Discussion » Questions » Language » How difficult would it be to instruct news anchors and reporters to properly pronounce Hispanic names/surnames?

How difficult would it be to instruct news anchors and reporters to properly pronounce Hispanic names/surnames?

Me-ha is NOT Mejia!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

:|

Posted - February 21, 2017

Responses


  • In principal I like the idea. I remember watching the Hawaii Triathlon in the early 1980s and the first guy out of the water was usually a Brazilian, Djan Madruga. The commentator always called him DeeJan. And, like you, I let it irritate me. 

    The problem may be that news readers speaking to a basically English-speaking audience could be misunderstood if they use correct Spanish pronunciation. I dunno ... just playing Devil's advocate. 
      February 22, 2017 12:25 AM MST
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  • Dear Randy D,

    Well idk...I take it more seriously when the reporters are getting their facts wrong, or if the mispronunciations include some obvious bigotry, I would not like it...

    Otherwise, I tend to enjoy the intercultural name mispronunciations.

    For example, in Spanish-speaking cultures my name Virginia is pronounced
    beer-HEEN-ya, and truthfully I really love it, it is such fun...I would not even want anyone to try to anglicize that...
    Plus, I always try to learn to say I LOVE YOU in every language possible, and it always brings on riots of laughter and smiles grins and fun when I bungle into that with my Yankee accent...

    YO - TAY - AHMA

    Go ahead, ask me in Russian...
    YAH - LYOO-BLOO - TEB-YEH

    French...well, how much time do you have? This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at February 22, 2017 6:17 AM MST
      February 22, 2017 12:25 AM MST
    3

  • "Not all teachers know how to teach and not all students can hear the music."
      February 22, 2017 12:49 AM MST
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  • 5835
    What is so special about Hispanic? We also get French, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Russian, and several thousand other languages. They don't all use the Roman alphabet, some vary meanings by changing the pitch of the voice, some use sounds that an English speaker can not duplicate, and some are never heard after this or that event is over.

    Complaints about language differences always remind me of the movement to print ballots in three languages: English, Spanish, and Indian. It never occurred to some people that every tribe of Indians speaks a different language, and besides, they prefer to discuss politics in English.


    What would you do with this?

      February 22, 2017 1:14 AM MST
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  • 2465
    I guess ya can't know the correct pronunciaton of EVERY name, so I don't think it's a big deal if they say it wrong. When I saw the spanish name Jesus I said Jesus Christ, ya mean there more than ONE of you???  

    Besides, there are plenty of "American" names that people get the pronunciation wrong, so I figure all other names should suffer the same fate. Lol
      February 22, 2017 2:22 AM MST
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  • 3191
    As someone whose name is mispronounced more often than not, I don't think it's a big deal.
      February 22, 2017 2:27 AM MST
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  • 2219
    The fun starts when a name is pronounced with different accents according to which side you belong. 

      February 22, 2017 2:28 AM MST
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  • 22891
    sounds pretty difficult
      February 22, 2017 9:48 AM MST
    1