Pronouncing Names
Pronouncing Western names can be difficult because many English letters have multiple pronunciations. When Japanese people see my name: Aidan, they often think it is pronounced アイダン。 But it’s pronounced エイデン。 Sometimes there is no way to know how to pronounce a name other than asking. HearNames.com is a web site that lets you listen to [...]
Posted by Aidan under Culture, Culture - Western, English, Pronunciation | Permalink | No Comments »Western First Names
Western first names (also called given names and Christian names) have many different meanings. Some names come from the bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and many others). If you want to find out the origin of a Western first name you can try looking at http://www.behindthename.com Many English speakers are given a middle name as well, this [...]
Posted by Aidan under Culture, Culture - Western, English, Pronunciation | Permalink | No Comments »English Family Names
English Family Names Hundreds of years ago English family names (also called surnames or last names) often came from people’s jobs or where they lived. Some examples of jobs that became family names – Baker (パン屋の主人) Smith (鍛冶屋) Carpenter (大工) Taylor (tailor, 仕立屋) Cooper (樽類製造者) Miller (粉屋) Some examples of locations or natural features that became [...]
Posted by Aidan under Culture, Culture - Western, English, Pronunciation | Permalink | No Comments »