Should you copy a person's accent when pronouncing their name?
For example, an English person might introduce themselves as “Bob”, whereas an American with the same name might introduce themselves as “Bahb”. (Sorry, don’t know the phonetic alphabet but hopefully you get my gist) Should you pronounce those two people’s names the same, with your own natural accent, or should you copy how the person says their own name?
My name is pretty much impossible for most people to pronounce properly, outside of my own language and some sister languages. I usually don’t mind if people butcher the pronunciation as long as they don’t try to give me a nickname (friends can, I’m talking about colleagues that I rarely talk to) or shorten it. I don’t like using westernized names, and always pronounce my name as it should be pronounced, but it’s alright if other’s don’t. But I’m very happy if they try.
So that’s my advice, especially if it’s from a language that you don’t speak. They’ll probably be happy that you tried. Just don’t overdo it. Asking me to repeat my name 5 times is annoying. (This has happened to me more than one would expect. They probably meant well, but damn was it annoying.)
Asking me to repeat my name 5 times is annoying.
💀 Bruh my teachers did this. I hated it. Like c’mon, there’s no way they’re gonna be able to pronounce a tonal-language correctly.
Worx
ѕєχυαℓ ρσℓутσρє
「黃家駒 Wong Ka Kui」 | (aka: 鳳凰院 凶真 Hououin Kyouma)