JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Blowing a vuvuzela takes a bit of instruction –- you have to purse your lips together and blow a raspberry into the plastic trumpet.

Robyn Curnow tries out a vuvuzela at Brazil vs. Italy.

The noise that comes out can startle you after your first toot, it sounds like an elephant trumpeting or a foghorn. Soon it become addictive, though, and you have to limit your vuvuzela usage if you don’t want to lose friends, family or your hearing.

I first tried to blow a vuvuzela two weeks ago, at the start of the Confederations Cup which has been held in South Africa ahead of next year’s World Cup. I failed miserably. I blew and I blew and nothing happened, just a few insipid little parps. But at the Brazil vs. Italy game, I got the hang of the vuvuzela and quickly joined the crowd in a jaunty one-note tune. Baaaah! Baaah! Baaah!

It is a sound so irritating and so obnoxious that it’s best to stick with the maxim “if you can’t beat ‘em, join em.” Not blowing a vuvuzela at a South African football game not only makes you feel a bit left out but it also makes you resent the noise everyone else it making.

I can understand why some footballers and fans hate the sound. In stadiums and even watching on television, the constant buzz of the vuvuzelas can be distracting. But with the World Cup one year ahead, everyone just better get used to the inevitable din of the vuvuzelas.

Complaining about the noise they make won’t make a difference –- mostly because no one will be able to hear you above the incessant ringing in their ears.