Call me Bobby.

Salam,

Conversation 1:

 Me        : What's your name?

Student   : My name is Salah. Call me Bobby.

Me         : Why Bobby? You don't like your real name?

Student   : No teacher. It's just easy nickname.

Me          : Salah, I will call you by your real name because every time I  say your name I'm actually praying
                 for you right?

Student    : Yes teacher. Thank you.


Conversation 2.

Me       : Kim Suk Jeoun....Jun....?
              How do you pronounce your name?

Student : Call me Clara, teacher.

Me       : Ok. But I prefer to call you with your real name.

Student : S.U.K. J.e.e.o.u.n.

Me       : All right. It's easier for me to remember your real name because I need to know who is Clara when
              I want to key in your marks in the system.

Student : Okay teacher.


When you read both of the conversations, you might say that I'm quite stern. YES! I have to admit that it's true. I really follow all the rules and sometimes can be so rigid. However, there are times when I can bend some rules. Only when it comes to saying names or pronouncing people's names, I rather be careful. My own name is not so easy to be pronounced. I hate it when people mispronounce my name. My real name is NURADYANI and there were so many times my name became a good tongue twister for other people. That's why rather than people mispronounce my name, I prefer to be call with a shorter name but still have some meaning like NUR which means "the light".

For Muslims, we know that every time we call or pronounce somebody's name, we are actually praying for that person. That's why even if there are 3 ABDULLAH in my class, I still call of them ABDULLAH but I differentiate them by their last name. Most of the time, we will see a lot of MOHAMMAD, ABDULLA, ALI and AHMAD. Those from Iran, there are a lot of ALI, REZA or ALIREZA.

In other cultures or other religions, they also believe good names can bring you good luck. That's why even Chinese, Korean or Japanese names are hard to be pronounced, I will still try my best and learn from them on how to pronounced their names correctly. After all- YING YING, SUK TENG, HASHIMI or BAEK JUNG are not that hard. Just like another tongue twisters, you just have to get it right!

SO, what is your stand on this? Have you encountered any problem with your own name?