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[Opinions] well-said ..
most people with any home training at all make at least a sincere effort to get people's names right; however, some sounds just don't translate very well.
And it's not just a failing among Anglophones, if it's even a failing. One of the ladies who owns the nail salon where I like to go is Vietnamese (actually all the staff is) and she's never been able to manage my name. She makes an effort but she can't get much closer than something that sounds like Sahlah. Her name is Kim, and I probably don't say it exactly the way she does either. It's just one of those things.You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts. -- Daniel Patrick Moynihan
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there's a huge, huge difference between someone being literally unable to say a foreign name because they cannot make the sound, and someone being "unable" to say it because they're so baffled by it/make no effort. obviously, i do not blame anybody for their accent. i'm honestly surprised you don't understand that simple difference. and for the record, "Sigalit" does not involve any sounds that don't translate well into English, or that are even strange to English.i myself had a speech impediment when i was a kid, and couldn't say a few common English sounds (though it's my first language). far more effort was expected of me to say words that were near impossible for me than anyone gave to pronounce my or my family's names. and i had the easiest first name of all my siblings, one that happened to make sense by English rules as well. yes, most people with home training do make a sincere effort (again, that's my whole point, the matter of effort) but unfortunately, many Americans don't get this kind of training. consideration is not common enough an American value.
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