Name Calling

Everybody knows that calling someone by their name is important.  It just makes people feel good.  In fact, if you forget a person's name, it can be quite embarrassing.  Since I'm a teacher, I should remember the names of my students.  But it usually takes me several times to associate the person with their name, especially if I have never met them before.  I'm pretty good at this, but could be better.  I envy those who can do it well.

Names are another reason that life is hard for Americans in Vietnam.  Its something that I struggle with every single day.  Here's why.  Vietnam is a last name culture and the U.S. is a first name culture.  So its not just different - its opposite.  Most Americans have three names, but many Vietnamese have four.  This makes it even more complicated.  I'm never exactly sure which name to use.

Names in Vietnam mean something.  For example, a girl in my class has the name Nguyen Ha Mi.  It has the following meaning (Nguyen is the family name, Ha means river, and Mi is a bird that has an amazing voice).  Her grandfather chose this name, hoping that she could sing like a bird.  But she cannot, it's such a pity.  Selecting a child's name based on the meaning is not so common in the U.S.  Most Americans just look in books or on the internet and find something that sounds good.  Relatives rarely get the privilege of naming rights, but sometimes they get the honor.

It depends on race, but most names in the U.S. are gender specific.  Not so in Vietnam.  Guys and girls can have the same name.  This makes it really difficult, especially if I see the name in print and cannot put a face with it right away.  Just imagine caller ID showing you a name, but you don't know who it is because several people have the same one.  For example, Nguyen is a common name in Vietnam.  But sometimes its a last name and sometimes its a first name.  Can it be any more confusing?

Yes, because of the pronunciation.  If you hear someone's name several times, you usually can repeat it.  However, once you see the same name in print, it's a nightmare.  You can just forget about our rules of pronunciation.  For example, Thuy is a common name in Vietnam.  I can hear you now saying something like "Thoo."  Guess again, its pronounced "Twee."  Nguyen is pronunced "Win."  See what I mean?  And these are easy names.  One should learn to control their imagination over names such as Dung or Bich.

Its a good thing that most Vietnamese are forgiving because this is one of my biggest challenges.