The English name conumdrum

So, I have been slacking!!!  I know.  I meant to write this post a week ago, but here I am...

Forgive me.

There are many things that I am still getting used to in China and many things are becoming normal....like that squat toilet I swore I would never use...well, sometimes, you just gotta suck it up and hold your breathe....and go.

Anyway, there are many, many things I question and don't understand.  But the primary thing that sort of grinds my gears, sort of makes me happy is the concept of an English name.  Some of you may have met a Chinese Wendy or John and was like, oh, cool, easy name. The dark truth you may not know is that many Chinese children are forced to take English names if they are studying English.  Now, this is very similar to the experience I had in Spanish class, and later in French, when I had to choose a "Spanish" name.  My teacher used the name to call me in class, my classmates used it to identify me within my Spanish class bubble. It was cool.  I didn't go out into the world and introduce myself as "Shakira".  It was my super secret Spanish class alias and it was cool to use....in class.  Many Chinese children, forced to choose English names, usually keep some sort of an English name throughout their lives...likely changing them with every time they find a better name.  The meet foreigners like me and tell me their English name and you could go forever never knowing your Chinese coworkers actual government name.

This leaves me torn for a couple of reasons:

1. How dare I come to your country and demand you change your name to something easier for me to pronounce!  It's like someone telling you the name your mother gave you isn't good enough and that you will now be called Heather because it flows off the tongue better than Zhihi or Ylin (neither of which are pronounced the way they are romanized). You can't imagine how many Lilies or Rachels have trouble spelling or saying their names because English is not their first languages and those sounds are not always natural!  I've misheard more names in the past month than I've ever done in my life. 

2. I like being able to pronounce my student's names. I've also named more kids than I've ever had the responsibility to name before.  Suffice it to say, I have been playing around with many different potential future children names like Ian, Aiden, and Ezra.....anything that's NOT John, Mike, or Peter.

This English name business seems a lil' bit imperialistic to me. What do you think?

I was going to write about some other events/none events, but I think this post is pretty long.  Oh, check out Jamie Cullum "Don't Stop the Music"....Listening to it right now and I'm loving him!!!!


Stay positive,


Ayeshah, Teacher