"Fredxxx" wrote in message
...
On 09/05/2015 12:35, Jacko wrote:


"F" news@nowhere wrote in message
o.uk...
On 09/05/2015 10:41, The Medway Handyman wrote:

His first name & surname were very common English names, so I assume
English is his first language, although I might be wrong.

You can't make that assumption. We've just come back from a month in
China where we had contact with quite a number of guides and drivers
who all, apart from one, had Anglicised names like, for example, 'Tony'.

I know that one of those who uses a VERY english name, that
the reason she does is because the class where she learned to
speak english in China started off just telling every member
of the class what english name they would have.

Quite bizarre IMO but that is the way they do it.

The same choice is often made over here with it being easier to swap
to a 'local' name than to explain/spell the real name.

Back in the very early 70s, we had one chinese fellow who
glorified in the name of Blunden Butt. We made snide remarks
about him having overdosed on westerns while waiting to get
a visa. I notice he is still around on LinkedIn.

Interesting, I recall my early French lessons where everyone was given a
French name and this was always used to address us in French lessons. I
can't remember mine!

Never had that myself and I was forced to do all
of French, German and Russian at different times.