How to say your name in English [without having to repeat it!]

Hey, it's Hadar. And this is the accent's way. And welcome to the say youy Name Mini training.

My French name is Alexomo ifa.

My name is Kerry Mostafa and you.

Can call me Aziza.

My name in Spanish is Manuel.

My name is Ben or Saiven.

My friends all the time spend joke.

To me with my name.

Y a s M I N a not Jerome.

Jerome, Andrea, Mohammed, Bustani, Josue, Anna A.

N A my German name, Bjerg.

In the previous video, I asked you to send me a video of yourself saying your name in your native tongue and then your name in English or the way you say it in English. What we're going to do today is I'm going to explain to you how English works and how you should say your name in way that is going to be clear for American speakers so they'd be able to repeat it right away and to say it accurately and not invent a totally new name. When you think of saying your name in English, there are two things you need to think about. One is the stress where the primary stress of your name is, and two, the sounds in which you're using to say your name. Now, when it comes to stress, you need to understand something about the stress system of American English. Every word has one syllable, one unit. The smallest unit in the word that sticks out the most. It is always longer, louder and higher in pitch. Now that's something very, very important to remember because not every language has this clear distinction between the syllables. So for example, when I say my name Hadar in Hebrew, then for me it's very clear that the primary stress is on the second syllable. But the way I'm stressing it would be uncle speakers, because I'm just saying a little louder, they're expecting to hear the primary stress a little longer and higher in pitch. This is why I would change the way I'm saying it. So instead of saying hadar, I would say hadar. I prolonged it and I went higher in pitch. I also changed the vowel that's the original way I'm saying it into a different vowel, American vowel, hadar. Which leads me to number two, how you say your name using American sounds. So once I know what the primary stress is, I need to hear the sound that I'm making. In my case it's going to be and change it into American sound. Ah, I back open. Ah. So I'm not saying I'm saying hadar. Now going back to stress. Once I establish what the primary stress is, the rest of the syllables either receive a secondary stress, which is a pure vowel, or a weak stress, a schwa. Now, usually in names with two syllables, what I recommend is to just figure out what the primary stress is and then reduce the second syllable like I do with my name, Hadar. I'm not saying something like hadar here. I used two pure vowels. One was a secondary stress, the other one was a primary stress, but it felt to me too long and too exaggerated. This is why I just decided to focus on the primary stress and reduce the beginning hadar. Okay, so once we establish what the primary stress is, we need to figure out what. What vowel we're using and what is the closest vowel in American English. And then with the rest of the syllables, decide if you want to reduce some of the syllables to a schwa, this really neutral sound, or turn them into vowels in American English, but not to stress them so much. Now, I know it's still not super clear, and because of that, I asked you to send me your videos, and we're going to look at the videos and some of the names and learn how to use the system to say the names in American English.

Hey, Hajar. My name is Yasmina. Y A, S, M, I, N, A. Though Americans usually pronounce it as Yasmina, which is not really an issue for me. Like, I get it. Close enough.

Okay, so first of all, we're going to talk about your first name. Americans say Yasmina. They change the primary stress because you put the stress on the second syllable or just Mina. Right. So you can insist on that by just prolonging the primary stress, Justmine, and then reduce the last part into a schwa. The first syllable can either be sound, as in yes, or a J sound. J. J. Right. So. So both are okay, but they need to know they can't have that middle sound. Now, let's continue.

The real problem here is that I'm from Dominican Republic, and so I have two last names instead of one. So my full name is actually Yasmina Romero Liberato.

Okay. Yasmina Romero. Romero. So the reason why it's not clear is because they don't detect that sound, some of them. So you need to turn it into an American R. Since there is no pure O sound. It's either. It should either be a schwa or a long O. I wouldn't say something like ro me row, but I would turn it into a schwa. Romero. Romero. And then close it with a long O sound at the end. Not Romero, because you never end A word with o in American English, since it's at the end, I would turn it into a long o. Romero. And also with liberato, the way you say your last name or your third name. Here again, I would turn it into liberato, liba, schwa, ra, to a strong T, and then a long o, as in go, not o, but oh. Let's listen to Aziza Tumwafa from Indonesia.

This is the way I pronounce my name in my native tongue. Azizat Muafa. Azizat Muafa. And you can call me Aziza Aziza.

So let's just focus on your nickname or the first name, Aziza. So in your native tongue, you're saying something like aziza. So there are two stresses. Ta, da, ta. And then you set it again as aziza. I would focus on that and then place the primary stress on the second syllable, Z, which has to be a long E sound. So pull your lips to the sides and then just reduce the beginning and ending syllables. Aziza. Aziza.

Hello, Hadar. The name of my country is Chile, and my name in Spanish is Manuel. I hope you can help me how to pronounce that name in English. Thank you a lot.

Okay, Manuel, the primary stress in your name falls on the last syllable, l. Now, in American English, there is no clear, clean L like Spanish does. So it's not el. It's going to be L. The first syllable in Spanish is man. Man. In American English, it's probably going to turn into a man. For the first syllable is man. The last syllable is l, and the middle syllable is going to be a really short oo sound. Manuel. Manuel. Manuel. Remember to make it a dark L at the end. Birgit from Germany.

Hello.

I really hope it works. So let's start with my German name, Birgit. There is an R sound, but we are kind of lazy, and we don't pronounce the R sound. So. And I have no idea how to say that in English.

Okay, so, Birgit, let's talk about your name in English. First of all, let's establish what the primary stress is. When you say it, it sounds like the first syllable is the primary stress, bir. Get. In German, it's also longer and higher in pitch, which is great, so don't change a thing. Once we establish what the primary stress is, let's understand the sounds and how we can turn them into American sounds. So obviously, there is no in American English, so we want to turn it into the R sound. So here you have two options. Either Take it to ear, as in dear. Always find anchor words or similar words that sound to you like the way you would say it in your native tongue. So here. Ear, as in dear. Beer. Beer. Okay, beer. Get. Another way to do it is just use the er, as in stir in the beginning. Burgit. Burget. Now let's hear Andrea or Andrea from Brazil.

Hi, Hadar. I love your videos. I'm speaking from Brazil. Here in Brazil, we speak Portuguese and my name is Andrea. I really don't have much problems when saying my name abroad. I just say Andrea and it seems that everybody understands it. But my husband's name, which is Renato. Renato. R, E, N, a T, O. It's kind of hard to them to understand it.

Of course it's hard because you're not using the American R, you're using the Portuguese R, J. Although it's beautiful, Americans won't figure it out. They won't get it's an R sound. So immediately you turn the first sound into an r, and then right after we have the n. Now the N in Portuguese and American English is exactly the same, thank God. So just pronounce an n sound and then turn the into ah, an open ah sound, because that's the ah of American English. Rena. And then a t sound. And since there is no O, just turn it into a long o sound. Close it up with O. Renato. Renato. Some Americans may say renato when they say it really, really quickly, but you guys can insist on pronouncing the true T. Renato. Let's listen to Muhammad in native language. Mohammed.

Mohammed in English, is it? Right?

Thank you. So, Muhammad, when we want to say your name in English, we want to think about where the primary stress is. In this case, it's right. Now, in terms of pronunciation, there is no H sound. So we'll turn it into the closest sound in American English, which is an H sound. Ha ha. The beginning syllable is super short, even in Arabic. So I'll definitely turn it into a schwa in English and then close it with another schwa at the end. Muhammad. Muhammad, let's listen to Elena from Honduras. Hello, Hadar. I'm from Honduras or Honduras. And my name is Elena. Elena. And my other name is Escarret.

Escarret.

Okay. Elena. Beautiful name. So in your first name, Elena, we need to figure out what the primary stress is. So you're saying something like Elena. Now, the primary stress falls on the sound. Usually a long sound turns into the a as in day. This is why I would Say Elena and not Elena. Now, it's still going to be clear to American speakers if you say Elena, but if you change it into Elena, it's going to be even clearer because they're used to hearing that long E as the A as in day. So that would be the primary stress. Now, the other two syllables are pure vowels. The beginning is e and the ending is. I would turn them into a schwa. Elena. Elena. The second name in Spanish is pronounced as escarlet, because you don't pronounce the sk consonant cluster right, so you always add an E. Now, that never happens in American English. So I would recommend practicing this consonant.

Cluster.

And then open it up to the ah, as in father scar, because it's part of the R as in car vowel. So I would definitely not go for a R sound. Escarlet.

Right.

And I would try and work on the R sound. And from the video, I know that you know how to use it because you just said Honduras with a beautiful American R sound. I'm from Honduras, or Honduras be frit ko il navier. And in English, it's avial. Okay, so in Hebrew, you say aviel. In English, aviel. You change the primary stress, while in Hebrew it's aviel. The primary stress is at the end. I wouldn't change it to Aviel. People may say it like that when they read your name, but if I were to say it, I would put the stress at the end, trying to be as loyal as possible to your name. So I would do something like a viel. Aviel. So the first syllable is just going to be a schwa, the second syllable a high E, V. And then the primary stress, the longest syllable is at the end, L, with a dark L. V, L.

Hello. Hadar. Or I might risk and say hadel.

Hadar.

That's correct. Yeah. Well, anyway, I usually pronounce my name as Mihail. This is how it sounds in Russian. Mikhail.

Mikhail.

And when people ask me my name here in Australia, my reply is usually Mikhail. That's my adjustment.

Okay. Mikhail. That's a fantastic way to say your name in a way that is clear to American speakers, because there is no K sound in American English. So the closest sound for you would be a K sound. Another option would be an H sound, but just reduce the middle vowel like you did and turn it into mi. Ko is perfectly fine. So you're actually doing a really good job. Okay, so that's it for now. Here's what we tried to achieve. We looked at different names of different people from around the world and saw what is the focus when we try to say it in American English. What we discovered is that the most important thing is the primary stress and that is the one syllable that sticks out the most in your name. And this syllable should be pronounced a little longer and a little higher in pitch than the rest of the syllables. Once we establish what the primary stress is, look at the sounds and find the American or the English equivalent. So if you have a H sound or a R, turn it into American R. Same thing with it's not O, it's going to be O or ah. So we need to learn what the equivalent sounds are and to turn them into the right American or English sounds. And as you can see, there are a few options because for every neutral vowel in your language, you might have one or two similar vowels in American English. So you can choose from whatever sounds best for you. Okay, so I know this doesn't cover all names all around the world, but maybe you can use this system to help you say your name. Okay, that's it. Let me know in the comments below if you figured out how to say your name in a way that is going to be clear for American speakers. And if not, write your name and I promise I will help you and thank you for all of you who sent me comments and messages. I love you all and have a great week and I will see you next week in the next video. Bye.