My Classmates: Part 3

Some of my Chinese classmates do not have English names. Good for them. It is really hard for native English speakers to get a handle on their names because, as we learned in our linguistic class, some languages do not contain the same sound patterns as others.

Here is the very first conversation I had with a Chinese classmate on the first day of class. Enjoy.

"Hello, it is nice to meet you. What are your names."

"Hi, I am Katherine, What's yours?"

"Hello Kass-in. I am Shszzz." Okay I understand the Chinese pronunciation of my name is always 'Kass-in', but 'Shs-zzz'? She was greeted with several confused American and English faces. "SSSS," pause and seperate hand gesture, "zzzzzzzz". We all smile politely as if we understand this name that lacks vowels.

"My name is Jon," smarmy 50 something English guy responds.

"Oh like an American toilet," Shs-zzz proves herself hilarious.

"And I am Robin," my American friend smiles broadly and waits for a follow up question, and it was a dozy of a question.

"Ro bin?" Shs-zzz slowly and very unsure of herself repeats the name just given to her as if it were an American playing a dirty joke on the foreign kid; however, outside of the speed, the name was far more correctly pronounced than mine.

"Yup."

"Roo? Binn?"

"Yeah, just like Robin Hood"

"Roo bine?"

"Like the bird."

"Rah bahn?"

"As in Batman and..."

*silence*

"R-O-B-I-N"

"Oh!" Shs-zzz suddenly has her moment of clarity. She then says Robin's name to state that she clearly gets in now, "Ro-bin!" Her pronunciation did not change from her original attempt in the slightest.

Then we had many confusing moments with almost all of the Chinese students who learned Robin's name. I don't know what they thought we were saying, but I am pretty sure it is a curse word in Mandarin. If it is, please tell me, and then teach it to me.