Features, Writing

I Have One Of Australia’s Most Common Surnames, But No-One Can Pronounce It

Nuh-goo-yen.

Nig-uh-dee-yen.

Nuh-gai-en.

Those are just a few of the ways I’ve heard my surname mangled by well-meaning Australian friends and strangers.

I’ll admit it’s only recently that I’ve begun to pronounce it correctly to non-Vietnamese people – for a long time, I didn’t want to inconvenience or confuse anyone. When they asked what my name was, I said New-en – it was less complicated for them, even if it made me uneasy.

Read more at BuzzFeed

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