What do you Think?? REFLECT: Perhaps you have a name or you can recall a classmate with a difficult name to pronounce. Predictably, year after year, teachers butcher the same name. What was the outcome? Was it awkward, long-lasting, humiliating? What was the impact??
My child's name is Natalia. I named her that because it ethnic to her culture and presumably easy to say in English. Or so I thought. Most Spanish names need that umph to be said correctly and I thought I had found that in her name. Teachers would call and ask me if I was Na-tah-Lee-ya's mom. Or even just say Natalie. My poor mother in law calls her Nuh-taaaal-yuh almost as though she were southern. My daughter would reply is Nah-tal-lea. She didn't like having to tell someone more than once. I think the worst for her was when people tried to over Spanish it and it sounded like something off of a telenovela. Eventually she gave up correcting people but she deserves to have her name properly announced.
Now What?? How might you become a “calibrator?” What steps will you take this school year to learn student names properly in your class? (avoid a side-show!)
I have indeed pronounced names incorrectly in the past. At my last school I had a student named Ghayeth. I said it wrong so many times he kindly said just call me G. When I came to Sweet Home I also had a Ghayeth and I was so blessed to have students kindly correct me. I know its important and I want to give them the respect of saying their name properly. I was saying Guh-Hay-eth. It's actually pronounced as like one and a half syllable and the G and H together but not the English sound of GH. I wish I could find my previous student and show him that I finally learned to say it correctly. I will continue to learn how to say my student's name properly by practicing and showing a genuine desire to learn.
