Some tips on succeeding in name pronunciation and international 101
by Emily Chardac Monday, May 23, 2011
Contributing writer Emily Chardac spent over four years in an international recruitment office serving individuals of over 80 nationalities. Recognizing the challenges foreign workers experience when transitioning into a US work environment, Emily has been has focused on HR/benefits since 2007. She earned her Masters in HR from Marquette University with a focus on international business and French. Emily can be contacted at emily.chardac@gmail.com.
What goes into a first name? As an international business and human resources professional, I’ve seen too many times the discrete way that we diminish the people around us without even realizing it. Here are my observations.
The United States is built on a diverse nation of culture and nationalities.
(Note: You can have different cultures within a nationality.) Depending on where you live in the United States will determine what types of cultural influences on your daily living including the accent you have, the way you talk, your body language, the food you eat, and so forth. A couple of points to make here:
-Even though you have Polish origins does not mean you get a first crack at Polish jokes for every Polish person you meet. I highly doubt that Polish people go to a round room to find a corner to sit in. (You probably don’t even want to know the American jokes they have on us anyway.)
-Even though you’re fifth generation Irish doesn’t mean you have a reason to get drunk on Saint Patrick’s Day. When was the last time that you celebrated being Irish outside of Saint Patrick’s day? Get over it—you’re an American who likes to have a good time on Saint Patrick’s day.
-When you are traveling – do you identify yourself as American or “a mutt of nationalities”? I have found it fascinating that Americans doesn’t really associate themselves as being American but rather something else. Identity crisis, perhaps?
Accents, doo hickys, and squiggly things on people’s names.
That doo hicky that you just omitted by typing the applicant’s name had a linguistic importance. You can change the meaning of the word or pronunciation entirely by omitting the accent. Don’t know where to find those accents on your keyboard? They exist under “Language setting” in your control panel. I have an international keyboard installed so that I can ensure that I’m spelling people’s names correctly. (It’s not a physical keyboard; you’ll have to experiment to find the accent you’re looking for or Google a picture of the international keyboard so you can find the accent.) A couple of points to make here:
-If someone has a hyphen in their name such as Jean-Pierre, that is one name. It’s not two first names. The person’s name is not Jean. The person’s name is not Jean Pierre or Jean-pierre. It’s Jean-Pierre. One name—simple as that.
-Some last names are hyphenated. You’ll find this in many Spanish names. Unless the person specifically tells you that you can use one of the last names, I would always use the two names as the person introduced themselves.
However you say it.
Have you ever seen a first or last name and you had no idea how to say the name? Of course you have, we all have. I was in a meeting with one of my former bosses and right in the middle of the meeting he called the person to say,
“Hi, this is _____. I was reviewing your paperwork and would like to know how to correctly articulate your name.”
I thought that was genius. And it meant a lot to the person since he frequently experienced the, “however you say your name” comments. I’ve found many folks take on nicknames just to avoid the humiliation of these comments.
Calling the person (even if they are American) can help you learn how to pronounce some of those doo hicky and squiggly things that are in people’s names.
Painful memories.
I was running some errands last week and observed a clerk reading someone’s driver’s license to the person. “That must be a German name. Damn the Nazis.”
I was shocked. The customer didn’t even know what to say. And quite frankly, I didn’t either. So I just mouthed, “I’m sorry” to the customer and found another clerk to help me.
-This also goes to those people with Arabic names—they are not all terrorists or religious extremists.
-Not all Mexicans are illegal immigrants.
I’ve met people like you before.
You met one bad Canadian and now every Canadian is a wannabe American. Seriously? Come on. There are millions of people in Canada and not all of them are like that person you met. Might I be so bold as to write that you’ve probably experience road rage with another American and you don’t make these comments about Americans, do you?
-If English isn’t someone’s first language, they are not deaf. You can speak in your normal volume, but articulate your words better. (Not in slow motion, speak at your normal pace.)
-Burritos isn’t Mexican food, fortune cookies aren’t Chinese, and you will never find French toast in France. (I know, I was shocked too!) So that just goes to show you the American influence on some of the perceptions that we have on some cultures.
First name basis
Is it a good idea to assume you’re on a first name basis with someone? To be on the safe side, I would double check with the person to see how they wish to be addressed. To some, first names are to be used by close family and friends. (I had to call my prior boss Mr. Smith the entire five years I knew him. He was American.)
Wrapping this blog up
Hopefully I raised some awareness with some of these issues. This blog could be applied to other scenarios in other cultures. As we continue to become more globalized, we will need to increase our ability to adapt to different names, cultures, and nationalities. In this era of increasing technology and lack of face to face contact—it’s easy to make this an oversight of your daily routine.
The United States is built on a diverse nation of culture and nationalities.
(Note: You can have different cultures within a nationality.) Depending on where you live in the United States will determine what types of cultural influences on your daily living including the accent you have, the way you talk, your body language, the food you eat, and so forth. A couple of points to make here:
-Even though you have Polish origins does not mean you get a first crack at Polish jokes for every Polish person you meet. I highly doubt that Polish people go to a round room to find a corner to sit in. (You probably don’t even want to know the American jokes they have on us anyway.)
-Even though you’re fifth generation Irish doesn’t mean you have a reason to get drunk on Saint Patrick’s Day. When was the last time that you celebrated being Irish outside of Saint Patrick’s day? Get over it—you’re an American who likes to have a good time on Saint Patrick’s day.
-When you are traveling – do you identify yourself as American or “a mutt of nationalities”? I have found it fascinating that Americans doesn’t really associate themselves as being American but rather something else. Identity crisis, perhaps?
Accents, doo hickys, and squiggly things on people’s names.
That doo hicky that you just omitted by typing the applicant’s name had a linguistic importance. You can change the meaning of the word or pronunciation entirely by omitting the accent. Don’t know where to find those accents on your keyboard? They exist under “Language setting” in your control panel. I have an international keyboard installed so that I can ensure that I’m spelling people’s names correctly. (It’s not a physical keyboard; you’ll have to experiment to find the accent you’re looking for or Google a picture of the international keyboard so you can find the accent.) A couple of points to make here:
-If someone has a hyphen in their name such as Jean-Pierre, that is one name. It’s not two first names. The person’s name is not Jean. The person’s name is not Jean Pierre or Jean-pierre. It’s Jean-Pierre. One name—simple as that.
-Some last names are hyphenated. You’ll find this in many Spanish names. Unless the person specifically tells you that you can use one of the last names, I would always use the two names as the person introduced themselves.
However you say it.
Have you ever seen a first or last name and you had no idea how to say the name? Of course you have, we all have. I was in a meeting with one of my former bosses and right in the middle of the meeting he called the person to say,
“Hi, this is _____. I was reviewing your paperwork and would like to know how to correctly articulate your name.”
I thought that was genius. And it meant a lot to the person since he frequently experienced the, “however you say your name” comments. I’ve found many folks take on nicknames just to avoid the humiliation of these comments.
Calling the person (even if they are American) can help you learn how to pronounce some of those doo hicky and squiggly things that are in people’s names.
Painful memories.
I was running some errands last week and observed a clerk reading someone’s driver’s license to the person. “That must be a German name. Damn the Nazis.”
I was shocked. The customer didn’t even know what to say. And quite frankly, I didn’t either. So I just mouthed, “I’m sorry” to the customer and found another clerk to help me.
-This also goes to those people with Arabic names—they are not all terrorists or religious extremists.
-Not all Mexicans are illegal immigrants.
I’ve met people like you before.
You met one bad Canadian and now every Canadian is a wannabe American. Seriously? Come on. There are millions of people in Canada and not all of them are like that person you met. Might I be so bold as to write that you’ve probably experience road rage with another American and you don’t make these comments about Americans, do you?
-If English isn’t someone’s first language, they are not deaf. You can speak in your normal volume, but articulate your words better. (Not in slow motion, speak at your normal pace.)
-Burritos isn’t Mexican food, fortune cookies aren’t Chinese, and you will never find French toast in France. (I know, I was shocked too!) So that just goes to show you the American influence on some of the perceptions that we have on some cultures.
First name basis
Is it a good idea to assume you’re on a first name basis with someone? To be on the safe side, I would double check with the person to see how they wish to be addressed. To some, first names are to be used by close family and friends. (I had to call my prior boss Mr. Smith the entire five years I knew him. He was American.)
Wrapping this blog up
Hopefully I raised some awareness with some of these issues. This blog could be applied to other scenarios in other cultures. As we continue to become more globalized, we will need to increase our ability to adapt to different names, cultures, and nationalities. In this era of increasing technology and lack of face to face contact—it’s easy to make this an oversight of your daily routine.