why do Americans struggle with pronouncing ethnic names?

Thai names tend to be very long and often have sounds that aren't familiar to English speakers. I agree that not even trying to pronounce a name is pretty disrespectful... but also it's totally understandable that someone would be a little intimidated trying to read a name like Pongummart Ummarttayakul, especially if they didn't have time to find out the correct pronunciation ahead of time.

But this isn't limited to long names, or names with unfamiliar phonemes. My German last name is seven letters long and pronounced like it looks, think Deisler (not my real name), pronounced DICE-ler. No one EVER gets the spelling or pronunciation right on the first try.

/r/AskAnAmerican Thread