Andy, you reminded me of a German exchange student we had one time. I think I'm right, correct me if this is wrong, a German native would pronounce Volkswagon as Volksvagon. My Weimeraner dogs would be Veimeraners. Wolfgang would be Volfgang. Well, this young man could not pronouce the W sound the way we Americans do - so he became a member of the drama team and participated in a play! They said he practiced for months on one line in a Neil Simon play - World War Two.

That sound is more difficult than most of us appreciate. When I first suspected I had MS, I told my doctor I had trouble saying, "Where were we?"

(I once worked with a man from Thailand who could not pronouce the r sound. Some of the men would send him to get "wire wound rod." which few of us could say.)

Also, in the above posts, notice that some Americans say "doubleya" or "doubleyew" and those in my part of the country say "dubya." I live near Louisville, Kentucky. We can always tell "foreigners" because the locals say Luahvull. Recently the newspeople were telling stories about the Pope - he called it Louis-ville.