Yeah, I think it's a clever concept, but it seems almost egotistical to say, "Look, I care enough about how you pronounce my last name to embed a link in my email sig"
Many people classically mispronounced my name - it's not a big deal, I move on. If we're not going to be having many conversations where you say my last name, I'm not even going to correct you.
I dunno; as somebody who's name gets mispronounced essentially all the time, I'm pretty sensitive about trying to pronounce other people's names properly. If they embed the pronunciation in their email, then a) I don't have to ask, and b) I can practice on my own time with a reference to make sure I have it correct. It's nice of them.
I agree with CocaKoala - it is not about making people say my name right; it is about avoiding making people uncomfortable, which is considerate. You do raise a good point that one has to be careful with the presentation, though.
Maybe your last name is not 'Kiss' (which has nothing to do with the english word kiss and pronounced as /kiːʃʃ/) and people never thought your first name is some kind of sexy word and started sending you kisses at inappropriate places :D
It started to get really annoying!
I don't think this will help as much as they hope it will. In my experience, people are generally incapable of pronouncing anything, even when it is said to their face.
My name is Nat, which is about as simple a name as you could ask for. But quite often, I will introduce myself, "Hi, I'm Nat", and the response will be "Nice to meet you, Nate". My wife experiences it too (even from her mother!), so I don't think my pronunciation is the problem here.
Is this kind of vowel sloppiness more common in the US? Or should I just take the hint and change my name?
In general, sloppy pronunciation is more common in countries where most people have little to no contact with anyone who speaks a different language. In order to learn that your vowels are not the only vowels that exist, you need to encounter people who use different vowels, and this needs to start at a very young age when your brain can still pick up the difference.
I recently talked to an Asian man who couldn't hear any difference between "R" and "L", let alone pronounce them. That's what happens when you only speak and hear a single language for decades. Your brain gets wired to ignore any variation that isn't significant in your own language. My "L" really sounds like "R" to him, and your name really sounds like "Nate" to a lot of Americans.
Hopefully, the increasing influx of Spanish and Chinese speakers into the U.S. will force Americans to hear other languages more often in their daily lives.
I read here comments about personal experiences with mispronounced names and how this is looked upon as having little or no importance. I'm shocked. The name is the first and foremost part of one's identity. Why would it be acceptable to be corrupted for someone's convenience? It's like "...look, I don't fancy your name much, so I shall call you [...]! It's fine with you, right?" I may keep quiet in response, for not having much control over how I'm being called, but no - it is not and it should not be "fine". It's just about the first modicum of mutual respect as interlocutors.
The world gets globalized, so please -- when come in contact with the folks living outside your courtyard, be prepared to accept at least some small self-change as consequence.
Why would it be acceptable to be corrupted for someone's convenience?
It's for my convenience too. People have been getting my first name wrong for my entire life. It's easier just to let it go, or when the situation allows just use a fake name. I have to pick my battles, this one is often a fruitless waste of energy. The number of people I care get it right is a small circle.
If someone gets your name wrong , you correct them if you care. It's only disrespect if that person continues to mispronounce your name. And even in that case, the person may have a mental factuality defect and mean no malice. This site is ridiculous and so is your justification. Being stern about your name is such an egotistical attitude
My problem is not with people mispronouncing my name but modifying it to something easier for them.. No you may not call me Mario, or Martin. Mispronounce it! I don't care, just don't change it to something different!
I actually like that my name is hard to pronounce (as in: I have yet to hear someone pronounce it correctly without being told). It means that I instantly know when the person on the phone doesn't know me.
Mispronouncing someone's name is understandable. What gets me is people misspelling my name... after they've worked with me for years... and seen my name hundreds of times...
I once went to church with a friend of mine for six weeks, because he was shy and didn't want to go to church by himself. We get there, and this woman walks up to me.
Her: "What's your name?
Me: "Brian"
Her: "Brett! Nice to meet you, Brett. What's your last name, Brett?"
Me: "(my last name)"
Her: "Well, it is SO nice to meet you, Brett Psycho."
I was too flabbergasted to respond properly. Even worse, we had the exact same conversation each week for the next six weeks. She couldn't even be bothered to remember my discombobulated name.
Hah! I have a name which I have literally never heard a non-native speaker (of my first language) pronounce correctly.
As far as I understand it, the problem isn't so much that people haven't heard you pronounce your own name, it's more to do with the fact(?) that -- unless they've been raised in a similar "sound-environment" -- they literally cannot hear the subtleties of the pronunciation (e.g. tongue/lip positioning, etc.). I've had this experience (in reverse) when trying to pronounce Chinese and Arabic which have subleties which are very foreign to my native language.
About a year ago (or so), I added a parenthetical, (My last name is pronounced "Tate"), to my business cards and email sig block. I've had several people comment approvingly.
That said, I do wish my German ancestors had changed either the spelling or the pronunciation when they came to the U.S. in the 19th century. I didn't do it myself when I was younger for fear of family disapproval, and by now my professional "brand" is under the existing spelling. Interestingly, my son, who's just starting his career, brushes off my suggestion that he change the spelling.
How HN users will pronounce my full name: Mario César Señoranis ?
Some suggest that this feels pretentious to suggest the correct pronunciation, however I always research the correct pronunciation for all persons I'm presented. From my side I like it, is a courtesy, is about good manners.
Not getting mad about someone mispronounce your name is courteous as research the correct pronunciation for others name
I mispronounce my own name most of the time. When I'm speaking English (which is 99% of the time I guess) I just use the English pronounciation, because it is easier, and who cares, really?
Another -ski here. Sometimes there's room for varying pronunciations of the same name. I grew up pronouncing my last name the way my non-English speaking parents thought it should be pronounced in English. It wasn't until college that I realized there was an easier way to pronounce it.
If it's the same name as your HN username, I don't see any obvious way to mispronounce it, other than whether the first 'o' is long or short. Is that the bit people mispronounce?
Same here (Polish names unite!). I usually get embarrassed by the amount of attention mine will get. Using this tool feels like it would just add even more attention to it.
One thing this solves is the pronunciation of odd spellings of names, and to an extent, names that are foreign to the recipient (e.g. to an anglophone many eastern European and Asian names don't have an immediately decipherable pronunciation from spelling).
However, one of the problems it doesn't help with, is that different languages and language families have sounds that are not used in other languages. This means people will still get your name wrong, because they don't necessarily know how to make those sounds, nor do they even know how to hear the subtle distinctions - e.g. the classic r/l confusion, or my own inability to get tones right when trying to learn mandarin words/phrases.
I guess what I'm saying is I don't think anyone should expect this to suddenly make everyone pronounce their name perfectly all of a sudden.
I agree that it is strange that we always provide the written form of a name although you cannot unambiguously determine its pronunciation from it (classical take on this: http://youtu.be/tyQvjKqXA0Y#t=0m19). Still, it sounds a bit over the top to have a service dedicated to the purpose of giving links to pronunciations of names.
I just provide the IPA for my name on my website, based on the unrealistic assumption that people who need to will read it.
Several languages use compound nouns, proper and common. These cause pronunciation problems when the phrase is read atomically, instead of by parsing. For example, German armbunduhr is easily understood as arm+bund+uhr = clock around arm, or wrist watch. Since I speak languages that also build up compound nouns (e.g; chair = four+legs), I have no trouble recognizing the need to parse in other languages.
Pretty clever idea. My 4-letter nickname, Kyro, gets mispronounced 10 out of 10 times. It's pronounced kero, like hero, but most pronounce it kairo. At first it was irritating, but I later realized it was a great conversation starter. "Kairo, where are you from?" "Egypt" "Haha, like Cairo! Have you been?"
This is a really nice idea. I was working on a similar project a few years, audioname.com. The trick is in networking with larger social service and building integrations so that people can share their name's pronunciation everywhere that their name is shared, which is unfortunately fragmented across the web at the moment.
It would be nice to be able to highlight a name, search for it in this database, and play an audio file from a browser extension, for example. Or from an email client, or a linkedin profile, or wherever. Having to visit this site to look up a name is enough of a barrier that once the novelty wears off, I can't see it being too well used.
[+] [-] mattzito|11 years ago|reply
Many people classically mispronounced my name - it's not a big deal, I move on. If we're not going to be having many conversations where you say my last name, I'm not even going to correct you.
[+] [-] CocaKoala|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dllthomas|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Walkman|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lotharbot|11 years ago|reply
It's nice when people care enough about how their name is pronounced that they give you the tools to do it correctly.
[+] [-] nat|11 years ago|reply
My name is Nat, which is about as simple a name as you could ask for. But quite often, I will introduce myself, "Hi, I'm Nat", and the response will be "Nice to meet you, Nate". My wife experiences it too (even from her mother!), so I don't think my pronunciation is the problem here.
Is this kind of vowel sloppiness more common in the US? Or should I just take the hint and change my name?
[+] [-] shazow|11 years ago|reply
Five minutes later, more often than not, they call out "Aubrey." That's reading their own handwriting.
You can't explain that.
:P
[+] [-] kijin|11 years ago|reply
I recently talked to an Asian man who couldn't hear any difference between "R" and "L", let alone pronounce them. That's what happens when you only speak and hear a single language for decades. Your brain gets wired to ignore any variation that isn't significant in your own language. My "L" really sounds like "R" to him, and your name really sounds like "Nate" to a lot of Americans.
Hopefully, the increasing influx of Spanish and Chinese speakers into the U.S. will force Americans to hear other languages more often in their daily lives.
[+] [-] smickie|11 years ago|reply
All of the USA-side pronounce it Krr-egg. Even after I've explained the difference to a group of them, it still goes back to Krr-egg after a week.
I'm Sean, which American's don't have a problem with at all, but I if I had a bitcoin for every-time I was called 'seen' in the UK...
[+] [-] Fuzzwah|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] icambron|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] restalis|11 years ago|reply
The world gets globalized, so please -- when come in contact with the folks living outside your courtyard, be prepared to accept at least some small self-change as consequence.
[+] [-] forgottenpass|11 years ago|reply
It's for my convenience too. People have been getting my first name wrong for my entire life. It's easier just to let it go, or when the situation allows just use a fake name. I have to pick my battles, this one is often a fruitless waste of energy. The number of people I care get it right is a small circle.
[+] [-] goldenkey|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] mariusz79|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] PeterGriffin|11 years ago|reply
There are more important things in this short life. A name is just a bunch of random sounds so when someone talks, you know they mean you.
[+] [-] TheLoneWolfling|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xienze|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Jemaclus|11 years ago|reply
Her: "What's your name?
Me: "Brian"
Her: "Brett! Nice to meet you, Brett. What's your last name, Brett?"
Me: "(my last name)"
Her: "Well, it is SO nice to meet you, Brett Psycho."
I was too flabbergasted to respond properly. Even worse, we had the exact same conversation each week for the next six weeks. She couldn't even be bothered to remember my discombobulated name.
[+] [-] lomnakkus|11 years ago|reply
As far as I understand it, the problem isn't so much that people haven't heard you pronounce your own name, it's more to do with the fact(?) that -- unless they've been raised in a similar "sound-environment" -- they literally cannot hear the subtleties of the pronunciation (e.g. tongue/lip positioning, etc.). I've had this experience (in reverse) when trying to pronounce Chinese and Arabic which have subleties which are very foreign to my native language.
[+] [-] dctoedt|11 years ago|reply
That said, I do wish my German ancestors had changed either the spelling or the pronunciation when they came to the U.S. in the 19th century. I didn't do it myself when I was younger for fear of family disapproval, and by now my professional "brand" is under the existing spelling. Interestingly, my son, who's just starting his career, brushes off my suggestion that he change the spelling.
[+] [-] mariocesar|11 years ago|reply
Some suggest that this feels pretentious to suggest the correct pronunciation, however I always research the correct pronunciation for all persons I'm presented. From my side I like it, is a courtesy, is about good manners.
Not getting mad about someone mispronounce your name is courteous as research the correct pronunciation for others name
[+] [-] jib|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] strozykowski|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cezary|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JoshTriplett|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anuleczka|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] reinhardt|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sophacles|11 years ago|reply
However, one of the problems it doesn't help with, is that different languages and language families have sounds that are not used in other languages. This means people will still get your name wrong, because they don't necessarily know how to make those sounds, nor do they even know how to hear the subtle distinctions - e.g. the classic r/l confusion, or my own inability to get tones right when trying to learn mandarin words/phrases.
I guess what I'm saying is I don't think anyone should expect this to suddenly make everyone pronounce their name perfectly all of a sudden.
[+] [-] andremat|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] commandar|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] timsayshey|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] a3_nm|11 years ago|reply
I just provide the IPA for my name on my website, based on the unrealistic assumption that people who need to will read it.
[+] [-] quarterwave|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kyro|11 years ago|reply
Happy it worked out that way...
[+] [-] vitoreiji|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] golden_apples|11 years ago|reply
It would be nice to be able to highlight a name, search for it in this database, and play an audio file from a browser extension, for example. Or from an email client, or a linkedin profile, or wherever. Having to visit this site to look up a name is enough of a barrier that once the novelty wears off, I can't see it being too well used.