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ArchivesRe: New York Times article on immigrants keeping names
in reply to a message by Cleveland Kent Evans
Very very interesting. My name is Agata - I've lived both in Poland and Spain... when moving to Canada in 1991 I did not have it changed to Agatha. :)
However, when my partner's mom moved here as a toddler from Portugal her name was changed from Isaura to Marie. Apparently, according to him, most Portuguese women were re-named as Marie.
The partner's name is Ryan, his sister's name is Caitlin ... and those names were chosen to blend them in...
And... I recently met a Chinese boy on the bus. His English was broken and his name was Mike. He told me that as soon as he moved here a popular name was chosen and he was simply told that his name was Mike now...
However, when my partner's mom moved here as a toddler from Portugal her name was changed from Isaura to Marie. Apparently, according to him, most Portuguese women were re-named as Marie.
The partner's name is Ryan, his sister's name is Caitlin ... and those names were chosen to blend them in...
And... I recently met a Chinese boy on the bus. His English was broken and his name was Mike. He told me that as soon as he moved here a popular name was chosen and he was simply told that his name was Mike now...
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Back in the days when my government recognised Taiwan, I got a good few Taiwanese diplomats in an English conversation class I used to run. These men were models of their profession to the point of caricature ... and back home in Taipei their English teachers had chosen English names for them, suitable for top civil servants! James, not Jim; Andrew; Stewart; Charles ... not all of them very easy for Chinese speakers, but they used them diligently at all times.
I couldn't help wondering what would happen if they were posted to, say, Iceland or India. Presumably they would still use English as a lingua franca and keep their strange Whitehall identities intact.
I couldn't help wondering what would happen if they were posted to, say, Iceland or India. Presumably they would still use English as a lingua franca and keep their strange Whitehall identities intact.
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