[quote=“tsukinodeynatsu”][quote=“bismarck”][quote=“tsukinodeynatsu”]My name’s Natasha. Or… as my Catholic school classmate’s pointed out…
‘Ah… Satan’ backwards.[/quote]
Hmmm… There was a foreign girl in Tainan who told me that one a few years ago. Coincidence, or small world?[/quote]
Hmmm… probably small world, I don’t know any other foreign Natasha in Tainan! It’s not a story I bring up a lot though. Was she short and English?[/quote]
Short, English and rather attractive. But who knows, it could just be coincidence and she could have left already (it was three years or so ago).
Then again, it could just be a small world. If it is you, good to see you’re flourishing.
[quote=“tsukinodeynatsu”][quote=“bismarck”][quote=“tsukinodeynatsu”]My name’s Natasha. Or… as my Catholic school classmate’s pointed out…
‘Ah… Satan’ backwards.[/quote]
Hmmm… There was a foreign girl in Tainan who told me that one a few years ago. Coincidence, or small world?[/quote]
Hmmm… probably small world, I don’t know any other foreign Natasha in Tainan! It’s not a story I bring up a lot though. Was she short and English?[/quote]
A favorite name for palindrome writers.
Ah, Satan shall a devil deliver. Reviled lived Allah’s Natasha!
That is… awesome, and I love it very much. Can I steal it for my signature??
[quote=“bismarck”]Short, English and rather attractive. But who knows, it could just be coincidence and she could have left already (it was three years or so ago).
Then again, it could just be a small world. If it is you, good to see you’re flourishing. [/quote]
Not sure about the rather attractive bit, but I wouldn’t mind claiming it Probably me, unless it was a freakily coincidental double-ish person. I’ve been around Tainan since September 2008, so not quite three years though! It it was me, thanks
I actually knew that, since my ex-roommate was Russian! I always thought that the French form was Natalie, and it came from the Hebrew Natal, which mean ‘birth’ or something similar? Hence why ‘Natasha/Nataliya/Natalie’ means ‘Christmas’ or ‘born at Christmas’ (I wasn’t).
If someone is a ‘nob’ in the UK, it usually means you’re a bit ‘special’. Though I think that might be spelt with a k
I thought Ned was the short form for Nathaniel and Ted for Theodore?
Yes, it’s originally Hebrew. So, no doubt the French and Russians both took it from there (though I’m not sure if either got if from the other, rather than directly from Hebrew). Apparently, as an English name, it’s fairly recent.
I thought Ned was the short form for Nathaniel and Ted for Theodore?[/quote]
Now that I think about it, you could be right, at least with Ted being the diminutive of Theodore, though I don’t know about Nathaniel. I also seem to remember them as being diminutives of Edward. This site also states that:
Yes, it’s a shortened version (also known as a diminutive, though some diminutives add or change a few letters), not a nickname.[/quote]
Yes, diminutive’s the word.
On your comment on Russian diminutives, I discovered that rather painfully when reading Crime and Punishment. VERY confused for a while I was there. (Now I sound like Yoda.)
Back to taking a Chinese name, I see the other side of it here, where ESOL learners can use several different versions of their equivalent names in English. Not usually a problem until it comes to applications for British citizenship. If the applicant’s name on their English language test certificate isn’t identical to the one in their passport their application is refused, potentially costing them about £800. We learnt the hard way not to rely on students spelling their names consistently and instead ask the teachers to copy the names directly off their passports.
Non-ESOL teachers think you must be very stupid not to be able to spell your own name, but of course they don’t consider the fact that students are working in a different script, or may not even be literate in their first language.
[quote=“Petrichor”]
Back to taking a Chinese name, I see the other side of it here, where ESOL learners can use several different versions of their equivalent names in English. Not usually a problem until it comes to applications for British citizenship. If the applicant’s name on their English language test certificate isn’t identical to the one in their passport their application is refused, potentially costing them about £800. We learnt the hard way not to rely on students spelling their names consistently and instead ask the teachers to copy the names directly off their passports.
Non-ESOL teachers think you must be very stupid not to be able to spell your own name, but of course they don’t consider the fact that students are working in a different script, or may not even be literate in their first language.[/quote]
I wouldn’t think my Chinese students are stupid for not being able to spell their names at first. That’s understandable. My wife and kids’ official English name are as they appear on thier Taiwanese Passport are just their Chinese names in Pinyin. That’s the official name my wife uses when she fills out papers like Visas and whatnot. Many Chinese have easy to pronounce Chinese names(for westerners) and they opt to keep their Chinese names when in the states.
I’m frustrated with the students who take strange English name or worse, kids with normal English names that they can’t even come close to pronouncing. For conversational English class, a pronouncable name is really important.
Tommy 525… I still can’t really prounce my Chinese name well, nor write it. But, I can type it using Bo Po Mo Fa and pinyin, I can stamp it and I can recognize it. You should at least be able to recognize it on your driver’s licence or on the bills in the mail.
I need a Japanese Name… Somone sugested “Akuma” or “Ah kuma” and “Onisan”
[quote=“Petrichor”]
Back to taking a Chinese name, I see the other side of it here, where ESOL learners can use several different versions of their equivalent names in English. Not usually a problem until it comes to applications for British citizenship. If the applicant’s name on their English language test certificate isn’t identical to the one in their passport their application is refused, potentially costing them about £800. We learnt the hard way not to rely on students spelling their names consistently and instead ask the teachers to copy the names directly off their passports.
Non-ESOL teachers think you must be very stupid not to be able to spell your own name, but of course they don’t consider the fact that students are working in a different script, or may not even be literate in their first language.[/quote]
I wouldn’t think my Chinese students are stupid for not being able to spell their names at first. That’s understandable. My wife and kids’ official English name as they appear on thier Taiwanese Passport are just their Chinese names in Pinyin. That’s the official name my wife uses when she fills out papers like Visas and whatnot. Many Chinese have easy to pronounce Chinese names(for westerners) and they opt to keep their Chinese names when in the states.
I’m frustrated with the students who take strange English name or worse, kids with normal English names that they can’t even come close to pronouncing. For conversational English class, a pronouncable name is really important.
Tommy 525… I still can’t really prounce my Chinese name well, nor write it. But, I can type it using Bo Po Mo Fa and pinyin, I can stamp it and I can recognize it. You should at least be able to recognize it on your driver’s licence or on the bills in the mail.
I need a Japanese Name… Somone sugested “Akuma” or “Ah kuma” and “Onisan”
I’m frustrated with the students who take strange English name or worse, kids with normal English names that they can’t even come close to pronouncing. For conversational English class, a pronouncable name is really important.
[/quote][/quote]
My husband has encountered a ‘Sweden’ and a ‘Tick’ (wasn’t sure what kind of tick he meant and didn’t want to ask). Also, a woman who’s a little on the large side who’d named herself Teeny.
[quote=“Taiwan_Student”]
I need a Japanese Name… Somone sugested “Akuma” or “Ah kuma” and “Onisan”[/quote]
Just use your real name. You might have to rearrange the katakana to make the pronunciation more bearable, or modify your name slightly to get something easier to pronounce. My name’s got a standard Japanese transliteration of ‘Nata-sha’ (a.k.a. Na ta a sha) but I HATE it when people say my name ‘NaTARsha’… I like ‘N’tAsha’. So I write my Japanese name ‘Na ta sha’.
Occasionally Japanese people tell me I wrote it wrong… or ‘correct’ it for me without even asking @.@;;;;; I tell them to leave the line (extra a) out.
Don’t make yourself Kanji for a Japanese name, only total n00b foreigners do that. You end up with some fantastic concoction that everyone just thinks is weird and makes you look a little jiche…
Comes across just as fine as ‘Michael’ or ‘Celia’ would in Japanese.
There are sounds in almost every language which aren’t present in another, so I think the best idea would be to find an English spelling variation of your Chinese name that produces results you can bear with
My first Chinese Teacher gave me a Chinese name, when i started learning chinese back in 2008, I only changed my Chinese surname though, just before my marriage, i realized that i will have to carry this name for long time, so I asked my father in law to choose a more respectable one.
In few months i will have to choose the chinese name for my daughter…
We had a teacher at my school who went by Denmark. When he introduced himself to me I introduced myself as Germany. (I couldn’t help myself. ) He still thinks my name is Germany.
[quote=“Milkybar_Kid”]Should I give myself a Chinese name?
Here is a problem that I never imagined I would have in Taiwan, my plain old English name. I believe that my name is one of the most common names in the English speaking world (it’s biblical after all). However Taiwanese people have a real problem pronouncing it whether it’s written in English or Mandarin. (My name is the only thing I can write in Mandarin).
The problem is that people are breaking up the 2 syllables that form my name, missing out the “r” sound and making the end syllable too strong. The end result is usually a variation of “Ma…-K” instead of a smoother sounding “Mark”.
I never get annoyed or upset by this as I understand that most Chinese names use a clearly defined 2 syllables, for instance “Wan-Ting”. I was just considering if I should I adopt the same approach as many Chinese people do in the west but vice-versa.
Many application forms that I have come across here have the space for an English name and a Chinese name so why shouldn’t I have both?
Has anyone considered this or even adopted a Chinese name of their own? Or am I just being daft?
Mark[/quote]
I just had a thought in my head. Which would be more annoying, hearing your own name spoken incorrectly all the time, or choosing an alternate name which only you can’t say correctly? I’ve always been quite adamant that everyone simply use my English name and even though many people still pronounce it “Jimmy” instead of the more appropriate “Jamie” I don’t care. At least its of few syllables and so Taiwanese embarrassingly always remember my name off the bat whereas it usually takes me around five encounters with them to remember theirs.
There was a foreign girl in Tainan who told me that one a few years ago. Coincidence, or small world?[/quote]
Probably me, unless it was a freakily coincidental double-ish person. I’ve been around Tainan since September 2008, so not quite three years though! It it was me, thanks 
Also, a woman who’s a little on the large side who’d named herself Teeny.
) He still thinks my name is Germany.