This can't be that hard

Re: This can't be that hard

• banana468 member

  

  February 6

  "On please excuse me.  My sincere apologies if I say this incorrectly.  Is your name...Aaron?" 

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• VarunaTT member

  

  February 6

  Aaron and Erin don't sound the same when you say them?  
  
  I feel like OP is stretching here.  I was in grad school with quite a few Russian, African, and Eurasian students.  I worked hard on their names, putting the emphasis on the right syllables and the pronunciations.  I wasn't always right, but I was close, and I tried, and for all of them, that was enough.  People know when you're trying and failing, vs. "Can I call you Bob?"

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• Casadena member

  

  February 6

  @VarunaTT right? I have quite a few Indian friends from grad school and it took a very long time to get the syllable emphasis correct on a lot of their names. They're long and the emphasis is not intuitive for me. But I tried, asked, they corrected, and we figured it out. No one is going to be mad if it's not perfect the first time, I imagine they'll get mad if you throw your hands up with a "ugh, my mouth just doesn't make these sounds". Please. 
  

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• MyNameIsNot member

  

  February 6 edited February 6

  VarunaTT said:

  Aaron and Erin don't sound the same when you say them?  
  
  I feel like OP is stretching here.  I was in grad school with quite a few Russian, African, and Eurasian students.  I worked hard on their names, putting the emphasis on the right syllables and the pronunciations.  I wasn't always right, but I was close, and I tried, and for all of them, that was enough.  People know when you're trying and failing, vs. "Can I call you Bob?"

  Not exactly? Like Aaron is kind of more Air-in versus Erin is more err (like error)-wren. 
  
  I have a friend who is Vietnamese, but goes by a "white" name. It's not uncommon to adopt a western name, but she told me it's partially because westerners cannot pronounce her name correctly. She tried and tried to teach me, but there's a tone thing that english speakers don't really hear. So mostly she just laughed at me. 
  
  eta Anyway, I think LW is being way too precious about this. Most people are happy if you try to get their name right. 

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• levioosa member

  

  February 6

  MyNameIsNot said:

  VarunaTT said:

  Aaron and Erin don't sound the same when you say them?  
  
  I feel like OP is stretching here.  I was in grad school with quite a few Russian, African, and Eurasian students.  I worked hard on their names, putting the emphasis on the right syllables and the pronunciations.  I wasn't always right, but I was close, and I tried, and for all of them, that was enough.  People know when you're trying and failing, vs. "Can I call you Bob?"

  Not exactly? Like Aaron is kind of more Air-in versus Erin is more err (like error)-wren. 
  
  I have a friend who is Vietnamese, but goes by a "white" name. It's not uncommon to adopt a western name, but she told me it's partially because westerners cannot pronounce her name correctly. She tried and tried to teach me, but there's a tone thing that english speakers don't really hear. So mostly she just laughed at me. 
  
  eta Anyway, I think LW is being way too precious about this. Most people are happy if you try to get their name right. 

  I'm sorry but all I can think about is that Key and Peele skit. "A-A-RON?" 
  

  
  

  
  

  

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• MyNameIsNot member

  

  February 6

  omg, I work with a dude who is Arron. He cannot understand why everyone calls him A. R. Ron. 

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• short+sassy member

  

  February 6

  There are examples of sounds/words that people who grew up in Regions A, B, or C vs Region D cannot distinguish between or are not physically capable of saying correctly.  Even English has words like that.
  
  In my job, I often interact with people from Indonesia.  Though usually only by e-mail.  The vendors often have English first names that I'm sure aren't their real names.  Though people at Site usually use their Indonesian first name.
  
  It sometimes leads to funny gender confusion.  In Indonesia, the word for a formal "hello" is different depending on if you are male (Pak) or female (Bu).  They don't know which English first names are associated with which gender and it's the same for us here when they use their Indonesian first name.
  
  So the start of an e-mail might be Pak John or Bu Jennifer.  Sometimes I've been called Pak Jennifer, but I don't usually correct it unless it is someone I'll be e-mailing frequently.  I know no offense is meant.  They just don't know Jennifer is a woman's name in western countries. 

  

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• charlotte989875 member

  

  February 7

  levioosa said:

  MyNameIsNot said:

  VarunaTT said:

  Aaron and Erin don't sound the same when you say them?  
  
  I feel like OP is stretching here.  I was in grad school with quite a few Russian, African, and Eurasian students.  I worked hard on their names, putting the emphasis on the right syllables and the pronunciations.  I wasn't always right, but I was close, and I tried, and for all of them, that was enough.  People know when you're trying and failing, vs. "Can I call you Bob?"

  Not exactly? Like Aaron is kind of more Air-in versus Erin is more err (like error)-wren. 
  
  I have a friend who is Vietnamese, but goes by a "white" name. It's not uncommon to adopt a western name, but she told me it's partially because westerners cannot pronounce her name correctly. She tried and tried to teach me, but there's a tone thing that english speakers don't really hear. So mostly she just laughed at me. 
  
  eta Anyway, I think LW is being way too precious about this. Most people are happy if you try to get their name right. 

  I'm sorry but all I can think about is that Key and Peele skit. "A-A-RON?" 
  

  My IRL name is Jacqueline. aka jay quellen. 

  
  

  
  

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