Correcting Name Pronunciation

Posted by Nancy Callan on 6 April 2019 | 2 Comments

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Thanks to Jennifer Chow for retweeting this great video clip of Hasan Minhaj teaching Ellen DeGeneres how to pronounce his name and discussing the, er, ethnocentrism involved in which names we make an effort to learn to pronounce and which we give up on: https://twitter.com/hasanminhaj/status/1113952740596768771

Of course it is important as teachers to learn to pronounce our students' names correctly. It is also important to empower students to advocate for the correct pronunciation of their own names. We teach beginner ESL students name introductions and intermediate students more complex name introductions but do we teach them how to politely correct people who mispronounce their names? 

Feel free to download this simple practice for use in your own classroom. Just click on the image below. 


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Comments

  • Great example of using the worksheet as a springboard to other name situations, Ianthe. Thanks for sharing.

    Posted by Nancy Callan, 18/04/2019 10:23am (7 months ago)

  • I tried this today and it was so much fun. It was hard for some students to come up with a wrong way to pronounce the name. I suggested they use a formal version of their name and then say: Actually I prefer to be called ...

    Posted by Ianthe, 12/04/2019 9:34pm (7 months ago)

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