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Parenting
Correcting People on Names?
How do you teach your child to correct people if they mispronounce their names? I didn't think DD#1's name was that hard. It's Alannah and she goes by Lana. Almost everything she has says Lana on it and her teacher is fine with it. Lana/Alannah is pronounced with an "a" like in lawn or yawn and I've never heard it any differently until DD#1 started activities (and yes, I've had friends/family named Alannah/Alana.) Now sometimes, DD#1 gets called Lana with the "a" like in land and her Kindy teacher did it tonight even though she asked how to pronounce it when we first got there. (It was hectic and she was meeting 23 new students. Totally understandable, but I didn't have a chance to correct her because we were leaving and she was already talking to another student.) Obviously, I'm not always going to be there to correct people now that she's in school and away from me a lot more, but how do I teach her that it's ok to correct people (like her teacher)? I honestly never thought this would be a problem because I'd never heard it pronounced any other way. I don't want her to be disrespectful, but I want her to know it's ok to correct things like this. Any ideas?
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Re: Correcting People on Names?
I would assume that name was pronounced just like Lana Turner, correct? I have never heard it any other way either.
I would think she could just say something like "Actually, it's pronounced Lana", and that would be perfectly acceptable. There is nothing disrespectful about correcting someone at all. It's her name, so it's pretty important. I have one cousin who constantly calls dd MadeLINE when it is pronounced MadeLYNN. (not spelled that way) and she corrects him nicely. I think at this point he just does it to torment her, so she has given up.
Amarah just tells them "my name is ____ ". I'm 31 and no one ever pronounces my name correctly unless they are an English teacher. It's Tasha ( rhymes with cash) but people always say the first "a" like "wash". I remember being 5 or 6 and trying to correct and adult by simply saying "no, my name is .... " and they said it WRONG AGAIN. I can say it, spell it and then they repeat it incorrectly. Most of my friends have no idea what it really is because I just save myself time and mispronounce since it always is.
Yeah, so I guess I had nothing ... lol.
Dead. Love it.
Most people don't even try to pronounce it, so I imagine they will just ask DD before attempting it.
Love it, Amiamish!
DD#1 isn't shy per say. She's really social and outgoing in that sense. But she can be very timid and hates to let people down or have people criticize her, especially in new situations. I've told her a few times that it's ok to correct people and they just don't know, but she just kinda shrugs and says she will next time. I'll work with her some more. Thanks for the ideas and the support!
I've never heard it any differently before I moved here. DH works with a Lana pronounced like land, but he didn't say anything until I started complaining about people having trouble pronouncing DD's name. They do better with Alannah, but she still sometimes gets the "land" sound in there.
Teach her to correct politely.
My name is Lah-REE-sah and it's rare that people get it right. Most pronounce it Lah-RISS-ah and it makes me crazy, but I don't even bother half the time. My friends get it right or call me Lari.
DS - December 2006
DD - December 2008
Having DD say, "Actually, my name is Lana," is not disrespectful at all. It's her name, and she deserves to be addressed correctly. She'll get more comfortable doing so, as she gets older. However, I'd totally encourage her to "own" her name now, so she doesn't become embarassed or ashamed of her name because others can't pronounce it. I was embarassed by my last name for the longest time (it's Czechoslovakian) because people could never get it right. I obviously got over that, but it wasn't until I was in college that I was confident enough to correct people.
also feel your pain...with Audrey...ok, the name is STRAIGHT FORWARD...so I thought....
But she gets called "Aubrey" SOOOOO many times its not even funny. I guess D's and B's get confusing???? I don't know. I can't figure it out. Maybe Aubrey is a more popular name right now?
Just this summer we were half way through swim lessons when she told me that her swim teacher had been calling her "Aubrey". I had to explain that its ok to correct her teacher. That its not rude to tell her teacher that she's wrong. And that her teacher will probably laugh that she has been calling her the wrong name. Sure enough, the very next class, she corrected her teacher "umm...my name is actually Au-DREEEEY" and the teacher laughed, apologized and never called her Aubrey again. Audrey was happy about the success and hasn't had a problem correcting people since.
For Audrey, I think she was just shy and scared she was going to hurt someone's feelings...but I told her that she wouldn't hurt their feelings....and she'd be happier hearing them call her by her ACTUAL name. And that I'm not always going to be there to correct people, like at swim lessons, so she needs to just tell them.
I've got the same kind of name. It's Lona, but teachers always pronounced it with a long O like in Mona. Technically they're right. It should have 2 nn's to be a short O. Lonna..My parents didn't know better.
I spent my school years correcting all the teachers on the first day of school.
Lana can be pronounced Lah-na or Lan-a..
It's no big deal. Just correct them the first time they say it and teach your daughter to do the same.