mizapf

I already had to learn that my name, which is a really common German name as first and last name, proves to be a challenge to pronounce, in particular for English speaking people.

Michael = /'mɪ.ça.Ɂεl/

Zapf = /t͡sap͡f/

Despite the same writing, the pronunciation is very different from English. We only agree on the "m" and the "el".

In real life situations with English speaking people, I usually accept my name being pronounced in English. However, I cannot offer a "simple" way to pronounce my last name.

Well then, Michael is a three-syllable word in German, like Mi-cha-el, stressed on "Mi". The German i is like i in "hit" (short) or in "bee" (long), never like i in "high". The ch is pronounced as a voiceless palatal fricative; Greek people know it from "chi" (χ). In English, the sound that comes pretty close is the one when you (loudly) whisper "huge", right at the beginning. You can also try to say "eeee", freeze your mouth, stop your vocal chords, and blow air over your tongue.

The Ɂ is a glottal stop, like in "uh-oh" /Ɂʌ.Ɂou/, but can be left out when you speak faster.

German z is always a "ts", both letters spoken seamlessly one after another, just like in "pizza" or in "hits". It is never a voiced sound like in English "zoo" (which we also have in German as "Zoo", /t͡so:/).

German a is always like a in "father" or "hard", never like a in "bad" or a in "made".

The pf is a pretty common digraph in German that often appears where you have a single p in English. As you may have trouble to imagine that people struggle to say a proper "th" in English, the same holds for us when it comes to "pf" in German. You could try to say a "p" but change your mind and say "f" instead. Or you simulate a high-pressure valve that suddenly blows out. Or try saying "hopeful", then drop the "ho", and then the "ul".