stumble over sounds that don't exist in American English

I had a lot of trouble with this when living in the Netherlands and am still unable to correctly pronounce my wife or mother-in-law's names after 8 years, damn Dutch Gs.

After lots of practice (I lived there for two years), I can pronounce most of the words in Icelandic, a Germanic language considered close to English. I had to learn to say and hear sounds that do not exist in English (lots of asperated consonants). I can't speak the language (the grammar is a bitch) but I can pronounce it, and you are saying Reykjavik wrong from the locals perspective, but they say folks from Hofn (Hup) on East Iceland say it wrong too.

I say rek-ya-veek, not rek-ya-vik because all of the sounds exist in English (and it is closer to the original). I can give it an Icelandic pronunciation, but it doesn't sound right in English. And English is the language I'm speaking. (I do like the soft versus hard TH in Icelandic - then versus thin - Middle English had something comparable).

On a related note, a pet peeve of mine in the 80s was hearing American news anchors pronounce Nicaragua with a faux-Spanish accent

Fake?

I wonder if it's not just that they were trying to use the pro that Nicaraguans use, of courtesy.
(Snicker)

Things have come to a pretty pass,
Our romance is growing flat,
For you like this and the other
While I go for this and that.

Goodness knows what the end will be;
Oh, I don't know where I'm at...
It looks as if we two will never be one,
Something must be done.

You say either and I say eyether,
You say neither and I say nyther;
Either, eyether, neether, nyther,
Let's call the whole thing off!

You like potato and I like potaeto,
You like tomato and I like tomaeto;
Potato, potaeto, tomato, tomaeto!
Let's call the whole thing off!

But oh! If we call the whole thing off,
Then we must part.
And oh! If we ever part,
Then that might break my heart!

So, if you like pajamas and I like pajahmas,
I'll wear pajamas and give up pajahmas.
For we know we need each other,
So we better call the calling off off.
Let's call the whole thing off!

You say laughter and I say lawfter,
You say after and I say awfter;
Laughter, lawfter, after, awfter,
Let's call the whole thing off!

You like vanilla and I like vanella,
You, say parilla and I say parella;
Vanilla, vanella, Chocolate, strawberry!

So, if you go for oysters and I go for orsters
I'll order oysters and cancel the orsters.
For we know we need each other,
So we better call the calling off off!

Also sometimes you can't even defer to the family member. We had a child whose last name was Dubois. Her mother said pronounced it Doo-boy-z and her father Doo-bwa and the child didn't care either way.

And there are also US regional differences. Shoot my father's mother was a Bach in Eastern Kentucky, but nobody in Eastern Kentucky use the rhymes with rock pronunciation-they all pronounced it like back.

Por favor.