(no subject)

[solitudete.livejournal.com]

In the LA Times this morning, they featured a photo of four girls from Taiwan (in an article about outlet shopping). Their names are:

Cherry Cui
Jane Zhu
Mamie Chan
Tequila Song

Comments

[laurakirstine.livejournal.com]

I used to teach ESL in Taiwan, and it was normal for the kindergarten teachers to give the new students "English" names. I taught kids named Sunshine, Sunny, Cherry, Dolphin, and Smile... and I hear rumors that one kindy teacher named his whole class after characters from The Simpsons! There were also kids with relatively normal names, like Alice, Walter, Thomas, Mary, Sheri, etc. I also had a male student whose name was Erica... cruel joke, or mispronunciation?

Unfortunately, these names tend to be the "English" names the kids keep forever... I once had a student who came to Boston for ESL (going by his traditional name) and told me that his English name was Dolphin. Another said his teacher had always called him "Shine" because his last name was Shin. So, who knows where these Taiwanese girls got their names! In the case of Tequila, I have to wonder if she had classmates named Rum, Vodka, Gin (Ginny?), etc. :)

[solitudete.livejournal.com]

Ooh that's really interesting, thank you for explaining that. I teach ESL in France, and English-sounding names like Kevin and Jeremy are on the rise, but I teach high school.. so I'm not so sure I could get away with Dolphin or Tequila. Sounds like one ESL teacher in Taiwan might have had a wee bit of a drinking problem though...

[skudge.livejournal.com]

I have a cousin named Eric, but his mom always pronounces it like Erica...which is sometimes confusing because my mom's name is Erica. My family is from Taiwan.

[rorylareina.livejournal.com]

I would actually use Cherry, as a middle name, and I've been warming to Mamie recently as (yet another) nickname for Margaret.