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

I loved these resources!  Especially the interactive one!  I found myself "trying out" several names from my past as a teacher.  
My grandfather was illiterate in English when he came from Lithuania.   He would be asked how to spell his name and would always say "just like it sounds".  This resulted in different spellings for he, his wife and both of his children.   Playing with these resources I was able to discern the possible true intention of Kaloshis/Kaloshcz/Kalosy

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? Yikes well I just discovered I have been saying 2 kids names wrong. The site how to pronounce worked the best. I just practiced like 16 kids names. I realized I need practice. Amazing resource. I will definitely recommend. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for the site references.  I will use them in the future prior to the start of any school year. I will also recommend these resources to my colleagues to use as a  reference. 
I had more luck utilizing the third site.  It was very user friendly and will be beneficial. 

I love the idea that you can be a human and admit a mistake. What great lesson to teach our students that even adults are not infallible. These resources are very helpful. I rely on my clipboard with phonetic spellings all the time! I even had a substitute leave a post it with a thank you on it. I know my students know I leave these clues as well and It sends a message that I care.

I think the "whatever you do, do something" advice is absolutely golden. I have a new Turkish student who goes by a nickname because her given name is difficult for English speakers to pronounce. It's very frustrating for her. I not only learned how to say her given name properly, I learned a Turkish greeting as well. 

I love these reference! I tried a few names of my students and didn't have much success. But hopefully I added some names for them to consider.  I like having a seating chart with phonetic spelling. I read Meg McGowan's comment on adding pronunciation for our ELLs and Former ELLs to the information we send to teachers in our building. 

I found the Pronounce Names website to have the most names of the three. I did find that at least of the names I searched for had a different pronunciation than my student uses. This will certainly be better than the shot in the dark that I usually make when pronouncing a name for the first time. I plan on checking this database in the future as new students arrive. 

I had more success with the 3rd how to pronounce website.  That website got 7 of the 8 names correct for the students in my class.  The first two websites had difficulty finding names for other cultures (i.e. Razzaq) to even attempt to pronounce.  I would certainly suggest the third website to coworkers, but remind them that only the student can tell you the correct pronunciation; this website just gives you a place to start and show you are trying.

I checked out all three sites. On the first one, every name I entered was not in the database, including my own last name. I tried several other of my student names, many were not the in the database. (I am not sure how I feel about adding their names to a database without their permission?) What great resources to be able to check our student names before the first day of school. I will definitely try these out in the future.

These websites are fantastic!  It only takes a few minutes to practice names!  I had a lot of success!  Next year, I think I'll make a column in my ENL database that has a phonetic spelling of each students' name.  The database is shared with teacher in the building and hopefully I can make it a little easier on them as they learn their new students.  The websites can be very valuable!!!

I found both the 2nd website, and 3rd website to be user friendly. I used the 3rd website more as the bar to enter names was directly at the top. I think these resources can be helpful, especially for teachers who may have no idea where to start. I still think the best option is to ask the student or their parent about the correct pronunciation.

I entered one of my students names, Alessandra, and it was mispronounced on the site. The accent is hard to determine on the website. I also entered another one of my students, Zuhoor, and found 2 examples to click. This would've been helpful for me before she came to school because I was unable to meet her ahead of time and I was panicking that I would practice it the wrong way! I had an idea in my head before I knew for sure and luckily I was right, but the site would've given me guidance. I also found a name that rhymes with my student Say'vion, so that was interesting to see!

I absolutely love these links. They are very helpful. I already do the phonetic name spelling next to my students' names. This is actually something that bothers me because sometimes I get into my head about it and second guess. Listing things right next to a kids' names saves me from having to be stressed. Honestly I sometimes just avoid last names until later in the year and tackle those on their own. This source will make this all easier. As part of our identity unit all of the kids look up their first and last names to see what they means and reflect on whether or not they feel their name adds to their personality or not. If they know what culture it comes from; if it was given or changed by the system; or if they would change it why or why not? It is a great opportunity for me to learn with them. Many of them do not know what exactly their names mean. I think I will have the kids listen to their names in their proper dialect this year.