2011年10月28日
Writing Japanese Names in English (Feedback)
Thanks for sharing your stories and opinions on this week's topic. I guess it is always going to be hard to pronounce the names of people from other countries correctly, but I think that it is important to try. The BBC are quite strict about this; they have experts to check on the correct pronunciation of people and places that come up in the news.
I also think that it is a good idea for Japanese people to experiment with different ways of writing their name in English. If you try different versions and ask native speakers of English to pronounce them for you, you can choose the spelling that produces the pronunciation you like best.
Anyway, here is some feedback on your comments.
Apparently, "Dice-K" will make American people pronounce his name in a way that sounds much more like it sounds in Japanese (Sorry, I just copied your phrases).
(Don't be sorry - that is the whole aim of this blog! Feel free to copy my English to your heart's content.)
One day, I asked her why she didn't want to be called with her first name.
(by her first name)
Long time never written here,
(It's been a long time since I wrote here. / I haven't written here for ages.)
that's the reason why we become necessary to write our names in Romaji
(that's the reason why it became necessary for us to write our names in Romaji)
The last entry was really interesting for me, but I didn’t have time to participate.
("Participate" is not wrong, but it is quite a formal word. "Join in" would be used more in conversational English.)
This week’s topic is another interesting one.
(Nice sentence.)
but is difficult for me to write my thought a little bit.
(but it is a bit difficult for me to write my thoughts)
If there is any better way to write Japanese names in romaji for them to understand, I would love to know!
("If there is any better way to... , I would love to know!" is a nice structure. You could use it to make lots of other sentences: e.g., If there is a cheaper place to buy food around here, I would love to know!")
But nobody could pronounce his name perfectly.
(But nobody could pronounce his name properly.)
It's an interesting topic and I see what your point.
(... and I see your point.)
I thought it can not be helped that they pronounce our names wrongly because English and Japanese are totally different.
(I don't think it can be helped that they pronounce our names wrongly because English and Japanese are completely different.)
Anyway this topic is a food for thought.
(Anyway, this topic is food for thought.)
It`s been a long time since I wrote my comment here last time.
(It's been a long time since I last wrote a comment here.)
I know the girl named えみり in Japanese
(I know "a" girl)
Before I watched the Harry Potter movie, I had thought Hermione would be pronounced ''her-me-one'' instead of ''her-my-ou-nee''.
(Actually, so did I! I was very surprised when I watched the movie!)
I know a Japanese guy whose name is Yuuki but he spells his name as Yuke,so native English speakers can pronaunce his name propery.
(Nice sentence, but I would change it a bit: I know a Japanese guy whose name is Yuuki, but he spells it "Yuke" so that English speakers will pronounce it properly.)
Although I've gotten another trouble(ぎっくり腰）since this morning
(I know how it feels to have a bad back! I hope you feel better soon.)
That's all for today. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you again on Monday.
Bye for now.
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Comments
Hi David and everyone,
David, Thanks for your feedback.
>but it is a bit difficult for me to write my thoughts)----When I wrote this, I had no idea writing "thought" in pl.
It was interesting to read other members comment, and I learned new expressions.
Hi noriko,
Oh,that's too bad! I hope you feel better soon.
As for the thing"r" and "l", I got your point.
Actually, I got a crick in my back last Monday,too. I did it when I was folding up futons...
Have a lovely weekend,everyone,
Anne
- Anne
- 2011年10月29日 06:16
sorry,it's me again.
"I had no idea writing " should be "I had no idea about writing."
- Anne
- 2011年10月29日 06:18
Hi, David
Thank you for the feedback.
Yes. It's a good idea to experiment with several ways of writing our names and ask native speakers to pronounce them.
Hi, Noriko
I don't know why, but I like to write ''Noriko'' better than ''Noliko''. My daughter's name is Haruna, and I like the spelling, too!
By the way, I also have constant backache.
It will get worse in winter, because I will do yukikaki everyday!
Anyway, take care of your back!!
Anne,
Ah, yes... Folding up futons is very dangerous for our backbones. Please have a good rest!
- panda
- 2011年10月29日 22:50
Hi David,
Thank you for the feedback. It is very helpful as always.
I thought it can not be helped that they pronounce our names wrongly because English and Japanese are totally different.
(I don't think it can be helped that they pronounce our names wrongly because English and Japanese are completely different.)
I didn't know the usage of "can be helped", I only knew negative way -"can not be helped".
Also I know in English 否定部分は前に置く（英語じょうずになる事典 p82）,but it is difficult for me to produce sentences by following this rule. I need to have more exposure to sentences of these structures.
Anyway, it's interesting to think about writing Japanese names in English.
Catch you later!
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年10月30日 05:54
Hi David,
Thank you for your feedback and message.
"Particepate" is " quite" a formal...
Official meeting or something like that is more suitable situation, isn't it?
By the way, I thought having backache in the middle of a cold/right after a cold is a bad idea.
Coughing makes your back worse.
Hi Anne,
Thank you for your message again.
Oh you did,too?
Folding up futon is a kind of reason that we have bad back!
Take care yourself,too!
Hi panda,
Thank for for the message ^^
Probably we are used to see spelling "r" in our names rather than "l" because of our romaji study.
Graphically speaking（って言わないかな）, using "r" is nicer than "l",I think.
BTW,where do you live?
Yukikaki is a kind of strict duty for people where live in yukiguni( I used to live one of deepest-snowing area in Japan)
noriko
- noriko
- 2011年11月 1日 15:27
What a fun pattern! It’s great to hear from you and see what you’ve sent up to. All of the projects look great! You make it so simple to this. Thanks
- abercrombie fitch
- 2011年11月16日 12:23
Hi David,
Thanks for the feedback. I haven't written comments here lately due to bad connection. It takes ages to have online access. Hope I will get a new pc asap.
I am going to the movies with my friends tomorrow. Have a great weekend;)
Bye for now
amo