Name pronounciation

Say my name

the importance of correcting name pronunciation

The general feeling when chatting to current international students about feeling integrated in this country, this town, and this university is overwhelmingly positive. It seems that we’ve got something good going on here.

However, in those instances where the responses weren’t very positive, I found myself wondering what was falling through the cracks of our seemingly welcoming culture. While the university tries its best to cater to every student, because we’re all so different, you will find a couple of people that you really don’t like, and they can be outright discriminatory.

For example, one of the biggest issues that came up in research was name pronunciation. More specifically, it’s the matter of people not pronouncing your name properly. This is a problem for many South Africans too, to the point that it’s become a meme. As an international student you’ll find that your name might not ‘fit’ into the standard vocabulary that exists both in terms of administration and academics, and of the social mindset of your fellow university students. You have too many names or not enough. You spell your name differently. You say it different. It’s a name no one has ever heard or used before. Then for the next three years you have acquaintances mispronouncing it, lecturers frowning at it on a list, and then your dean butchers it at graduation. It seems a simple thing, but it can really feed into this idea that ‘we’re different’ and not in a good way. Addressing a mispronounced name from the get-go in a respectful way to acquaintances and staff is a positive way to communicate that your character is strong and that you’re proud of your identity as an international student.

Being different, and in this case, having a different style name and can be remarkable. One of Rhodes University’s biggest selling points is that it’s a place to‘meet new and diverse people.’ International students are a huge part of the diversity on campus, and that’s amazing. Being diverse is great! Living away from home, in a different country, will help you learn and grow as a person and a student; as well as allow you to educate the wonderful people you’re going to come into contact with about your home.