma = ROAM-ah

Milan = Milano = meal-AH-no

Venice = Venezia = vain-AITZ-ya

Padua = Padova = PAH-dove-ah

Naples = Napoli = NAH-pole-ee

Bologna = Bologna = bowl-OWN-ya

Florence = Firenze = fear-ENZ-ay

Sicily = Sicilia = see-TCHEEL-ya

Turin = Torino = tor-EEN-oh (Olympics flashbacks)

Assisi = Assisi = ahs-SEE-see

Capri = Capri = COP-ree (Yes. Really.)

Ischia = Ischia = EESS-kya

Cinque Terre = TCHEEN-quay TAIR-ay

And, as an added bonus, other places we know and love:

Paris = Parigi = Pahr-EE-gee

London = Londra = LOANED-rah

Nice = Nizza = rhymes with pizza

Barcelona = Barcelona = Bahr-tchail-OWN-ah

 United States = gli Stati Uniti = let me just say something here about "gli." It is the WORST SOUND EVER to try to pronounce if Italian is not your native language. The closest I can come to is this: make your tongue go into position like you're going to say "yes." Keep it in that position, but instead say, "lee." I know. It sucks.

 Anyway. Just say, "America" and you'll be fine.