It was our carols by candlelight service, one of the largest gatherings of the year, the reader approached the lectern opened the Bible at Matthew 1, and confidently proclaimed: 

“This, is the gynaecology of Jesus the Messiah…”

As dyslexic working overseas in a country where most people are bi-lingual (as a minimum) we’ve had some funny moments in the Christmas services with the readings which contain a lot of words that don’t tend to come up in conversation the rest of the year. 

Below is a list of the pronunciations of these words which has proved helpful in preping our readers for Christmas services.

Quirinius  Kw - rin - ee - us.

Jesse  Jes-ee

Caesar   See-Zer 

Augustus Aw-guhs-tuhs

Census Sen-sus

Syria  See-re-uh 

Nazareth Naz-er-uhth 

Galilee Gal-ee-lee 

Judah Joo-duh

Manger Meyn-jer
(NB. Not the french pronunciation manger (to eat)…) 

Messiah  Mi-sahy-uh

Herod Hair-rod

Magi Mey-ji
(NB not Maggi (as in Maggi Mee)

Frankincense Fran-kin-sense
(It is not a monster brought to life by a mad doctor.)

Myrrh  Mur

Gabriel  Gay-bree-el

Genealogy Jee-nee-ol-uh-jee
(Quite different from ‘gynaecology’ though that is part of the Christmas story…)

All the names in Matthew 1…
Tbh just read it confidently and keep going…