Job Discussion Forums

[william wallace]

nil

[Midlothian Mapleheart]

Edited to remove offensive content.

Middy

[Super Frank]

ok ok, seeing as Mr Shi is only seven years old it's nice that he's got someone to defend him from ignorant Laowai. Incidently, I went out with a girl called Jenny Taylor, an extra vowel in her surname always made us laugh. Sorry Jen, more cr ap jokes at someones elses expense

[Mysterious Mark]

I'll never forget when I met Eternity. We had a very interesting conversation, though I don't remember what it was about. I was in an altered state of unconsciousness, you see...

On the one hand it's nice that the Chinese aren't too inhibited about (English) names to be creative with them. On the other hand they should all be told that uncommon names and even some common ones are frequently ridiculed, and combinations of names can be ridiculed as well.

Of course there's no need to be impolite about it or play off of people's ignorance. For example, a foreign teacher once told his female colleague, "Fairy, did you know that your name means homosexual?" She didn't take to the information kindly, and he simply insisted it was true, without any elaboration.

For another example, when the name was Bush (given to a student by his Chinese English teacher), the foreign teacher (a different one) didn't say "That's a bad name" but instead tried to explain that if the student went to another country calling himself Bush, he'd be asking for trouble. Same thing with wearing swastikas - ever get that in your classes?

I think there should be a thread in the off-topic forum, if there isn't one already, about Chinese names for foreigners.

[shenyanggerry]

Amongst others, I've had many Ice, rain and Snow. I've also had Hikki, Genius (he failed), Diety, Mermaid, Rainbow, Dandelion, Eleven, Becareful, Zero, Zorro, Blue Storm, Green Horse and Golden Dawn. I'm still waiting for Golden Shower and Yellow Snow.

[Voldermort]

I have recently started teaching two private students. They are completely unrelated and unknown to each other. So, when it came to the first lesson it was a case of, please introduce yourself. Low and behold, the first student starts his speach "My name is Michael, I am...", then the next "Hi, I am Owen, I like...".

I couldn't believe it, Michael and Owen, sat next to each other in that order. What are the chances?

On another note, whats the deal with Chinese students and English names? "Teacher please give me a name", "Teacher what is the meaning?". I gave up long ago trying to explain the 'no meaning' concept. So now I choose a name from a TV show, and describe the character.

Grant = "Strong man" - Eastenders
Joey = "Very fast" - Friends

[sonya]

lol, you know, you could always look up English name meanings on the internet or a baby names book. I think the meaning thing has to do with the fact that Chinese people often pick names for their meaning and connotations, thinking that it has potential influence on the way their baby turns out.

When I studied French in high school, the teacher gave us a list of French names, about thirty for each gender, pronounced them, and told us to pick one. Although that was fun, you know, I think the "we are Chinese" part is cool too. The ones who didn't want a French name just got their name pronounced in a French accent, which is fair enough. It's what would happen in the real world, anyway.

[KarenB]

If students ask me to give them an English name, I will either give them a name that sounds a little like their given Chinese name(s) (i.e. Juanita for Huan Huan, or Leeanne for Li An, or Heidi if the name starts with Hai). If that doesn't work (or I end up with a classroom full of Lee, Leigh, Leah, etc.) then I try to give them a name that has a meaning similar to their Chinese name (that's easy if the meaning is Camelia -- more difficult if the meaning is something like "calm harbor"). I have a couple baby books I brought with me, and the students enjoy looking up names and meanings in them.

If the students want to give themselves silly names, that's fine with me because I always remember those names better than the typical Tina, Betty, or John.

If they don't want English names, that's fine as well, as I can do ok with pin yin, and actually it helps to know their Chinese names when discussing them with other teachers and administrators.

Sometimes I get bored, and start giving them Bible names like Methusaleh or Jedidiah, or start naming them stuff like Charity, Peace, Humility, Honesty, etc. just to amuse myself. Other times, I make a list of all the current pop stars, movie stars, or sports figures, and they get a kick out of that.

Right now I'm teaching students who will be graduating soon to take up jobs in the real world, so I told all the students with silly names that they had to pick something more respectable to go on thier English resumes. So, we had to bid adieu to Grass, Little Bird, Tree, etc.

[Super Frank]

There are a lot of Johns Terrys Franks Joes Damians popping up in my classes....

[draigoch]

I would always write a choice of three names on the board and get them to pick one if they asked for an "English" name. That way they had an element of choice, but it also meant I could steer them away from anything too silly or bleeding common.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I was so sick to the back teeth of all those names like :

Lily, Lucy, Annie, Maggie, Dick, Johnny, Jacky etc. etc. which Chinese students tend to give themselves with depressing regularity. BTW I DO think that Chinese students should be told about 'Dick' before they name themselves with that particular soubriquet.

Oh, and as for 'Superman' or any other silly name like that, I would insist on calling the student by their Chinese name. I simply CANNOT call a kid Superman (call me a snob, if you like, but it's just WRONG).

I actually managed to get two boys (one very young, one a teenager) to name themselves Connor and Liam, which I felt was a bit of a triumph. I've also managed two students called Kayleigh (sad Marillion fan that I am).

I was always quite happy for them to keep their Chinese name if they so chose. Why SHOULD they have to have an "English" name ? However, yes, I frequently got laughed at in my attempts to say them.

[Super Frank]

Trying to think up fifteen odd names on the spot is pretty difficult.

me "Simon"
student "no'
"Paul"
"no"
"Steven"
"no"
Why not? These are good names"
"I'm a girl"


and I agree that it is not necessary to have English names

[Itsme]

The whole name thing reminds me of a skit used back in the black and white tv days. The two are talking about the names of people on the baseball field and it is really confusing. I feel the same way in the class. I ask them for their name. First of all the rest of the class is playing and then the person saying his/her name says it so softly that I have no idea what the meaning is so when I repeat it they look indignant because I said it wrong.

Finally I say YES.. ____________ is now your name, if they like it or not.

[Super Mario]

There have been some foul FTs out there who, when asked by a student for an English name, let their perverted humour loose. "Clit" was one I came across. And all those Fannies can't be a coincidence!

[KarenB]

No, "Fanny" is a name in the back of their dictionary.

I found a really cool website for English names -- you can either type in the meaning, and get some names with that meaning, or you can type in "starts with..." and then get names starting with certain letters.

Would probably be helpful in helping Chinese students pick English names.

It also gives a "top 10" and "top 100" list of what people are naming their babies (in America, I guess) these days. Also a list of celebrity names.

http://www.babynames.com/

[tony lee]