Foreign versions of place names Another problem with immigrants who did not speak the language of their new country is that some place names are spelled, and even pronounced differently in different languages. Just as the German name for James is Jakob, foreign cities may have alternate names in English or other languages. Sometimes a city may have more than one spelling, even in its own country! Such is the case with one of the largest cities in Belgium. In French, the city is called Anvers while the local Flemish-speaking residents refer to it as Antwerpen. In English, we simply call it Antwerp. In Switzerland, the problem may be even worse. The city Americans think of as Geneva has French (Geneve), German (Genf), and Italian (Ginevra) versions, within its own country. As these examples show, the spelling may not be radically different, but with lesser-known towns, these problems are magnified. The ancient Bavarian city of Regensburg appears on many non-German maps as Ratisbon, its old English name. Some languages create additional problems. Consider languages that do not use the Latin alphabet common to English and most of Europe (Greek is a good example), and transliteration styles differ from translator to translator. It is difficult to predict if an English version of a place name will favor the country's native spelling, or be similar to the name in another language. Most commonly, if the local spelling is not followed, the French, or perhaps Latin, version is used. This is clearly the case with the German city of Cologne, whom the native inhabitants call Köln, or in past centuries, Cöln.