Posted on Apr 11, 2022
A Chinese student Americanized her name to fit in. It took more to feel she belonged
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https://www.npr.org/2022/04/11/ [login to see] /college-podcast-challenge-winner
Aria Young didn't become Aria Young until she was 16 years old.
She was moving to Lancaster, Pa., from her home in Shanghai for high school. Her Chinese name, 杨沁悦, or Yáng Qìn Yuè, was "too hard for the English tongue to pronounce," Young explains in "What's in a Name," her entry for NPR's College Podcast Challenge. Judges selected Young's audio story as the grand-prize winner from 10 finalists.
In the podcast, Young, now a sophomore at New York University, tries to coach her English-speaking friends through pronouncing her Chinese name correctly. It doesn't go well.
"Imagine doing that on the first day of school in front of a classroom of people, or at a party correcting every person you meet because they just can't get it right," Young says in her podcast.
Aria Young didn't become Aria Young until she was 16 years old.
She was moving to Lancaster, Pa., from her home in Shanghai for high school. Her Chinese name, 杨沁悦, or Yáng Qìn Yuè, was "too hard for the English tongue to pronounce," Young explains in "What's in a Name," her entry for NPR's College Podcast Challenge. Judges selected Young's audio story as the grand-prize winner from 10 finalists.
In the podcast, Young, now a sophomore at New York University, tries to coach her English-speaking friends through pronouncing her Chinese name correctly. It doesn't go well.
"Imagine doing that on the first day of school in front of a classroom of people, or at a party correcting every person you meet because they just can't get it right," Young says in her podcast.
A Chinese student Americanized her name to fit in. It took more to feel she belonged
Posted from npr.org
Shanghai
New York University
Lancaster
College
Stories
Posted >1 y ago
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Interesting article (and post). Worked in Silicon Valley’s uber multicultural environment for years. Most of the folks I knew stuck with their given name, spelling and pronunciation. Leaned to master Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Pakistani, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Filipino, Middle Eastern, European and African names. Some of the smartest folks counted English as their second language and for the most part everyone got along pretty well.
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