Hoi,

Three people, all very active in Wiktionary, agreed that the pronunciation of names and places are quit different in the non local languages. Many wikipedias add how a place is written in the language where this name is local.

The three people pronounced a few words and, they have been added to commons. I have also been so bold to add these pronunciations to the wikipedias that have an article on these illustrious people; they are Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Silvio Berlusconi and George Walker Bush. I have added some famous Dutch politicians for good measure and, if you want me to pronounce Dutch words, you can always ask. I am aware that not everyone in a country pronounce things in the same way, but it is most often superior to what you make up if you see the characters that make up the name.

One request, please add those pronunciations of important people, places etc to Commons, there is no better way of learning how something is to be pronounced for someone who is not failiar with your language.

Thanks, GerardM