what an idiot lol

Most Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and Korean people already do it though. I meet very few who introduce themselves with their ethnic first names.

stoked wrote:

Yeah, we totally need this thread. We really do.

Texas lawmaker: Asians should change their names to make them ‘easier for Americans to deal with.’

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/brown-asian-names/

The only thing that comes to my mind: what. the. ****!   

What an 田舎者!  Although, to be fair, this kind of attitude is not limited to either Texas or the US.  Until rather recently, if you wanted to become Japanese and get your own 戸籍, it required you to adopt a Japanese surname.  This was a real sore point for Koreans on "permanent loan" since the war who wanted to become nationalized Japanese but retain their family names.

Times are changing in Japan, however.  There is at least one proposal in the Diet to allow foreign nationals to become Japanese *without* giving up their foreign citizenship -- something that hasn't happened yet, but an idea I never expected to get as far as the national legislature.

Gingerninja wrote:

actually now that you mention it.. the propieter (spelling) of my closest Chinese restaurant is called Tony..   

I can't believe i didnt put much thought into it.  I knew fine that a lot of Chinese People change there First name in English speaking countries.  So much so, the fact that i knew that, slipped my mind when i saw that article.   
So she wants them to do something a lot of them do already.. odd.

She should really be pinned down on what, exactly, she means by "Americans" when she says making it "easier for Americans to deal with."  The demographics, they be shifting under that Texan's feet, and I imagine there is room enough in her mouth for the other one.

Yes but it is hard to remember a name if you don't know the respective language.
For example, try studying history where you have to remember all these random sounding names, Kim O'k Kyun, Pak Yong Hyo, So Chae Pil bla bla bla, these were ******* impossible to grasp until I learnt hangul, likewise with Japanese names, Itou Hirobumi, Fukuzawa Yukichi, Minobe Tatsukichi, Nishida Keitaro, Nishitani Keiji, Abe Masao I would have not been able to spit out these names out of my head had i not known the language. They won't stick unless you know the language.

I'm not saying that it is impossible, it just requires 0 effort when you know the language.

When i do meet someone who is not white, and they spit out some anglo name, I usually ask for their 'real' name, heck even the hanzi for it if they can. I angloify my name too because i know how difficult it can be for someone to remember my name. I do this out of both respect and interest since i abhor anglo names.

Smackle wrote:

Learning names is not learning a language.

Of course is not. It is knowing the language in any case.

liosama wrote:

Yes but it is hard to remember a name if you don't know the respective language.
For example, try studying history where you have to remember all these random sounding names, Kim O'k Kyun, Pak Yong Hyo, So Chae Pil bla bla bla, these were ******* impossible to grasp until I learnt hangul, likewise with Japanese names, Itou Hirobumi, Fukuzawa Yukichi, Minobe Tatsukichi, Nishida Keitaro, Nishitani Keiji, Abe Masao I would have not been able to spit out these names out of my head had i not known the language. They won't stick unless you know the language.

I'm not saying that it is impossible, it just requires 0 effort when you know the language.

When i do meet someone who is not white, and they spit out some anglo name, I usually ask for their 'real' name, heck even the hanzi for it if they can. I angloify my name too because i know how difficult it can be for someone to remember my name. I do this out of both respect and interest since i abhor anglo names.

All I speak is English and most every name I can think of from the states are pretty much all Hebrew.  I think it's more what you are used to than anything to do with the language.  About the only English names I can think of off the top of my head are White, Bridges, Brown, Black, and mine, Green.

kazelee wrote:

All you have to do to remember a name is make an effort, regardless of the language (even if it's stupidly long).

kazelee wrote:

Pronunciation, though, is an entirely different matter.

QED.

Pronounciation and remembering a name are synonymous. In essence, a name is the purest form of a phonetic, though there are meanings for them they existed centuries ago and were meanings in other languages bla bla. Nouns are nouns.
So if you can't pronounce a name, it will be difficult to remember.

If you can't see the outline of steps in a computer game like quake 3, you can't walk up the steps

kazelee wrote:

It's easy to attach learning a language with the names becoming easier, but these are two independent matters. The reason these names became easier to remember is most likely because you were hearing them more often. You could, very well, strip away the language learning aspect, but keep the frequency which you hear these names and... recall them.

They become easier because one has lego pieces which they can build a name out of. I'm saying that you get a closer connection to a name if you study the language. When i was studying history I'd get a better emotional attachment to a name for a language i studied. I'm an engineering student so i've come across plenty of french, german, names which have come in great frequency, but when i see a Japanese one i draw in my head possible kanji associated with the name, kana bla bla, whereas german or french for example i can't get a complete grasp of since the only french and german i know is the stereotypical accents i hear of them.

kazelee wrote:

If someone's gonna forget your name... as most will... why Anglofize it? You'd do yourself a favor just throwing out your "foreign" name. I imagine, if the person has genuine interest in you, the conversation would be something like...

Do to a certain amount of forced rehearsal, introducing an unfamiliar name could likely result in the person remembering your better than if you just said, say, Jen or Matt. ]

I remember names when they are most unique yes, but not everyone is like you or me. People forget names, some tend to remember names that sound unique, while others learn by association.
Well i have other reasons for anglofizing my name, but people still forget it, even if i introduce myself as my real name or angloed one, i don't need to work on my self introduction or anything else, but thanks for the tip

And to the question on why i abhor anglo names, because i just do. I can't stand them, they are plain dull boring ugly.

@OP

I find the fact that this news is shocking to some to be the most shocking. Seriously, my name is a long combination of butchered English, French, and Hebrew and I'm black...or rather, Afrikan-American.... I'm a walking talking example of what sort of oddities this level of ignorance can bring about.