Irish names are easy...

When I was student teaching in Ireland I had a small but significant percentage of students who had Irish Gaelic names like Caoimhe (pronounced “Queeva”) and Tadhg (pronounced “Tyg”). It was challenging at that moment to remember these names. In comparison with what I’m forced to try to remember now, Irish names were almost disgustingly easy. I have 19 separate sets of students, 11 of which I see twice a week and 8 of which I see once a week. One kid’s name might be Sung Yun while the kid sitting next to him is Seung Yun; meanwhile, Su Jin and Jin Su are sitting on the opposite side of the room. To make matters worse, they frankly all look quite similar in that they all have the same color of hair, eyes, and skin. Unless a child is abnormally big, abnormally small, has a wild color of frame on his/her glasses, or looks like a tiny Korean version of someone I know from back home, there is really nothing that sets him/her apart from the rest of the students. Some students take up an English name like “Sandy” or a silly nickname like “No English.” One child decided to give herself the nickname of “B.O.” and I didn’t have the heart to tell her what this acronym stands for in English. Consequently, I never forget her name. It helps me tremendously when kids take up a name that I am familiar with, but I don’t like imposing nicknames on the students; it makes me feel like I am basically saying “You will conform to my way of life whether you like it or not!” So for now I guess I’ll just get giggled at when I mispronounce Eui Jin four consecutive times before tossing my hands up in the air in surrender…