It's Pronounced Bur-tah-nog

I thought I would do something a bit different for this blog post. 

If any of you are on social media, then I suggest looking up #LeavingLASA. 

I won’t go into the entire detail, I highly suggest you read about this hashtag and the movement it started in the Los Angeles Theatre Community. 

 To make a long story very short, it involves an Asian actor who was nominated for an acting award in Los Angeles. Her name was mispronounced and to make matter worse, it wasn’t her picture that was displayed. It was that of her other Asian co-star. 

If any of you are reading this blog post in April of 2021, then you’ll know there has been a rise of attacks on Asians over the past few weeks, especially on the elderly. Hate crimes against Asians didn’t just start happening over night. They’ve been around for years, it’s just that it’s now more visible and prevalent than ever. 

With this mis-pronunciation of an Asian name, its just another reminder of how our culture is sometimes disrespected and set to the side and reminds me of the experiences with my last name.  

I have always felt that my last name is not difficult to pronounce. Yet more times than not, it’s usually mispronounced. Annoyance and anger are generally the first emotions I feel. I’m annoyed they couldn’t pronounce it but I’m also mad at their level of reading skills because it’s so simple to sound out the letters of my name. Surely they know how to sound out letters and words. It's not hard.  Then there’s the people who try to pronounce my name with an accent, like having an accent would make you say it any better. It’s pretty insulting. 

Over the years it’s gotten better. Some people ask how it’s pronounced before even attempting it. Others just straight up butcher it and I’m upset because there wasn’t a single attempt at trying to get it right and even when I correct them there is no apology. At one point my parents refused to talk to people who couldn’t say our last name correctly because they found it disrespectful. 

We are going to meet so many people in our lives and first impressions mean everything – I’m sure all of you have been told that. I can’t tell you how surprised and impressed I am when people say my last name correctly. Or how I feel respected when someone attempts and asks for a correction. That says a lot about a person. I see someone who is respectful of other cultures. I see someone who is willing to learn something new. I see acceptance. I don’t see ignorance. 

It’s amazing how a simple pronunciation of a word can change how you view a person. We are always going to run into a difficult name to pronounce, but we shouldn’t approach it with fear. Fear of insult or disrespect. Just approach it with a curiosity to broaden your horizons. It’s amazing how far that can take you.