Advice on names

[Mark_KyotoPA]

I am the proud owner of a name with which I've never really had any issues.

If anything, I get more trouble in English.

[Magic Wonder]

I've met one or two ALTs that go by their middle or last name because it's the easiest to pronounce. Half the people I meet can't (read: don't want to) pronounce my first name so sometimes I go by a nickname. It's also likely that you'll be asked, "what shall I call you?" anyway. But bottom line, like everyone said, is don't worry. It'll be figured out .

[Hikiri]

My name is hard enough for me to pronounce, so I plan to just go by Andy, because that should be the easiest thing to do. Easier for me anyways :p

I have a friend whose name is Jordan and he fully embraces the joudan thing, even writing his name in the kanji. People get a kick out of that. Also, another friend's name is Hannah <flower>, so people loved to call her 花花.

I've always been quick to use nicknames with people, because English names are just too hard to say in the katakana-ized pronunciation sometimes.

[Gizmotech]

Don't worry about your name, let them figure it out. Don't even say your last name if it'S difficult. Mine last name is unpronounceable in Japanese, (too many hard consonants in a row) so I just let it slide. I also let the -san endings slide as my first name ends in a similar sound and it sounds funny

[lobsterdance]

I don't think I've ever even told the students my last name. The only ALT I know who used his last name was because it was easier for the students to pronounce than his first name. You can chose what you want the students/staff to call you. Most people go by their first names but anything goes really.

[word]

Yeah, my last name is Steppenwolfenmeisterschmithboroughenmasterwestiaralariongyenson. Well, it might as well be. I go by [my first name]-sensei, which is an easy, one-syllable name that the kids and my coworkers and neighbors can all say and remember easily. The last thing I would ever want is for my kids to avoid talking to me 'cause they had difficulty addressing me properly.

[Lyre]

Yeah, my last name is Steppenwolfenmeisterschmithboroughenmasterwestiaralariongyenson. Well, it might as well be. I go by [my first name]-sensei, which is an easy, one-syllable name that the kids and my coworkers and neighbors can all say and remember easily. The last thing I would ever want is for my kids to avoid talking to me 'cause they had difficulty addressing me properly.

I would say we may be cousins with a name like that, but I didn't see enough J's in your name for it to be anything but coincidence.

But in all seriousness, as a person who has silent j's in odd places in their name, at 90% of my schools they just call me Mike-sensei or Mr. Mike. One school calls me by my last name, and it is mostly the result of sheer gumption on the part of my supervisor there to learn by name correctly, haha.

[Butonz]

My first name is pretty close to unpronounceable in any language but English.

My last name however, sounds almost exactly like "genki" in Japanese. I think I'll go by the latter.