pronouncing of foreign names

[balakrishnanijk]

What is native speakers' approach to pronouncing the names of foreign people and places?
I have heard that only people in academic circles pronounce them correctly and the man in the street pronounces them however they like. Is there any truth in it? After all, if you want to pronounce them correctly, you ought to hear them pronounced by a competent authority...

[5jj]

We tend to copy the pronunciation we first hear - sometimes from the people themselves, sometimes from people who know them, and sometimes from news broadcasts. If we see them in print before we have heard them, we just do the best we can.

[Barb_D]

If we see them in print before we have heard them, we just do the best we can.

Right. If I saw someone's name ended in -aux, I'd start with "oh" not "ox" under the assumption it's French. Whoever told you that the "man on the street" pronounces it "however" was being rather condescending. Besides, an academic who studied French literature might never miss on Thierriault, but completely mess up Prabhakar. .