I have read many posts online the last couple of days, from various people asking for a base line of respect. Say the names of the victims of the Atlanta shootings, correctly. Spend half a minute to learn how to say their names accurately. Yes. You are right.
As a teacher, I have made mistakes, said student’s names wrong, confused kids and called the right person the wrong name. Or I put an extra letter, or left a letter out or put an apostrophe in the wrong spot. I can usually get it right after the first few days, sometimes a week, But, I am sorry and embarrassed for that. I should do better. I will do better.
My son works at Breakthrough in the summer (academic program for underserved students) and he says they make flashcards with the kid’s names, pictures and pronunciations. The teachers and assistants practice and practice until they get it right and are ready to welcome the kids the first day of the program. They call out, “Welcome Yesenia!” or “We are so glad to see you Tsogtbaatar!” They have it right.
I watched a video the other day of a Latino man telling of when he got his master’s degree and crossed the stage to accept his diploma. When he got to the middle, shook the hand and took the diploma, you guessed it, they said his name wrong. So he got a new card and went back in line. This time, the person said it correctly. Part of me thinks, “Good for him for having the audacity to go again to get it right.” Another part of me thinks, “He should not have to do that.”
My own name, last name of Huizar is almost never pronounced correctly, unless it is by a Spanish speaker. I have lived my whole life correcting people, or if I am honest, just accepting what they say and moving on. I lacked the audacity of the Latino man.
I am glad a new generation of people are growing up in a more diverse country. Names like Kwanma and Nebras will be as accepted and respected as Katherine and Nancy. And hopefully people will say their names correctly. It is a base line of respect.
Thank you so much for sharing this Slice. Nobody pronounces my name correctly the first time. Well, some do, but they are few and far between. My name is Orval. So, most people tend to say “OrVILLE” when they see my name. Is there a “VILLE” in my name? Of course not, but that is what people are programmed to say. I know, I know… it’s because of the popcorn.
Also, I teach at a community college. Why is it that the people who they have saying the names cannot pronounce the names? In my opinion, they should have every student work with someone to write their name phonetically. Then, only people from the English department who understand phonetics (or faculty from the Communications department) should read the damn names at graduation? Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before now? Is this so difficult?
I could not agree with you more.
I agree with you! Especially at graduations, it seems like the first thing you put in place, proper pronunciations of degree awardees, and it communicates respect to the person and to the family that is there to witness a special day!. I am glad you wrote and responded, Orval.
I have been lucky enough to work with administrators who placed importance on correct name pronunciation, our campuses widely diverse in languages and cultures. I am still working on getting names right, too, as I have started on a new campus this year. Our names are part of who we are, and we disrespect people when we don’t make an effort to say them correctly. I appreciate those who are kind enough to correct me!
That is great! You started with strong practices instead of the default, minimal effort and have taken it to new places. Thanks for sharing your thinking.
I so appreciated this post. Names are so important. I’m always saddened when I have students who have a name like Jorge who I hear called George and when I ask which they prefer they say it doesn’t matter. They’ve just resigned themselves to being called whatever the speaker is more comfortable with. Have you seen this poem? It’s so powerful.
https://youtu.be/pc6CJ_kUNYc
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing the powerful video! I loved it!
Names mean so much and in many contexts we fail to give them their due, especially in education contexts. You’re right, pronouncing names correctly, asking how they should be pronounced and then practicing – these all belong to baseline levels of respect we should offer each and every human.