RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

I remember getting Spanish names in middle school Spanish class. It was so fun to pick them and use them for about a week, and then everyone forgot/went back to their real names. Thankfully we escaped serving our Latino masters! 

My class actually used our Spanish names pretty much consistently, even calling one student with an English nickname (her last name, since her first name was pretty common) the Spanish version of that name. I had the same "Spanish name" from 6th grade to college, where it FINALLY showed up in the textbook (Aurora is not common).

"Taco" was a forbidden name, though.

Did you guys ever take language classes in grade school? Is my experience just that uncommon?

Nah, it's not that weird. You're not the only one. When I first started studying Korean I made a K-name for myself. It was a fun way to learn some  Korean names and maybe some of the Hanja meanings behind them. Do I go around introducing myself with my Korean name? Of course not. That's def cringey.

In my middle school classes I don't use English names because kids just used them as an excuse to come up with the most ridiculous names ever, a la "garlic" haha. So no to that. I don't think it's inherently "wrong" though as long as it's not forced. We're not working in residential schools in an effort to eradicate Korean culture here. They'll be fine if they're called Peter or Susie for 45 mins of light convo practice per week. No one should be forced to do it  though, of course.

In my high school, all the foreign language classes let you pick a foreign name.  It was just for fun, I never had an identity crisis or felt like I was being brainwashed.  I took Spanish for 2 years and each year there was a list of suggestions available though we could also ask to be called a name not on the list.  One year I was Ixtapa.  I rather liked that name. 

When I dabbled in Japanese in university, the professor called each of us by "Surname+san" and we would call her sensei. 

It's just an easy tactic for immersion which I think is fun.  At one middle school, the last KET had all the students (who wanted to) pick English names.  There were a few students who opted to just go by their Korean name but I also had some students declaring themselves things like "Lime" and "Ballzy."     I ended up learning both their Korean & English names and waffle betwixt without any student confusion. 

At the other middle school, my coT was adamantly opposed, saying that "Korean names were very important" and assumed I just wanted to give them English names because I couldn't learn the Korean ones.       My elementary coT never said as much but was very insistent on the importance of learning the kids' Korean names so I just didn't even bother bringing up the idea.

Korean names seem pretty modular to me.

"Hurr durr, you had to go and bring your opinions in here."

Yup, I have opinions. And I will share them. Feel free to ignore them.

I remember getting Spanish names in middle school Spanish class. It was so fun to pick them and use them for about a week, and then everyone forgot/went back to their real names. Thankfully we escaped serving our Latino masters! 

My class actually used our Spanish names pretty much consistently, even calling one student with an English nickname (her last name, since her first name was pretty common) the Spanish version of that name. I had the same "Spanish name" from 6th grade to college, where it FINALLY showed up in the textbook (Aurora is not common).

"Taco" was a forbidden name, though.

I don't recall if "Taco" was forbidden at my school but one of my friends got away with "Nacho" as his Spanish name 

I remember getting Spanish names in middle school Spanish class. It was so fun to pick them and use them for about a week, and then everyone forgot/went back to their real names. Thankfully we escaped serving our Latino masters! 

My class actually used our Spanish names pretty much consistently, even calling one student with an English nickname (her last name, since her first name was pretty common) the Spanish version of that name. I had the same "Spanish name" from 6th grade to college, where it FINALLY showed up in the textbook (Aurora is not common).

"Taco" was a forbidden name, though.

I don't recall if "Taco" was forbidden at my school but one of my friends got away with "Nacho" as his Spanish name 

It is legitimately a deminutive of Ignacio.

When I dabbled in Japanese in university, the professor called each of us by "Surname+san" and we would call her sensei. 

I had this same experience when I studied Japanese too.  The foreign surnames sounded so strange in Japanese due to the writing system that we all had trouble trying to figure out each other's real name outside of the classroom to the point that we sometimes just kept referring to each other as we did in Japanese class.

There was this one guy referred to as Mary-san in my class.  I swore that his last name was Mary.  I found out later it was some Persion last name.  I think it was Miahrhi.  Another guy was walking around being called Curochu-san.  I just knew that his last name was Crotch.      I never got around to asking him his real name.  I had a real good friend that was called fun-san.  I started calling him tanoshi-san instead.  Four months latter I found out his last name was Fung.  I have a slight American accent and I am sure the sensei found me screwing up everyone's names slightly comical and she never corrected me.

...Started taking antacids and the problem went away. ...

I have been keeping an eye open for Tums or Rolaids, but I haven't seen any. What are the local brands?

I can't really help you there. I stockpiled a bunch when I came over. You could try generic names; Famotidine (Pepcid) and ranitidine (Zantac) are antacid/GERD drugs and shouldn't require a prescription, calcium-carbonate chews (Tums), milk of  magnesia (Pepto). Or try to hunt down the name brands in Seoul.

Seriously, it's completely bizarre to me that it'd be characterized as " brainwashing you to serve western masters and adopt their values." It's just learning a new language and getting a language-appropriate name to use in that class.

It's not you. DeMartino has a few....issues.
As you said, every language class I've been in has done the "choose a name in _______ and use it in class" thing.
Obviously forcing names on kids and punishing them etc is stupid. But that is common sense. Unfortunately there are idiots working in this country who have done that, or idiots like Steelrails who are bitter about foreigners being in Korea and will accuse them of cultural imperialism and "brainwashing". The rest of the normal people dont care either way.

...Started taking antacids and the problem went away. ...

I have been keeping an eye open for Tums or Rolaids, but I haven't seen any. What are the local brands?

I can't really help you there. I stockpiled a bunch when I came over. You could try generic names; Famotidine (Pepcid) and ranitidine (Zantac) are antacid/GERD drugs and shouldn't require a prescription, calcium-carbonate chews (Tums), milk of  magnesia (Pepto). Or try to hunt down the name brands in Seoul.

Thanks.

I did find Zantac here, but I am looking for something quick for when I get 3 cups of coffee before eating anything.

It is part of the official English curriculum at my school.

Grade 6 English books introduce "nicknames" to the class.

From first grade, students are given the option to use their English nicknames during English class (I was surprised by the number of students who had English nicknames, not to be confused with English names).

There is no pressure, and the upside of having a nickname in the target language is pretty well understood by most educators.

I'm with Mr. Tim on this.

Seriously, it's completely bizarre to me that it'd be characterized as " brainwashing you to serve western masters and adopt their values." It's just learning a new language and getting a language-appropriate name to use in that class.

It's not you. DeMartino has a few....issues.
As you said, every language class I've been in has done the "choose a name in _______ and use it in class" thing.
Obviously forcing names on kids and punishing them etc is stupid. But that is common sense. Unfortunately there are idiots working in this country who have done that, or idiots like Steelrails who are bitter about foreigners being in Korea and will accuse them of cultural imperialism and "brainwashing". The rest of the normal people dont care either way.

While I agree that it's not such a big deal to chose an English-speaker name, I also don't see how there's any point or reason to choose a "language-appropriate" name. Most of us, when we travel, we don't just pick a name from that country and use it, we teach the people there how to say our name. Since most English-speakers' names tend to be derived from some other language anyway, I can't really understand the justification for choosing English-speaker names as a learning tool.

...Started taking antacids and the problem went away. ...

I have been keeping an eye open for Tums or Rolaids, but I haven't seen any. What are the local brands?

I can't really help you there. I stockpiled a bunch when I came over. You could try generic names; Famotidine (Pepcid) and ranitidine (Zantac) are antacid/GERD drugs and shouldn't require a prescription, calcium-carbonate chews (Tums), milk of  magnesia (Pepto). Or try to hunt down the name brands in Seoul.

Lost everything I had written for some reason 

I also had the same problem with lunch (actually dinner too but i ate less so it was okay)

Went to the doctor and I was also developing an ulcer so get it checked out and get some meds!

I also studied languages in school but we didn't have special language names. Maybe it's a North American thing? Any Brits that did.

As i said, if the person likes it then go ahead.

This girl was so happy to be able to use her Korean name so it made me soooo sad thinking that she had to use her English name in the past when she didn't like it. So it made me mad.

Seriously, it's completely bizarre to me that it'd be characterized as " brainwashing you to serve western masters and adopt their values." It's just learning a new language and getting a language-appropriate name to use in that class.

It's not you. DeMartino has a few....issues.
As you said, every language class I've been in has done the "choose a name in _______ and use it in class" thing.
Obviously forcing names on kids and punishing them etc is stupid. But that is common sense. Unfortunately there are idiots working in this country who have done that, or idiots like Steelrails who are bitter about foreigners being in Korea and will accuse them of cultural imperialism and "brainwashing". The rest of the normal people dont care either way.

While I agree that it's not such a big deal to chose an English-speaker name, I also don't see how there's any point or reason to choose a "language-appropriate" name. Most of us, when we travel, we don't just pick a name from that country and use it, we teach the people there how to say our name. Since most English-speakers' names tend to be derived from some other language anyway, I can't really understand the justification for choosing English-speaker names as a learning tool.

Personally I have never given English names to any students i've taught. here or anywhere else. I don't really think think it is a learning tool. It's more something for kids to do to make themselves more connected to the language. If not that, at least it kills a lesson for the week.

When we did Russian at school the teacher wrote 30 Russian names on the board and we had to pick with no doubles allowed. I got Pavel. In class we had to respond to the Russian name. I remeber it just being funny and kind of stupid. But many things in the classroom are funny and stupid.

If they like it its cool, but are you letting them pick or telling them to make one? If someone they didn't want to would you push it? Thats what i have a problem with. If they want it then thats their choice, I had a girl who wanted to be called garlic last year 

Agreed. If people want an English name (or any other name for their language course) then great, that's why we're here.

Making them take one and then potentially reprimanding them over failure to use it? Absolutely not.

There is nothing wrong with their name. Their name is beautiful and it represents who they are. Korean people should not have to change their names or their naming practices to make westerners feel more comfortable. This is English class, not brainwashing you to serve western masters and adopt their values class.

Yikes.

Did you guys ever take language classes in grade school? Is my experience just that uncommon? I assumed it was commonplace to get a name in a language class, since I did in different classes at different schools, but was that just a string of oddities?

Seriously, it's completely bizarre to me that it'd be characterized as " brainwashing you to serve western masters and adopt their values." It's just learning a new language and getting a language-appropriate name to use in that class.

I had to take French from grades 1-9 then I took German in University and we never got different names. Maybe it's different because they're also Latin languages.
I just teach my kids to spell their name in English on day one. We make name tags and I help them translate their names. They have those name tags every class so I can read them faster and the kids usually like to see their names in English. I encourage them to use the English on worksheets, they can copy off their name tags to start and eventually they remember it. It's harder to do with big classes but my co-teachers can usually help, and I have a slide up with the usual way to convert from korean to english.

While I agree that it's not such a big deal to chose an English-speaker name, I also don't see how there's any point or reason to choose a "language-appropriate" name.

Like Zola said, it's mostly about deepening the connection to the language. It adds a touch of immersion. It could also help introduce and familiarize them with a variety of names they might encounter when learning a name. Anyone who's ever been trying to read something in another language and asked a native what a words means, only to be told "It's a name" can probably see how that might be handy.

It isn't necessary by any means, of course. It's perfectly possible to learn a language without being given a new name. Of the six languages I've taken classes in, only four of them involved new names, and I don't think not having one was detrimental to the two classes that didn't have them (one of which was even my major  ).

I'm a big dork for language, so for me it's just a fun little thing, whether or not there's any serious benefit to doing it, haha.

Most of us, when we travel, we don't just pick a name from that country and use it, we teach the people there how to say our name.

And we also call them by their names, which tend to not be English names. Having your own new name for the class might not help you, but it'll help all the students in class who have to call you by that name. Similarly, having to call all the other students by their new names will be nice practice for if and when you visit a country where the language is spoken and have to use their names. Again, not strictly necessary, but still nice.

Since most English-speakers' names tend to be derived from some other language anyway, I can't really understand the justification for choosing English-speaker names as a learning tool.

Well I hope I've given you some ideas, then. 

It isn't my intention to convince you to start doing it, though, so don't get me wrong. Just trying to explain why others do do it.

If I was studying Russian I would want to be Ivan  .

At the old Hagwan that I worked at they got to choose names for themselves which lead to some hilarious ones. 'Fairy tinkle' will stay with me till I die  .

On a somewhat-related note, you ever get those students that treat you like you are the dumbest of the dumb because you mishear, for example, Jiyeon as Jiyeong? It's like, c'mon man, gimme a break. It's one sound off and a hard sound to catch on the tail-end of a syllable, and besides that, you're not helping with the bored mumbling voice you used to tell me your name. lol

I don't generally allow goofy nicknames like that, but being a nerd has helped me work around some of them. I had one class full of boys that all wanted superhero names, and I wasn't about to have Spiderman and Wolverine in my class, so I just told them a bunch of alter ego/secret identity/ "real" names for the heroes they liked. Tony and Steve were better than Iron Man and Captain America  .