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Help[Opinions] Re: Purity
in reply to a message by mirfak
Would it make any difference if you knew the parents were Laotian?
**Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam/Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine, and a side order of ham**
**Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam/Butterscotch clouds, a tangerine, and a side order of ham**
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Not massively since I’m guessing they’re in the US? Those aren’t traditional Laotian names that I’m aware of.
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Still not enough info to judge.
I guess I would think maybe it's less likely they'd be aware of, or care about, stereotypes like mine? than if they were white Americans.
But I already am not assuming I know anything about why they chose the names. It's just my own association.
I guess I would think maybe it's less likely they'd be aware of, or care about, stereotypes like mine? than if they were white Americans.
But I already am not assuming I know anything about why they chose the names. It's just my own association.
This message was edited 6/7/2020, 9:33 PM
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Can't speak for Mirfak, but ...
... if they know enough English to knowingly select Nevaeh and Purity for their children, I think I'd be inclined to assume that they knew what they were doing. This does not mean that I like either of the names they chose, but why should I? No doubt they wouldn't like my kids' names either.
I taught two Chinese brothers once who had recently arrived in South Africa from, I think, Hong Kong or maybe Sinagapore, where they'd learnt some English at school. One took the English name of Joe, which he said sounded like his Chinese name - probably Chou I suppose. The other, a remarkably good-looking boy, called himself Fen, which had the kind of glamorous teenage angsty vibe I associate with Heathcliff; when I asked him, he said he'd just flipped through his dictionary looking for a one-syllable name that started with F, and liked the look of Fen. I did consider the consequences if he'd kept looking until he encountered another F word, and was glad that he hadn't, because as his English teacher it would have been my task to explain why that was a bad idea.
... if they know enough English to knowingly select Nevaeh and Purity for their children, I think I'd be inclined to assume that they knew what they were doing. This does not mean that I like either of the names they chose, but why should I? No doubt they wouldn't like my kids' names either.
I taught two Chinese brothers once who had recently arrived in South Africa from, I think, Hong Kong or maybe Sinagapore, where they'd learnt some English at school. One took the English name of Joe, which he said sounded like his Chinese name - probably Chou I suppose. The other, a remarkably good-looking boy, called himself Fen, which had the kind of glamorous teenage angsty vibe I associate with Heathcliff; when I asked him, he said he'd just flipped through his dictionary looking for a one-syllable name that started with F, and liked the look of Fen. I did consider the consequences if he'd kept looking until he encountered another F word, and was glad that he hadn't, because as his English teacher it would have been my task to explain why that was a bad idea.
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My case was different because I taught Chinese students in China, but some of the names they picked were pretty random to say the least. I’ve had Pineapple, Unicorn and a male Susan. A girl my colleague taught called herself Boring because her Chinese name was Bao Ling (so my colleague just called her that). The one student I forced to change names was Fish. I might have been stricter if I were outside of China, or preparing students to go abroad, but since it wasn’t the case I decided this wasn’t a hill I was going to die on.
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haha thanks for the laugh, Anne!
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