Over the weekend I played a fun getting-to-know-you-better game with my own children. We each wrote ten questions, and then guessed how we thought the other person would answer. I was surprised to discover that my son knew me better than my daughter (based on the ten questions I picked). It didn’t surprise me that my kids knew each other better than I knew them!
One of the questions I included on my list was, “What’s your favorite name?” My kids thought it was hilarious that I chose my own name (Tara) as my favorite name. My son guessed that I would pick my daughter’s name (firstborn) and my daughter guessed that I would pick the name of the main character in the novel I wrote. The truth is, your own name is the sweetest name you’ll ever hear (even if you don’t love it). According to research, if a business uses your name, and pronounces it correctly, you are more likely to go back and do business again. You are also more likely to make friends with a person who remembers your name (and says it properly). Hearing your own name pronounced incorrectly (or having someone call you the wrong name), however, has the opposite effect.
If your students are just learning each other’s names, or if you’re starting a class with a new group of students, explore some different ways to practice the pronunciation of each other’s names. Here are some fun activities to try:
My Favorite Name
First, ask your students to write down their favorite name on a scrap piece of paper. Tell your students that you won’t take any questions (some students will want to ask if they can choose their own name). Next, ask your students to hold up their papers. Count how many people picked their own name and have a discussion about it.
1. What do you like about your name?
2. What don’t you like about your name?
3. What name would you choose if you could have any other name?
4. What nicknames do people give you?
If your students have been in class together for a while, you can also have them write other questions, as I did with my kids, to find out how well they know each other.
Phone a Friend
Bring in a cell phone or toy telephone to class. Have kids sit in a circle. The first person holds the phone and asks to speak to the classmate to his/her right:
George: Hi, this is George. May I speak to Alyssa, please? (passes the phone to his right)
Alyssa: (takes the phone) Hi, this is Alyssa. May I speak with Juan, please?
If the student doesn’t know the name of the person to his right, he can say any name he can think of. If the name is wrong (or pronounced incorrectly), the other student says:
Alyssa: Sorry, you have the wrong number. This is Alyssa, not Alicia.
Then Alyssa takes the phone and asks for the person to her right:
Alyssa: Hello, this is Alyssa. Is…Luke there please? (She doesn’t know the boy beside her.)
Mario: Sorry, Luke isn’t here. This is Mario. Is Jaunita home?
Crazy Name
Bring in a real microphone, or make one that can be reused again and again. Maybe you can find a big blow up microphone, or perhaps you can make one with a paper towel roll and a balloon. Tell all of the students to close their eyes. Tap one student on the back. That student should think of a crazy or silly name like “Dr. Hamburger”. Pass the microphone around the circle and have students introduce themselves. All of the students will use their real names, except the student you tapped. Remind your students to repeat the classmate’s name who came before:
Hello. My name is Luisa, what’s your name?
Hi Luisa. My name is Frederica, what’s your name?
Nice to meet you Frederica. My name is…Yabba Dabba Doo!
After the crazy-named person introduces herself, have students close their eyes again. Tap on a different student’s back until everyone has had a turn to invent a name.
Name Interviews
When I was a kid, I wished my name were spelled the way it sounded: “Terra” /teərʌ/. Even though my name is fairly easy to pronounce, there are two different ways to pronounce it. Most people from Europe pronounce it “Taruh” /tɑ:rʌ/ (British) or “Tahruh” /tærʌ/ (Scottish). Girls with rhyming names like “Cara,” “Sara,” and “Zara” have the same problem.
I always tell my students that the first syllable in my name rhymes with “air” or “bear”. I also tell them my name sounds like the word Terra, meaning Earth. Do your students’ names rhyme with anything? Are there small words inside their names that rhyme with familiar words? Finding rhyming words or little words inside names can help people remember how to say names properly. Here is a PDF you can print and use in class. (There is space for 12 names.) Explore the meaning of each other’s names and write down any tips or rhyming words that will help with the proper pronunciation. Give your students some time to circulate around the room with the interview sheet. Here are some questions they could ask:
What’s your name?
I’m not sure how to pronounce your name properly.
How do I say your name, again?
What does your name mean?
Does your name rhyme with anything?
The Name Game (A Song)
“There isn’t any name that I can’t rhyme.”
The classic Name Game song is a lot of fun for kids. Don’t forget to teach them the rule that is “contrary”. (Drop the B, F, or M for names that start with those letters.) Here’s my verse:
Tara!
Tara Tara Bo Bara
Banana Fana Fo Fara
Fee Fi Mo Mara
Tara!
Sort the Names
Sorting vocabulary words can be loads of fun in class. Give a group of kids a list of words, and there’s no limit to what they can do with them. Sorting a class list of names can be just as fun as sorting vocabulary. Here are some different ways students can sort each other’s names:
Sort alphabetically
Sort by length
Sort by names that are easy to pronounce vs. difficult to pronounce
Sort by gender (some names will be unisex)
Sort by familiar vs. unfamiliar (Which names are new to your students?)
Sort by season or some other unrelated topic (Which names feel like summer names? Challenge your students to come up with their own sorting category.)
Create a Vame
Vame is a fun website where students can record the correct pronunciation of their name. They can also upload a picture and include their nationality and list the languages they can speak. Here’s mine! (An email address and log in is required.) You could also browse some of the names that are already on the site. There are some that your students will find difficult to pronounce.
Practice Difficult Celebrity Names
Sometimes it helps to show your students that native English speakers also have trouble with names! Here is a fun slideshow you can work through together: How To Pronounce 25 Difficult Celebrity Names Cover up the pronunciation tip. Then ask your students to raise their hands if they think they can pronounce the name properly. After a few guesses, show the tip and pronounce it together.
Explore One Random Name
If your students need more practice pronouncing English names, gather around One Random Name, and try to pronounce the names that come up! Students could also use these names to create characters for stories. If you or your students need help pronouncing a name, check out 4 Websites To Help You Pronounce Names Correctly.
Name the Baby or Mascot
Bring in a doll or stuffed animal, and challenge your students to come up with a name for it. Put your students in pairs or small groups and hand out baby name books (find them at the library) or use mobile devices/computers to look at baby name sites. Your students will have to:
1) Decide on a name.
2) Teach the class the proper pronunciation of the name.
3) Teach the class the meaning of the name.
4) Explain why this name is a good fit for the toy.
Name of the Day/Week
Instead of choosing a student as a “Star of the Week” try having a “Name of the Week”. The student whose name is picked can be in charge of helping his classmates get to know his name better. Here are some things to explore:
- Proper pronunciation of first and last name
- Meaning of first name
- Words that rhyme with the whole name (Tara=Farah) or part of the name (Tar sounds like bear, hair, share, NOT tar, car, far)
- Number of syllables
- Famous people with this name
- How the student got this name. You could even challenge your student of the week to make a webcam video: The Story of My Name
Related
Find Sprout English’s Spotlight Phonics lesson in the Phonics Cafe – Book 4.
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I always get people calling me “Tonya” instead of “Tanya”! It doesn’t bug me though, but it gets embarrassing if the same person keeps doing it and I have to keep correcting him/her!
When I was a kid, I used to really dislike it when people used the wrong pronunciation of my name. When I became an English teacher, I began to understand all of the different accents. I also learned how difficult it is to pronounce names properly. These days I am constantly looking up the proper pronunciation of names when recording podcasts for English learners.