How do you pronounce Nguyen? I've always thought it was "win", but I've also recently heard it pronounced "nuwin".

12/29/2010 10:48:48 PM

When.

12/29/2010 10:49:04 PM

Its nuwhen

its a popular vietnamese name. I have 2 co workers with this last name.

12/29/2010 10:50:58 PM

Keep in mind that the "ng" sound in the English language is one phoneme, similar to "m" or "n" but without its own single letter; similarly, sh, zh, and both varieties of th are single phonemes represented by two letters.

With that in mind, I had long thought it was "NGOO-yenn" but in fact it's "NGWEE-enn"

12/29/2010 10:54:31 PM

I asked the same question to a Vietnamese friend a decade+ ago, and she explained how to make the 'ng' sound. Several white friends who happened to be around, tried, but failed to make the sound. Fortunately for me, the exact same sound is also found in my language. If you haven't grown up with a sound, you can't make it as an adult.

For those who can't she had this tip: Think of the sound your mouth makes after the 'l' and before the 'g' sounds in the word 'long'. Take that sound and use it as the beginning sound for names such as Ngoc, Nguyen, etc.

12/29/2010 10:54:31 PM

I've always thought it was like this

12/29/2010 10:55:28 PM

I dated an Asian chick for a while, she was kinky, let me blindfold her with some dental floss

12/29/2010 10:59:39 PM

^DASS RACISS

Quote :

"If you haven't grown up with a sound, you can't make it as an adult."

U SRS?
It may take some thinkin' but I'm sure an Anglophone can train him- or herself to make some foreign-like sounds, like that clicking sound in Xhosa, or the ü and ö in German (respectively, about halfway between EE and OO, and about halfway between EY and OH).

On the other hand, I've never been able to manage the trilled r (it always sounds like "dullur" or "dullullullullur" with the number of "ull"s depending on the length of the trill), the nasalized vowels of Portuguese, the distinction between palatalization and non-palatalization in Russian, or the concept that vocal tone is semantic in East Asian languages.

[Edited on December 29, 2010 at 11:02 PM. Reason : phoreal y0

12/29/2010 11:02:12 PM

Where did Dat Nguyen play in college?? It was a Texas team...I want to say UT. But the announcers always pronounced his name "nuwin". He played for the Cowboys for a few years...had a motor.

12/29/2010 11:04:25 PM

Texas A&M

12/29/2010 11:05:01 PM

A&M

[Edited on December 29, 2010 at 11:05 PM. Reason : too slow]

12/29/2010 11:05:19 PM

Quote :

"U SRS?"

OK, I meant some, not all of them. Some of them, yes you can learn, but a lot of them, you can't. English has some of the simplest sounds of all the languages.

12/29/2010 11:17:48 PM

i knew a girl who pronounced it "nu-gen"

12/29/2010 11:19:25 PM

That's what happens when you know dumb bitches son.

12/29/2010 11:22:19 PM

I always "when" but I'm only half Asian, so what the fuck do I know?

12/29/2010 11:25:27 PM

This:

Quote :

"Keep in mind that the "ng" sound in the English language is one phoneme, similar to "m" or "n" but without its own single letter; similarly, sh, zh, and both varieties of th are single phonemes represented by two letters. With that in mind, I had long thought it was "NGOO-yenn" but in fact it's "NGWEE-enn""

The easiest way for a white person to say it is "nuh wee en." That isn't exactly right but at least you won't sound as stupid as when you say "win" or "when."

This reminds me of people who say the "ph" in Phnom Penh is silent. I'm all like "Motherfucker, my mom's khmer, don't tell me I pronounce things wrong."
If you don't grow up learning to make certain sounds then not only is it hard to say, but it is hard to hear that sound too. Thus many people leave those parts of the words out completely.

[Edited on December 30, 2010 at 12:04 AM. Reason : ]

12/30/2010 12:01:40 AM

i'd always say it like "nee yen" (or something)

12/30/2010 12:03:17 AM

this is america, i don't have to pronounce last names like that

if you ask me they should change their last names to something us americans can say easily

AMERICA 4 AMERICANS

12/30/2010 12:05:15 AM

12/30/2010 12:06:09 AM

Quote :

" if you ask me they should change their last names to something us americans can say easily "

My last name is supposed to be Liu. It is legally Liv due to a spelling error when my parents came to the US and we've gone with that. It's pronounced like "I live in Durham, motherfucker."
Apparently changing it to such a simple name was not good enough. It gets butchered all the time. At the very least you get an awkward pause when someone is about to say it. Most often I'm called live (as "the news is live") but there's also levy, levi, and some others.

[Edited on December 30, 2010 at 12:14 AM. Reason : jews need to learn to spell phonetically]

12/30/2010 12:13:23 AM

Or Roman numerically, so, you're 54.

12/30/2010 12:15:58 AM

all my asian friends say when, or when they're joking around "na-goon-yin"

12/30/2010 5:24:52 AM

12/30/2010 5:39:25 AM

Quote :

"all my asian friends say when, or when they're joking around "na-goon-yin""

Do they say "when" or do they really say it correctly and all you hear is "when?"

It's just one of those things that make you go hmmm

12/30/2010 1:32:13 PM

tell your people to learn how to fucking drive

12/30/2010 1:33:33 PM

My maiden name is Fujimoto.

People can say Fuji (like the film or the mountain) and they can say "moto" like "moto cross racing"

but when you put it together, they butcher the fuck out of it.

Foooheemoootoe?

[Edited on December 30, 2010 at 1:36 PM. Reason : r]

12/30/2010 1:36:47 PM

Quote :

"At the very least you get an awkward pause when someone is about to say it. Most often I'm called live (as "the news is live") but there's also levy, levi, and some others. "

Shit like that boggles my mind. It's pronounced exactly as it's spelled. Why do people feel the need to not just say shit phonetically

My family's last name is similar. It rhymes with Prayer but people fuck it up ALL. THE. TIME. Adding Ms and Is and shit to it. WHY DO YOU DO THIS PEOPLE

12/30/2010 1:38:34 PM

You know...I think I've run into a bad asian driver like once or twice in my life and they looked like they were FOB azns at ncsu.
I run into bad black drivers mostly. I'd say most bad drivers in general are black and most of the super stupid bad drivers (doing a U turn on a big highway, driving in reverse to get on the exit ramp they missed, etc) are white.

^Once I was in the waiting room at a doc's office and the helper lady comes to the door and says "Mr. Live" (like alive). I sat and pretended I didn't hear her. She called it out twice more before I got up and said loudly "it's Liv." She rolled her eyes so I bitch slapped her.

[Edited on December 30, 2010 at 1:56 PM. Reason : bitch slapped her in my mind]

12/30/2010 1:44:14 PM

Quote :

"I think I've run into a bad asian driver like once or twice in my life and they looked like they were FOB azns at ncsu. I run into bad black drivers mostly."

Wow, you run into a lot of cars

12/30/2010 1:56:15 PM

yes.

12/30/2010 1:56:56 PM

One time, I was on Glenwood during rush hour (where people drive stupidly/erractically anyway) and I realized that I was surrounded by Asian drivers.

In front of me, beside me, behind me. I thought I was going to die.

I kept thinking of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sp9pUnkpFA

12/30/2010 1:59:16 PM

Driving in Japan reminded me of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJowTNP_QVk

12/30/2010 2:07:51 PM

^^,^ LOL!

A friend of mine who is Chinese (grad student, from China at NCSU) bought a car, got his learners permit and all that stuff. I was trying to teach him how to drive, and it was just hopeless. I honestly thought we were going to die when he turned into oncoming traffic because he thought it was a turn lane into the parking lot. Then he has the nerve to say "don't worry." Then he was following me back in his car, and I was looking at him behind me because I switched lanes. He didn't signal OR check his side view mirrors and there was a car besides him. I saw that and just yelled and cursed. Fortunately, he didn't hit him.

12/30/2010 2:13:02 PM

^ I imagine it was like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoqCkPug71U

12/30/2010 2:22:11 PM

I love how there are so many videos to portray how poorly Asians drive

12/30/2010 2:25:39 PM

pretty sure it's pronounced ching chong.

12/30/2010 5:34:48 PM

My mother has horrible tunnel vision.

12/30/2010 5:49:10 PM

I had to go to the license plate place today, which is right next to the Grand Asian Market. I thought I was going to die in that parking lot.

[Edited on December 30, 2010 at 9:31 PM. Reason : ]

12/30/2010 9:30:16 PM

haha yeah that parking lot can be pretty terrifying.

12/30/2010 9:58:49 PM

That's because it's like fucking running the gauntlet!

"What's this? lines? fuck lines! I don't need to drive at right angles or perpendicular to anything! I'm just going to drive in zig-zags or diagonal until I can find the exit to the parking lot!"

12/30/2010 10:06:39 PM

I found this thread to be far more interesting when it started outlining experiences of people who've experienced (real) asian drivers.

12/30/2010 11:06:57 PM

Quote :

"I had to go to the license plate place today, which is right next to the Grand Asian Market. I thought I was going to die in that parking lot. "

That location is really just the manifestation of a real world litmus test.

12/31/2010 1:48:26 AM

Quote :

"My last name is supposed to be Liu. It is legally Liv due to a spelling error when my parents came to the US and we've gone with that. It's pronounced like "I live in Durham, motherfucker." Apparently changing it to such a simple name was not good enough. It gets butchered all the time."

I would probably have guessed "livv" or "leev"

12/31/2010 2:01:27 AM

Would those be pronounced like "I live in a dump," "they sell live fish at Petsmart," or "I need to leave this place before I blow a gasket?"

12/31/2010 9:07:26 AM

Quote :

"Do they say "when" or do they really say it correctly and all you hear is "when?""

are you implying that I can't hear? navy thinks my hearing is perfect

12/31/2010 5:47:12 PM

asian women drivers will always be funny in my book



i remember somebody telling me about this asian grad student girl who drove illegally to the DMV to get her license, failed miserably, then turned around and drove home. lol

12/31/2010 6:00:59 PM

^^Possibly yes. Just because you pass a hearing test doesn't mean you can make out slightly different sounds in a language that the test wasn't designed around.
Seriously, I hear better than my wife but I can't make out what people say a lot of times. I can't tune a guitar either but I can hear something as small as beetles boring under the bark of a pine tree.

It's difficult to grasp this concept if you don't speak a second language.
Think about it. A stereotypical Chinese person has a difficult time making the r sound. It just as difficult for them to hear it in a word. I've spent almost my entire life spelling words out for my mom when she has to write something. Spelling something phonetically doesn't work because there are sounds that she doesn't realize are in a word.

[Edited on December 31, 2010 at 8:05 PM. Reason : ]

12/31/2010 8:03:55 PM

Quote :

"Once I was in the waiting room at a doc's office and the helper lady comes to the door and says "Mr. Live" (like alive). I sat and pretended I didn't hear her. She called it out twice more before I got up and said loudly "it's Liv." She rolled her eyes so I bitch slapped her."

she called you "christopher live". this was after we already told her twice that it's just chris. not christopher.

i, too, have had this problem of course. one lady at the doc was like "ms. levi". no, it's liv. l-i-v, liv. "oh okay, ms. levi"

stupid people. this isn't hard. repeat what i am saying exactly!

[Edited on December 31, 2010 at 9:58 PM. Reason : ]

12/31/2010 9:56:58 PM