1. You constantly have to translate and spell your name out phonetically.
2. Especially during introductions. Wait for it...
3. Smiling politely as they tell you just how "beautiful" and "exotic" it is and just how much they "loooove" it.
4. Being asked what your name means in your native language.
5. The oversensitivity and struggle that someone goes through trying to pronounce it.
6. When they give you a nickname you never asked for.
"What's your name?"
"Tianyi." [The author's official first name]
"I'm just gonna call you T."
7. New teachers at school and roll call.
When the substitute teacher pronounce ur name wrong
8. Because there will be a pause, and there will be an absolute massacre of your name.
9. You notice people will avoid saying your name when addressing you.
10. People assume your name is the most unique name in all of the world, when really, a billion other people have your name in your home country.
11. You've had to create your own unique mnemonic devices to make it easier for everyone else.
how to pronounce my name: a story by me
12. You've accepted that there are just some vowels folks can't pronounce, and created an alternate pronunciation for your native name.
Foreign Friend Be Like... "Achmed....Ahmet...Amaaaad. Achmen..." when trying to pronounce my name. https://t.co/yrtOpFulZl
13. Personalized souvenirs with your name isn't just "hard to find." It doesn't exist.
14. [Starbucks cup]
People have stopped trying.
15. If you also have an "unofficial"/Westernized first name, having to give more than one name each time.
16. Filling out a job application and not knowing whether you should give your "official" or "unofficial" first name.
17. So you're extra grateful when forms have space to include a "nickname."
18. Your legal and social network identities seem like two very different people.
19. Which is why you're constantly having to explain the situation to your friends and co-workers.
20. When people realize you have two names, they ask why on Earth you'd go by another name when your official one is so "beautiful" and "exotic."
21. Why? Because:
