A Little (Language) Respect

My friends and I were playing Cranium the other day and one of the words that came up for play was "Sudoku." One girl pronounced it "sow-doo-khow" and the other team proceeded to attempt to spell the word backwards (it was part of the game.) Of course, the other team didn't get it right. When they didn't get it right, I asked that that round be voided because, well, "sudoko" wasn't pronounced correctly - hence the confusion in trying to spelling it out (backwards.) That round was voided and we all went back to playing (and we eventually won, harhar) but it really made me think...

Which brings me to my point. Words have origins and we should always respect the way it was intended to be pronounced. "Sudoku" is a Japanese word. I mean, as far as foreign languages are concerned, Japanese pronunciation is already pretty easy to grasp - simple syllables, that's all they are! It should be pronounced "soo-do-koo." If your tongue just simply cannot bend in the way it's supposed to, acknowledge the fact that you are mispronouncing the word - or at least try to get it right. Don't simply "Westernize" the pronunciation and expect everyone to just understand you or (worse) follow suit.

While we're on the subject:

1. It's "ha-ra-KI-ri," not "harrrri-kirrrri." (Word: harakiri.)
2. It's "GOOS-tav," not "gus-tav." (Word: Gustav.)
3. It's "San-DO-val," not "SAN-do-val." (Word: Sandoval.)
4. It's "Na-va-RE-te," not "NA-va-ret." (Word: Navarrete.)

...and so on and so forth. I'm sure you can also think of your own examples. A little language respect is all I ask. Is that too much to ask?