Thank you, twits!

I seem to remember Bill Clinton carried on saying "EYE-rack" all the way through his Presidency. Virtually everyone in this country pronouces Pinochet "Pin O'Shea". And it's natural for Americans to put the stress on words where Englishmen don't, and vice versa (although for some bizarre reason Englishmen are increasingly favouring American pronunciations).

So what?

The point of this is that a serious story about Burma has been turned into a silly story about President Bush. The real question here ought to be who leaked the version of the speech that was meant to make Bush look foolish. And WHY?

Oliver McCarthy, London,

The reason George has so much trouble pronouncing awkward names, particularly the shorter ones, is because he, like most Americans, ignore the basic rule of English pronunciation that the accent should be placed on the penultimate syllable. Of course it is doubtful if he would understand the meaning of a penultimate syllable!

Rob Kittle, London, England

Alright, I could possibly understand the need for pronunciation aides for obscure names of cities or leaders that a president might not need to know or reference very often. I could also understand if the word was over twenty characters long. But he needs help with Sarkozy?!?!? The now famous French president and newfound ally about whom Bush undoubtedly often hears about and deals with? With a short and phonetic name like that it is unbelievable that he would need help. The same goes for Mugabe and Harare. They are all pronounced exactly how they look. What a sad revelation that the man in charge of leading this country and shaping the world needs help with such a thing. This does not bode well for more intellectually demanding tasks like, say... diplomacy... or national reconciliation... or non-proliferation.

Rick, Santa Cruz, United States/CA

I don't have a problem with President Bush needing assistance to properly pronounce words that for him are difficult. I am actually happy to finally see this cocky man admit his short comings and take measures to address them. I am far more inflamed that the US delegation left the room when the President of Iran rose to speak. How petty and childish are our "leaders". Hang in there america (and the world). January 20, 2009 is just around the corner.

Darren D, Miramar, FL

Why hasn't "NU-Klee-ur" been on his pronunciation guide?
Deb S, Scotch Plains, NJ

Deborah Smith, Scotch Plains, NJ

I wonder if he can pronounce:
Imm-pea-ra-liz-um (imperialism)

sanzler, ny, usa

It's hard to believe he has an Ivy League education. How embarrasing is this?

Randy S, Lawton, OK

I battle constant stuttering-- I would much rather people mock what I have to say, not how I say it, and not the techniques I use to overcome my stuttering. We can all agree President Bush has done well to overcome his verbal dyslexia and even capitalize on it at times. Waging such attacks on Bush is like mocking FDR's disability to walk. Bush has done enough to lose international respect without (overly) butchering other leaders' names/countries. Please, by all means, let him use the pronunciation guides! I don't want a mispronunciation by Bush to lead to another country's "nucular" option!!!

Jeremy, Laguna Hills, CA

Makes me proud to be an Amurican.

JeffC, Memphis, USA

Those pronunciations were useful to me, but that doesn't mean I want to know that my president needs to have these phonetic pronunciations. Shouldn't he be familiar with these names?

Sarah, San Benito,

But who can teach the President not to mix up the Australians with Austrians as he did recently?

SM Hussain, Hyderabad, India