Sheng Shway

The late-night English-language news anchor for TVB Pearl is a decent enough presenter, but he has problems pronouncing Chinese names.

As a North American native, probably from the United States judging by his accent, he hasn't been taught any Cantonese. I heard him trip over the pronunciation of the district of Sheung Shui not once, but twice.

First he pronounced it Sheng Shway, with a short "e", as in the word bed. Then he said it as Shung Shooey, this time with a short "u", as in the word hung. In both cases he used a hard "sh".

In comparison, the closest approximate English-language sound to the "eung" ending in Cantonese is the "ea" in the word (l)ea(rn). The "ui" in Shui closely matches the French word deuil. The "h" in "sh" is soft. This presenter was nowhere close to any of those.

Don't even get me started on how he mangled the Mandarin-language name of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

I'm not a Cantonese expert, but I make an effort at correct pronuciation. I'm not perfect all the time; Cantonese isn't my mother-tongue.

This is a news program. Doesn't anyone at TVB care enough to take the young man aside and coach him? He might appreciate the opportunity to be more professional.

Does TVB think the English-speaking audience is dense and won't pick up the gaffes?

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