How do You Pronounce Oaxaca?

If you're like me, it would drive you crazy to keep reading this blog, continually stumbling over a word like Oaxaca - unfamiliar and not at all intuitive as to how to pronounce. So let's settle this problem right off. It's wah-HAH-kah.

Oaxaca is the city in Mexico where we'll be living for 6 months.  The city is actually Oaxaca de Juarez and it is the capital of the state of Oaxaca.

The name comes from the word Huaxyacac, a Nahuatl (Aztec) word for the guaje tree which is commonly found in that area.

"Mexican" Spanish contains a lot of words derived from languages spoken by the indigenous people of the country, which will present another challenge for us as we struggle to understand - and be understood. Vámanos...