I was amazed by the shape of croissant when I was a kid. My mom always bought me some every time she went to the bakery. I grow up loving it ever since and as clueless as I was I always say ‘kroy-ee-sun’ just how a normal Indonesian little kid would (it just how it made sense to me back then).
In middle school, my teacher made me do presentation about things I like and I say I like ‘kroy-ee-sun’. No no no, it’s ‘kreeh-sant’ my teacher said. Oh, alright sir it’s ‘kreeh-sant’.
I took Japanese as major, once I was talking to this Japanese girl in class, practicing my Japanese speaking skill. So, we were talking about (you guessed it) things that I like. “Watashi no sukina tabemono wa……” or in the common tongue “my favorite food is….” and I was taken aback for a bit. I remember my teacher taught me how to say it in perfect english *gulp* so I continued “Kuruusan desu”. She became silent, my lips are numb and hands shaking (just kidding). She replied “Eeh” just like those reactions on Japanese TV shows. “Kurusaan tte nandesuka?”
“OH NO!! That’s not how you say it in Japanese huh?” I said to myself. I did a quick google search and discover that japanese people say it “kurowasan” and turns out it is as near perfect as they Japanese tongue could to the real French pronunciation. From it we can conclude that asian try harder to properly pronounce croissant than American. Some ally they say.
Fool me one time shame on you, fool me two time shame on me. I went to Paris the city of love to learn the mastery of enunciating croissant (on google) and I learned that the way people in France say it is ‘k(r)owa-son(g)’. And then forward I have become the gatekeeper of saying ‘k(r)owa-son(g)’. Croissant, the right way.
I don’t know about you, but one thing for sure the 0.6$ croissant you can find in Indomaret taste better when microwaved. From now on, say it right! Croissant.
