00:00
Welcome to Kevin's English Room Podcast!
Oh yes!
I love having instruments.
What was that?
It's a glass... glass... glass...
Glass...
Okay so...
Yes!
Alright so this is from Marina-san again.
Thank you so much.
I'm going to sneeze again.
I'm going to sneeze.
What?
Okay, wait a minute. I'm sorry.
I was going to sneeze but I won't.
I was about to sneeze but it's gone now.
Sorry about that.
I thought you said something in Japanese.
Oh really? What do you think I said?
No, I don't know but something in Japanese.
It sounded like Japanese.
Something like, "Onegashimasu."
Oh really?
Can you say that again?
I'm going to sneeze.
Yeah.
Negishimasu.
Alright.
So...
We talked about the name we want to give to our children in our previous podcast.
We had a lot of fun listening to it.
So can you tell us about the name from a different angle?
It's "Kokusaiteki na namae wo tsuketai ka."
Oh!
My name is Marina but when I pronounce it in English...
Marina.
It becomes Marina.
Apparently, this sound isn't Japanese.
When I introduce myself to people overseas, they ask me where my parents are from.
And they ask me what my Japanese name is.
I wasn't named after a foreign country.
But I think it's a plus that it's easy for foreigners to pronounce and remember.
So I have a question.
Kevin, do you want to think about children's names with international awareness?
If you look it up online, you'll find a list of international names.
So please let us know.
We'll continue to support you.
Thank you, Marina-san.
Marina-san.
Marina-san.
Yeah.
I...
Now that she's mentioned it...
Yeah?
I actually do want to name my kids an international name.
Really?
Yeah!
I do!
Oh, that's kind of surprising news!
Really?
I'm glad to see you...
Okay, what is it?
Well, I don't know any international names, but...
I know there are some out there.
I can't think of anything on the spot, but...
It would be convenient.
If my child wants to be international, then he won't have any trouble with people reading his names.
Yeah.
You know.
Right.
Compared to a typical Japanese name that's harder for other countries to pronounce.
03:02
I don't have a more international name, I feel like.
Yeah!
Okay.
It's got its own merits.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Okay.
So...
Well, my answer is...
Would be like...
Yes.
Kind of yes.
Oh, okay.
Me too.
But not the main point.
It's not the main point, but I want to have that element in it.
What do you mean?
The message is more important.
The meaning is more important to me.
Okay.
But if it sounds like an international name, that would be better.
Of course.
Yeah, great.
Okay.
What are some of the international names out there?
Yeah.
"Kokusaiteki no namae"
What is it?
Something like "Kento".
Kento?
Kent.
Kent?
Yeah.
I've always known it as "Kent".
Kent?
Kent, yeah.
Like Joe.
Joe?
Yeah.
Is there a Japanese name, Joe?
Yeah, Joe.
Joe-kun.
How do you kanji that?
Like...
You know the chapter?
You know the character, "Chapter"?
Like standing up, "Tatsu"?
"He"?
"Tenshou"?
Yeah.
"Issho, nisshou".
"Issho, nisshou" is the same.
Like three...
Ah, "Shoujo no shou".
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
"Hyoushoushikino shou".
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay, okay, okay.
And sometimes...
His name is Joe.
Or like "Jouji".
"Jouji".
"Jouji"?
Yeah, "Jouji".
Is that a Japanese name?
Yeah, "Jouji-kun".
That's an American name.
If you pronounce it like "Jou-ish", that's an American name, but "Jouji".
"Jouji".
Just "Jouji".
Okay, I guess.
Yeah?
Okay.
Or like "Nana-chan".
"Nana-chan".
"Nana-chan".
"Nana".
Yeah.
Or "Anna".
"Anna".
Yeah.
"Anna".
Right, "Anna" is a very international name.
Okay.
So...
And the article?
"K"
"Ken".
"Junshou".
"Jou".
"Jin".
"Jin".
"Teru".
"Teru".
Is that...
"Teru".
"Teru".
Is that an American name?
"Teru".
No.
"Teru".
"Teru".
"Don".
"Von".
"Von".
"Hero".
"Hero".
"Ben".
"Ben".
"Rui".
"Lei".
"Lei".
"Rei".
"Long".
"Ron".
"Ron".
"Ron".
Yeah.
Yeah, I didn't like any of that.
But what about "Ken" or "K"?
Nah.
Like "K" Nishikori?
True.
Yeah.
06:00
But I don't...
Okay.
I won't go with that.
Yeah.
Alright.
The girl's name?
It's a...
No, it's a male.
A boy's name.
Oh, it's still a male?
"Isa"...
"Isaac"?
"Isaac"!
No, this is...
Oh!
This is going to the different place.
We're not talking about these things, right?
These are like the Kirakira names?
Yeah, it's a little bit like "Isaac".
"Alaran".
"Edo".
"Keitsu".
"Keishi".
"Saimon".
"Juran".
"Jouji".
"Smith".
You know.
That's definitely on the western side, I feel like.
That's based on a western name.
Yeah.
In your...
"J"...
"J"...
"J"...
"Japanizing" it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Adam.
"Andre".
"Gri"...
No!
We're not talking about these.
Yeah.
These.
But, you know...
Okay, this is the girl's name.
Okay.
"An".
"An".
"Kate".
"Jun".
"Momo".
"Anna".
"Anri".
"Ibu".
"Ibu"?
"Emma".
"Ma".
Yeah, I think I like those.
Yeah, true, true.
Yeah.
"Akira".
"Akira".
"Akira".
yeah true, true. So, Emmy, Ellie, Ellen, Olive, Karin, Karen. Oh, next. Yeah. Karin and Karin. Okay.
Kanna, Kate, Saya, Sarah, Judy, Julie, Sena, Nina, Hannah, Mana, Mami, Maya, Meg.
Yeah. Meg. I like Meg. I have a friend whose name is Hannah. It's nice. Hannah. Hannah-chan.
I'm gonna sleep. I'm sorry. It's so sudden. I'm sorry about that. You predicted it. Yeah, I told you beforehand because you wouldn't freak out.
I don't know if that was any help. Okay, if it's a girl, yeah, if I have a girl, okay, then maybe I might do an international name, but I didn't like any of the international guy names.
Okay. True. Yeah. Like, the opposite side, there's some people who are like very hard to read. It's written in Romaji. Like Yuki, Yuki, Yuki, Yuki, Yuki, or you know, we can even see the differences between Yuki and Yuki if you read it right in Romaji or like,
09:17
like, um, Kenichiro. It should be like Kenichiro. It would be like Kenichiro. That's true. That's true. That's difficult. Kenichiro. That's true. It would never be Kenichiro if you were in the United States. That's true.
Yeah. Yeah. Or like, yeah, like, including like R sound, like, um, Ryota. I think that's very hard to pronounce. Right. Ryota. Yeah. Ryota.
In the United States it would be Ryota. Ryota. Okay. Like if it's in France, it would be like Ryota. Yeah, that was, you know, R sound is a little difficult in so many countries. Right.
If you're in Spain, it would be like Ryota. Ah, Ryota. Yeah. So. Got it. Yeah. Anyways. I'm gonna have to rethink that internationally. Yeah. Yeah.
But I'm not gonna have kids anyway, so. Not a problem for me. I thought you just made a decision that you're gonna have a kid by reading these messages. No. No.
I still have no interest in kids. No interest in kids. Okay. But that's, um, well, it's your choice. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for listening guys. Bye bye.
