Part 3: Pronouncing Names... How to Get it Right

After exploring the three pronunciation tools, I found some interesting differences in their usefulness for classroom settings. When I searched several of my students’ names, Inogolo recognized a few common ones but missed some of the culturally specific names. The Name Engine was fun to explore for celebrities and public figures but wasn’t really helpful for my students. HowToPronounce had the best success rate and stood out because it allows users to add new names and record pronunciations, which makes it much more adaptable for diverse classrooms. I also like the idea of asking students to help record their own pronunciations. I’d recommend this resource to any teacher who wants to create a welcoming environment from day one.

1. What do you Think??  EXPLORE these resources:  

I like that these resources exist. I think it's helpful to have a pronunciation tool so that I don't have to continually bother students about how to pronounce their names. My favorite resource was the "HowtoPronounce" website. I think that it's not only useful for learning how to say student names, but I think it could be a regularly integrated tool into the classroom.

2. Now What??  PRACTICE: Try to search for student names that are currently in your class.  After several attempts, what is the success rate?  Can you add to the databases?  Would you recommend any of these or other similar resources?

Unfortunately, I didn't have much success with the tool. I picked five student names and put them into all three of the sources. Inogolo didn't have any of the names that I searched for, so I gave it a 0/5, but it did say that it would add the name to its list for future consideration. HowToPronounce was interesting because it had 3/5 of the names, but the pronunciations were different. I think that these tools can be beneficial, but they're limited. If I have two students who spell their names the same way, but pronounce them differently, a website might not be able to accommodate that. Sometimes student names have linguistic roots that you can trace, but sometimes the names are hybrids or creatively spelled. In those increasingly common cases, a database falls short. I had a former coworker who used Flipgrid to have students pronounce their own names. Learning from the students and embracing their identities is still better than any technology at this point. 

When I first explored inogolo, it was only able to recognize one of the names from a list of students that I entered. The name engine was a bit more interesting, as I thought it was engaging to put names of famous people in. However, this only went so far, as again many of the names I put in had no results. I think the last resource, how to pronounce did the best job of recognizing different names. I was able to recognize all of the names that the other resources did not recognize. I thought it was interesting as well to learn about meanings of each name and that it had an option to add in phonetic spelling! If I had to recommend one, I would definitely recommend the last resource, how to pronounce!

I took some time to try out all three of the websites.  I tried my own name and some students I've had.  The third website howtopronounce, worked the best for me.   I think that we need to make sure we are pronouncing our students names correctly.  I think asking students and having conversations about how to pronounce their names would work best for me.

inogolo.com wasn't great. Out of the 6 names I entered, 1 was found. thenameengine.com was just as bad. howtopronounce.com was the best of the three websites that were listed. It seemed to have a larger database of names that were already in it. I would recommend this last database to others.

Unfortunately, as I explored the three resources, they did not have the names of some current and former students that I put in. It seemed like such a great tool to have, but perhaps the websites need to be fine tuned more. One resource that I have used in the past is just going on Youtube and searching the students' name with their language. Sometimes, there will be short clips of the pronunciation. For example, I searched "Jeta in Albanian" and there was a clip of the correct pronunciation that my student uses. This may be helpful to others!

I tried all three of the websites with my own name as well as some students I've had in my class.  The third website how to pronounce, had the best success rate.  Some of the Arabic names were ones I wasn't able to find on any of the sites.  I do think that we do need to make sure we are pronouncing our students names correctly, I don't know that I'd use these as some that I put in weren't the way students have pronounced their own names.  I think having conversations and showing students we care is what will work best for me.

I Checked out the three links for name pronunciation. I used my father’s name, Gennaro, to check for accuracy. Then I used three known student names, Malak, Wisam and Fatima.  My father’s name was only recognized by one of the three search engines. The Arabic names were unknown. I could have added the names to the database but that was not the reason for visiting the site. If I only have two minutes I need results now. I decided to use the link from the podcast and had favorable results. Gennaro was pronounced correctly. It also let me know this was a name common in Italy. It recognized my other entries and did a good job on letting me know how to pronounce them. I have bookmarked this site and will be sure to use it in the future.

I really like when she said "whatever you do, do something" - this is definitely so true!  I found the resources interesting and helpful.  Some of my students names were not on there, but it's definitely a start and I will utilize them moving forward.

The online resources all seem helpful and I like them all. I especially like the "How to Pronounce" one because there have been a few times that I think I am saying a name correctly; however I don't quite have the accent correctly. So this website can help me a great deal! There are always students that don't like to correct you or are used to people pronouncing their names wrong so they don't say anything, however that is the reason we need to get it right! It shows we care and they matter to us. Though these websites are great, talking to the kid will always be the best place to start!

The tools and resources offered were somewhat helpful. I didn't have much success with some of the unique names in our school.  Not many could be found. The ones that were found often had more than one pronunciation. The last site resulted in the most searches found. I think this could be a good place to start, in order to give it a good try when a new student enters your room. This will give you something to start with. The students will probably be happy that you tried and came close. This also reinforces the importance of asking the students personally how to pronounce their names.

I tried out several of my student's names from my class rosters and unfortunately, many of them "could not be found in the database".  I added Abdulqaid, and Mushfirat to the websites listed.  I am grateful that there is the opportunity to try and learn how to pronounce my student's names especially when we get our class rosters in summer prior to the first day of school.  Having some sort of starting point to go off of on that first day will be so helpful.  I also plan to phonetically spell my student's names on my class rosters for the substitute teachers so that they can also do their best to say my student's names correctly.