i really need some help to translate my name because i think it’s almost impossible. Yeah of course it isn’t but it sounds really weird if i try it.
Im from germany and my name is “Franzl”. Yep that L at the end really is attached to my name. Maybe you know the austrian emperor back in the days “Franz”. He was sometimes called Franzl.
So have fun to translate that in japanese. They dont have a “f”, “r” or “z”/“zl” sound. You have to create a strange mix with フ and ル but that doesn’t feels right at all.
Here is my question to you guys.
Should i try to translate it so that it sounds strange or schould i just use the name how my friends call me? (They call me “Joko” because they think i look a bit like the german promi Joko Winterscheidt and now it becomes my nickname)
I think that would be much much easier.
Let me know your opinion. Or maybe you wanna try to translate my name
Thanks to all who think about it and/or answer my Post (=
I don’t think フランツル in katakana sounds that weird, if you check Wikipedia for famous people named Franzl (I found Franzl Lang) they also use フランツル in Japanese.
Or of course you could introduce yourself as ヨーコ, although I just want to add that ようこ is a pretty typical female Japanese name.
I don’t think フランツル would be off sounding at all! Obviously if you aren’t comfortable with the katakana pronunciation then you could easily choose a different name to go by in the Japanese language (which is not uncommon in the language learning community as a whole!) Very much a personal decision, but the katakana ‘translation’ doesn’t strike me as anything different than say, Robert turning into ロバート。
Thanks (=
The thing what happens here is far away from the Robert translation. With Robert there is one “false” sound at the end when it ends with an “o” sound.
But for me its much more worse. フランツル, フ(unpronounced “u” sound)ランツ(the “z” isn’t pronounced as hard as it should be because in japanese its an “s”; also the “u” sound shouldn’t be pronuounced at all)ル(the “u” sound at the end is also to much but thats not the big deal i think.)
Do you really think that would be totally normal? Im stil a bit uncomfortable with it ^^
Again, totally a personal decision.
I think if you introduced yourself to a Japanese person,
「僕はフランシルです」no one would bat an eye.
「僕はヨーコです」might get some strange reactions (as previously mentioned being a female sounding name in the language).
If neither of these options really jive with you, picking another ‘alter ego’ might be the best way to go!
I guess you are right with that. ヨーコ should be really treated as a nickname and could be strange in japan in the first place.
But there is no need for me to “change” my name just for japanese. I should accept that my name sounds diffrent there. But i see its not a big deal for them at all. I will adapt my thoughts about that.
Thanks for helping (=
It’s normal to feel a little alienated when your name is pronounced in a different language. And the difference between ロバート and Robert is also bigger than you made it sound, at least if we’re talking about the English pronunciation of Robert. There’s a difference between the German pronunciation of Robert and the English one as well, just as Franzl would be pronounced differently in English than it is in German.
You’ll get used to it even if it feels weird in the beginning
Edit: Just wanted to include this classic example if anybody is curious how Robert might be pronounced
Yep, names are a tricky business across languages. I’m German and my first name is Nicole, which I like to pronounce the french way, as niCOle (capitals for emphasis). But of course that does not even work with all of my fellow Germans (especially the older ones) who might end up calling me NIkkol or something. English speakers often end up with niCOUL or similar, and by now I am totally used to (and happy with) my name’s Japanese version of ニコル
Sure, i know some people have their problems with it. The thing that makes it so difficult for me is the L at the end of my name. And my ego is to big to just cut that letter of
Franz allein wäre ja kein Problem^^ aber das L machts schwierig
Yes, I can relate to that! That’s an unusual letter combination even in German. Luckily the Japanese will not have any issues with the rolled R, which I guess is part of the mix?
Yep its pretty unusual here too and that makes it even harder to find a perfect solution. No one has exactly the same problem xD
The r is the same pronunciation as it is in Franz. You just add the L at the end. No “e” sound in front of the L. Its just L. As you said, even strange for german names.
My friend is named Celine and all Japanese people call her シリン even though she even spells her name as セリーン.
And for some reason japanese people started to call another friend of mine by her last name (even when they use the first name for everybody else) because they really struggled with her first name ダナ (and nobody of us understand why).
Did you hear japanese people saying your name? They might say it differently than you expect.
I think many of us relate to the name struggle though. Good look with finding something that works for you.
As a german I’m confused about the pronunciation of your z sound. I’d pronounce the z in your name similar to a soft s. I feel like I fail as german
ok thats a funny story thanks for that.
Indeed even germans have to ask me frequently how to pronounce my name and ofc if its my real name or just another form for Franz. Just go for the standard name Franz with the hard german Z at the end and add an L to it. Dont get confused and put a little e between Z and L. Its just the L.
I wish i could post a sample xD
I am looking forward to my 5 months in japan next year. Maybe the japanese people have other strange ideas for my name. lets see
I feel like I fail as german 