The longest word in the United Kingdom

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndribwllllantysiliogogogoch 
This is the longest name in Great Britain

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This village boasts of one of the longest place names in the world.

LLAN (Church) FAIR (mary) PWLL (a hollow) GWYN (white) GYLL (Hazel) GOGER (near to)

Y (the) CHWYRN (Rapid) DROBWLL (whirlpool) LLAN (Church) TYSILIO ( Saints) GOGO (cave) GOCH (red)

In English is Mary's Church by the white hazel pool, near the fierce whirlpool with the church of Tysilio by the Red cave

This was around the time when the railway was built between Chester and Holyhead at the beginning of the 1850's. A local committee was put together to try and encourage trains, travellers and 19th century tourists to stop at the village in order to help develop the village as a commercial and tourist centre. It is believed that the name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch was invented by a cobbler from Menai Bridge, little did he know that he had implemented one of the most successful tourist marketing plans of all time! Today the village is signposted as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and is known to locals as Llanfairpwll or Llanfair. P.G.

llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch..

LLAN - To start off with, pronounce this section as you would do the Scottish word "clan".

Then listen to the sound recording above taking particular notice of how the "ll" is pronounced. It is difficult to explain in words and is more easily learnt by oral example, but we will have a go here anyway. Lie your tongue flat in your mouth so that the tip is firmly touching the bridge behind your front teeth. Keeping the tip of your tongue in place, try and touch your back teeth with the sides of your tongue - now breathe out forcing the air to run strongly over the back of your tongue. This will cause a vibrating noise near your back teeth. Again, keeping the tongue in position, gently change the shape of your tongue until the sound becomes more controlled. This is the "ll" sound you are looking for. Listen to the sound file above and keep on practicing.

FAIR - Simply pronounce this section as you would the english word "fire", (not like you would expect to pronounce the word "fair" in English!) and change the "f" for a "v".

PWLL - Now you have been practicing your "ll" sound this will be a little easier to explain. The "pw" section is pronounced like the "pu" in the English word "put". Now add the "ll" on the end as described above. Now listen to the sound file again!

GWYN - You may have heard the Welsh name "Gwyn", well this is pronounced in exactly the same way. Just say the English word "win" and put a "g" in front of it. (pronounce the "g" as you would in the word "gone"). Easy.

GYLL - This is a bit more tricky. First say the English word "gil" (as associated with fish!"). Then change the "l" (as in "let") to "ll" as explained above. Listen to the sound file again

GO - Looks easy doesn't it - it is! Pronounce it as you would the "go" in "gone"

GER - Simply say the word "care" but change the "c" for a "g".

YCH - Like the pronunciation of "ll", this is another tricky section to explain. Think of something you don't like and say "yuck". Now take the "y" from the beginning to leave "uck". Now change the "ck" to "ch" as pronounced in the Scottish word "loch".

WYRN - This looks more complicated that it is. Just say the English word "win".

DROB - First say the English word "draw" and then add a "b" on the end. Easy.

WLL - You've learnt this already. It's pronounced the same as "pwll" above but without the "p".

LLAN - Again, this is exactly the same as the "llan" at the beginning of this section.

TY - Simply pronounce this section as you would the "t" in "twig".

SILIO - Just say "silly - o". The "o" is pronounced as in "cot".

GO - As above.

GO - As above.

GOCH - We're almost there. Simply say "go" as above, put the "ch" after it and that's it! Put it all together and keep on practicing. Now there is only one question remaining ....