Learn To Spell Your Name in English
This short and sweet episode is longer than usual! It’s full of useful tips helping you spell your name quicker and more clearly when you are speaking over the phone. Enjoy :)
The link I mentioned in this episode is called Spell Tool, http://spelltool.com/en/
Transcriptions
Hey guys, you are listening to English Made Simple, this is number 39, numero treinta y nueve.
Hey everyone, welcome to this short and sweet episode, my name is Milina or Mileyna, this is how native speakers call me, but my real name is Milena in Serbian or Mileena, got a different accent.
I hope everyone is fine and dandy and we are ready to rock and roll, Yeah! Let’s cut the small talk and dive straight into today’s episode!
In this episode we are going to go back to the first grade, you know, when we were kids….we are going to pretend we are 10 years old, oh goodie! Let’s learn how to spell, yeeey!
Why is this important? You might ask yourselves! It is very important, it will make your life easier! It will make it easier when you have to spell your name over the phone, it will help you avoid confusion between you and the person on the other end. Let me tell you something guys, I had some fun times trying to spell my name over the phone before I learnt this very simple trick, el truco! It’s a trick! Well, I’ll give you a clue, you’ve heard this type of spelling in some Hollywood movies, like Rambo for example with Sylvester Stalone. You know Rambo, or Rambo depends where you are from.
Often times over the phone you will be required to spell your name, as well as the address your street address or your email address or give your phone numbers, in this short and sweet episode we will learn the easiest way to do this, I will also give you a couple of more tips on how to give numbers over the phone and how to leave a voicemail message. Cause I forgot to do that in the last episode. It’s ok!
Well, let’s begin already, Milena! Oki doki.
Let’s start off with the spelling tip then.
Let me ask you this question guys:
Have you heard of the English Phonetics Alphabet? I hope so! There is something called a phonetics alphabet and it has been developed and used by various international organisations, in order to avoid confusion when communicating with each other. It is also known as the radiotelephony spelling alphabet.
Great! That’s what we are going to use to help us learn how to spell.
So I will give you my personal example. I aaaalways have to spell my name over the phone. Always, always. I had to learn to do this properly. My last name (my surname) is difficult to pronounce, I had to adapt to the English spelling. I’ll give you my example when I am on the phone with someone who needs to know my name.
I say:
Yes, hi – my name is Milena Vujnic. My first name is Milena, let me spell that for you: M for Mike, I for India, L for Lima, E for Echo, N for November and A for Alpha.
This is how you spell with this international phonetics alphabet. Right.
Often people would confuse M and N sounds over the phone, and the sound F sounds like S over the phone sometimes, so we must make it clear for the person on the other line when we say our names. OK?
Are you following me so far guys? Excellent!
So let’s go back to the example again, so my first name is Milena, I spelt my first name my last name is Vujnic. Haha I always giggle when the native speakers hear my last name, because they are like Oh how do you spell this? Hehe Yes I know it’s not made for the English spelling, but this is how spell my last name:
V for Victor, u for Uniform, J for Juliete, N for November, I for india and C for Charlie.
This is according to the international phonetic spelling.
In English they pronounce Vujnic and in Spanish, my Spanish friends they pronounce my last name as Vuhnic. Haha it’s none of those. It’s Vujnic. Anyway! But good try though!
Alright guys, hopefully you are following me so far!
The idea is to pronounce each letter of your name and associate it with another word that starts with the same letter. I don’t usually follow the International spelling alphabet when I spell my name, I actually developed my own style.
So, I like to spell my name differently, M for Melbourne, I for India, L for Lenny, E for Echo, N for Nelly and A for Apple.
I do it because, it kind of rhymes and it’s easier for me to remember!
See, easy? You can find your own style of spelling, but try to keep it same and consistent. The more you practise the quicker you will be able to spell your name. And this, my friends, will make you sound super fluent.
This exercise also works for email addresses, street addresses and other foreign words. You will always be required to spell your name.
But I will make it easy for you guys!!
I will share a link where you can just type your name in and it will give you the words you need to help you spell your name. Ok? I will share this in my Facebook group English Made Simple, and I will also give you this link in the transcriptions. On my website Englishmadesimple.net. The website is called, spelltool.com.
Does this make sense so far? I hope so! Mhmm, excellent, fantastic!
Well, as promised here are more tips for you guys:
How to answer a voicemail message? Well, what I like to do is write down everything that I need to say in my voicemail message, you shouldn’t forget to leave your name and your number in your message, and if happens that you have double digits in your phone number. Let’s say your phone number goes something like this, 9956 543, I just made this up! This number, hopefully doesn’t exist! I guess, the way you spell this number is double nine, fifty-six fifty-four three (99 56 543). I just made up this number, it doesn’t exist, so don’t try to call it! Haha Right!
Another bonus tip for you guys before we finish this episode: if you have a long name, I advise you to think of a nickname. My name is Milena but my nickname is Miki. I have a friend from India, her name is about 20 letters and that’s just the first name. So she gave herself a nickname, she just calls herself Raji, that’s 4 letters. Haha Simple! Most of my friends from Asia and South East Asia adopt English names, they give themselves English sounding names because it’s easier for native speakers to remember them. I have a friend from Singapore and he just calls himself James when he is in Australia. Interesting ha?
Wow we made it till the end!! Well done guys. Now I advise you to practise spelling your name out loud, now it is your turn to spell your name in the same way we learnt today. I also advise you to sing it if you have to, memorise it and develop your own style. Exciting times! It’s time to be creative!
Remember guys, transcriptions available on my website www.englishmadesimple.net, and if you have any questions or you just want to pop in and say hello, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Righto, until next time! Hasta la proxima!