A Lughaidh, nó a chairde Francaigh eile (or anyone else that knows the answer).

Thosaigh m'iníon a post ag Ralph Lauren agus nuair a gcuir mé an ceist "cad é mar fógraítear Lauren?," nil fhios aice." Mar sin, silím go gcuir me an ceist agat, le do thoil. I took French in high school and seem to remember that French words normally get the emphasis on the last syllable, so I think the answer is "Law REN." It's slightly confusing here in the states because we have the woman's name Lauren, which is pronounced LAW ren.

Go raibh maith agat (agaibh)

Ralph Lauren adopted that name when he became a designer, he was born and raised in the Bronx. How he pronounces it is anyone's guess.

Ralph Lauren doesn't look like a French name (Laurent, with a t, would have been a French name: the french equivalent of Lawrence). Anyway, in French you would pronounce it "Ralf Loh-RENN". Of course the R's are these odd French r's, that English-speaking learners have difficulty to pronounce. But if it is of any comfort to you, just think how most French have difficulty to pronounce English with a proper accent ;-) .

Yes, the stress is always on the last syllable in French.

A Lughaidh, tá a fhios agam níl ag caint i nGaeilge, ach, could you tell me in French how one would say something along the lines of "good job, good for you, great accomplishment ..." A colleague of mine who is fluent in French has done a wonderful thing in regard to our Irish program at my work and I would like to congratulate her using French since I tell her things in Irish all the time, even given my "níl ach beagáin" and all that. Where I get my haircut, the owner is also fluent in French and this could work for her too. Who said we Americans are not bilingual?

Go raibh míle maith agat.

"good job, good for you, great accomplishment "

You can say "bravo; félicitations; tu as fait du bon travail; c'est super ce que tu as fait; bien joué", etc.

Pronunciation:

brah-VAW; fay-lee-see-tass-YON (with nasal o); tü ah fay dü bon (nasal) trah-vie"; say süh-pair suh kuh tü ah fay; byen (nasal e) zhway" .

ü is for German ü, french u... Finnish y. I hope you know what sound it is because it's hard to explain...

Ü - Gearmáinis. Déan do bhéal mar sin ba mhaith leat ag rá "u" den bhfocal f{OO}d as Bhéarla agus déan "e" den bhfocal f(ee)d ina áit.

Go raibh maith agat, a Lughaidh. Beidh mé ag scríobh na focail di. Beidh áthas uirthi.

Wow, I almost missed this thread that I started. That'll teach me to be away for a few days.

Lucy, go raibh maith agat as an eolas - an suimiúil!

A Lughaigh, thanks for the pronunciation advice, even if Lauren is not a French name. At least after studying French for five years, I remembered that the stress is on the last syllable.