1.16.2009

how do you pronounce cai guo qiang?

Many of my readers want to know just one thing: how to pronounce the name of the genius who makes pictures with fireworks. They google this question from all over the globe and because of algorithms that I can't understand (or spell) they wind up right here at Claudia's Surf City. They don't seem interested in my witty prose, my fabulous photographs or anything else.
So here you go, art fans.
How do you pronounce Cai Guo Qiang?
Cai rhymes with sky with a ts sound at the beginning. In English the ts is sort of an impatient sound.
Guo would rhyme with more in a Brooklyn accent. Like gwoah.
Qiang is actually easy. Don't be thrown by the q, which is an aspirated ch. (Aspirated means you kind of force the air out through your top front teeth, aka incisors.) Sounds like: CHEE-ong (ong as in king kong).



Check this out on Chirbit


 Native speakers: Please feel free to correct this imperfect rendering.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear C,

Qiang is more like: Chi-an-ing

a native taiwanese speaker

Claudia said...

Tnx, Native Speaker (sounds like a racehorse, no?). You should really record the pronunciation on your computer and e-mail it to me).

Anonymous said...

i don't do the recording work, it is the ARTIST is doing recording. He falls in love with sound, and moving to the living room to sleep alone so he can be more focus.
c

Claudia said...

Oy, as us New York native speakers say. . .

Claudia said...

I made a recording of my version posted at

http://claudiassurfcity.blogspot.com/2010/12/how-do-you-pronounce-cai-guo-qiang.html