what do you guys think about permanent name change?
i fed up with people pronouncing my name with various wierd pronounciations. And it is very hard for them to remember my name.
neither that "e" nor that "a" phonetically exist in english language.
also "r" is pronounced differently in turkish. my name is composed of six letters and 3 of them already miss pronounced.
i plan to change my name to Julian and last name could be Augustus. 6 or 7 years ago i read one of my mothers 30 year old books : it was a history book from Gore Vidal. it was about that empiror "Julian Augustus". i was really impressed by that book. Everything that he did during his time was similar to what i would have done if i was him. i felt so close to him. At the end of the book when he was murdered, i cried about one week. i really cried so badly. the book was 600 pages and through all those pages, he became like a part of me. when i lost him, i felt like i lost a real person in my life. Anyway, that is why i want to name myself after him.
What do you think guys? is it a good idea to go for a name change by court? what would be the disadvantages? at least i will have a name which people are able to pronounce easily and correctly. and i wont feel like foreigner each time i am asked what my name is. it always reminds me that i am a foreigner and causes some sort of alienation. i may miss some points in that decision. that is why i ask for your opinions. what would be the outcome of that name change?
would you like to call me Julian instead of Serkan(you probably pronounce it in very wierd variations).

iamthwee commented: Yeah something like Julian Walker? +19

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I think a name change would be a great idea :) John Doe or Bill Smith would be a good names to inherit.

>>and i wont feel like foreigner each time i am asked what my name is
But you are a foreigner. Technically we are all foreigners except the native American Indians.

I think a name change would be a great idea :) John Doe or Bill Smith would be a good names to inherit.

Anything but Joe Dick

Try it out without making it official for a while. Say it's your nickname or something. Just say "Hi, I'm Julian", then in the rare cases where someone asks questions, say that it's a nickname and you prefer to go by that. Most people will respect that. If after doing that for a while, if you choose to, make it official.

serkan> and i wont feel like foreigner each time i am asked what my name is. it always reminds me that i am a foreigner and causes some sort of alienation.

In a more sober note, I hate to tell you this. It will never happen.
As soon as you open your mouth, people will remind you that you are a foreigner. At times it will not be necessary for you to say anything.
You are an immigrant and even if your name is Elvis Presley, you are a foreigner. Nothing wrong with it.

There are reasons to change your "legal name", but so far what you have say don't seem to be good reasons.
To honor the name your mother gave you should be a meaningful power behind against changing it.

And Serkan is a good name, even if anyone could not pronounced like it should be pronounced.

Nevertheless, even the name Julian (belonging to Julius) came to be because people couldn't pronounce the original one.

I'll say, make a name for yourself and always remind them how to pronounce it.

I have a good friend I've known for 20 years who is from India and I still can't pronounce is name correctly! It doesn't seem to bother him because he never said anything about it, he probably just understands that it is a difficult name for Americans to pronounce.

My advice is not to let it bother you too much that we mispronounce your name.

>it always reminds me that i am a foreigner and causes some sort of alienation.
But you are a foreigner. No amount of pretending otherwise will change that, and it's kind of insulting to your country of origin (not to mention your family). Also keep in mind that even if you change your name, you may still feel like a foreigner unless it's a distinctly American name (which Julian is not). For example, people ask me if I'm french on a regular basis when I introduce myself as Julienne.

I have a good friend I've known for 20 years who is from India and I still can't pronounce is name correctly!

Dude, you really should learn to pronounce his name right.

commented: :D +6

>you may still feel like a foreigner unless it's a distinctly American name (which Julian is not).

What are those distinctly American names? Americans came from Europe, so i think the names were created in Europe. Are there some American specific names?

>For example, people ask me if I'm french on a regular basis when I introduce myself as Julienne.

What is the American version of "Julienne"? Why did your family give you a French name?

Don't change your name Serkan!
Way back when the emperor Napoleon ruled over a great part of Europe, people(the common people that is) just had a forename. People would refer to each other like so: Mary, the sister of Jane who lives around the corner, or the son of John, which later became Johnson!
Now Napoleon ordered(which was not a bad thing) that all people should have two names. Some people who where mocking the authorities gave for a second name farter or something simular. But that became there official family name!
So in such a case I would like to change my name to something else, otherwise leave it as it is!
I'd rather be called Serkan Sendur(even mispronounced) then Mr. F*cker!

>Are there some American specific names?
No, but common names in the United States will have a more native sound than uncommon names.

>What is the American version of "Julienne"?
*shrug*

>Why did your family give you a French name?
It could be because of my family's (partially) french ancestry.

>It could be because of my family's (partially) french ancestry.

that is nice. i speak french too. i like french culture. And i think their females understand femininity with its all aspects. the parfumes, clothing, behaviour, gesture and so on. i met a girl from belgium in 2003 that was when i started to learn french.

>i speak french too.
I don't speak French at all. ;) The only two spoken languages I know are English and Japanese.

>i speak french too.
I don't speak French at all. ;) The only two spoken languages I know are English and Japanese.

are you really able to speak japanese? i thought it is a really hard language for english speakers to speak.

You're probably thinking of Chinese. Japanese isn't much harder than Spanish, in my opinion, and English speakers generally don't have much of a problem with Spanish.

you speak like a linked list, the sentence after and refers to spanish and i was like "how does it relate to spanish" until i saw spanish resolves to japanese in previous sentence. it would be hard for casual people to understand the way you speak :) you speak like a programmer :)

I'm learning Japanese at a slow pace, mostly self-taught. Now than I'm leaving to go to college, I can't have my one japanese lesson per week at high school anymore. I'll probably get private lessons or keep myself motivated and continue learning by myself.

I speak a fair amount of Spanish and in my opinion, Japanese is actually easier to learn (except for the couple thousand of kanji symbols). It's a much more logical language with alot less irregular verbs. Japanese pronunciation is similar to Spanish and isn't as hard to learn as most people think. As for learning how to write Japanese, that just takes pure practise, but I find it fun :)

I'm learning Japanese at a slow pace, mostly self-taught. Now than I'm leaving to go to college, I can't have my one japanese lesson per week at high school anymore. I'll probably get private lessons or keep myself motivated and continue learning by myself.

I speak a fair amount of Spanish and in my opinion, Japanese is actually easier to learn (except for the couple thousand of kanji symbols). It's a much more logical language with alot less irregular verbs. Japanese pronunciation is similar to Spanish and isn't as hard to learn as most people think. As for learning how to write Japanese, that just takes pure practise, but I find it fun :)

but do you think you will benefit from learning japanese? it is not a common language, it will help you understand only japanese people. learning spanish could be a better time investmen but most of the spanish speakers also understand english. i plan to learn russian. it is a prevelant language. and learning russian may make you feel special as people around you wont understand what you are speaking :)

but do you think you will benefit from learning japanese? it is not a common language, it will help you understand only japanese people. learning spanish could be a better time investmen but most of the spanish speakers also understand english. i plan to learn russian. it is a prevelant language. and learning russian may make you feel special as people around you wont understand what you are speaking :)

Looks awesome on a résumé, people assume Japanese is a hard language (like you did) therefore they think you must be smart. I also watch anime and read manga, not to mention I enjoy it learning the language itself.

I speak Dutch, English, French and German and have notions of Spanish, Italian, Greek, Russian and even Latin!
Thought this was about name change here.

commented: Also add C & C++ in the "Languages Known Section" ;) +4

>but do you think you will benefit from learning japanese?
You can benefit from any kind of learning. It doesn't have to be immediately practical.

non practical learning is luxurious for me. learning for fun is not for everyone. it is a surplus.

>learning for fun is not for everyone. it is a surplus.
It's a shame, but quite true. There are many people who simply aren't interested in learning more than they have to.

>learning for fun is not for everyone. it is a surplus.
It's a shame, but quite true. There are many people who simply aren't interested in learning more than they have to.

it is not a matter of interest. you live in USA-welfare country. the rest of the world is not as bright as you think(except for some european contries). you need additional time to learn for fun. in Turkey for instance, you are lucky if you work 8 hours a day which is very rare unless you work for government, usually it is up to 10 or 11 hours in private sector. they rush you. they pay you as minimum as they can. it is 70 milion populated contry and i prove you wrong with at least 70 milion who doesnt have surplus to learn for fun.

>you live in USA-welfare country.
So do you.

>the rest of the world is not as bright as you think
More learning would fix that. :icon_rolleyes:

>you need additional time to learn for fun.
Unless you spend 100% of your time either sleeping or doing a job where you're not allowed to think, I fail to see how additional time is unavailable. Is it so difficult to find 10 minutes in a 24 hour span?

>in Turkey for instance, <snip excuses>
If the interest is there, people will find the time. Even working 12 hours a day, every day of the week, and taking a full 8 hours for sleep, that still only adds up to 140 hours. What are your Turkish people doing for the other 28 hours? How much do you want to bet that it's entertainment?

>you live in USA-welfare country.
So do you.

>the rest of the world is not as bright as you think
More learning would fix that. :icon_rolleyes:

>you need additional time to learn for fun.
Unless you spend 100% of your time either sleeping or doing a job where you're not allowed to think, I fail to see how additional time is unavailable. Is it so difficult to find 10 minutes in a 24 hour span?

>in Turkey for instance, <snip excuses>
If the interest is there, people will find the time. Even working 12 hours a day, every day of the week, and taking a full 8 hours for sleep, that still only adds up to 140 hours. What are your Turkish people doing for the other 28 hours? How much do you want to bet that it's entertainment?

-i have been living in USA for the last 7 months.
so i have different perspective to see things over here. our stand point is different. i know how it is like to be poor, without remedy for your needs, inequality, lack of rights, being under repression of islamic culture. put it all together: i ended up being atheist USA patriotic :) i like this country, i feel like i am under a secure government. i like individualism, liberty and all their bringings.

You neglected to counter my argument.

You neglected to counter my argument.

i neglected because arguing this with you like me arguing c++ with you.

i neglected because arguing this with you like me arguing c++ with you.

No one is likely to win that argument.

No one is likely to win that argument.

is that a praise to Narue? I would like to see her as good in C# too then, i mean .Net development in general.

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