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JacksonFive's
Free Weekly "Learning English" Newsletter
         Issue: 09    "Surname and Given Name"     April 16, 2000
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Dear Readers,

    Welcome to the Millennium issue!  As of today, we have more than
    1,000 readers.  Thank you for being such devoted readers.  I
    greatly enjoy writing this newsletter because of you, my many loyal
    readers.  In appreciation of your loyal support, I promise to
    continue writing better and better newsletters to help you improve
    your English.

    Last week, I asked a question, "what do you do with my newsletter
    after receiving it?"  Not to my surprise, I received a large
    number of responses.  More than 20 of you responded to this
    question within two days.  As I mentioned last week, I will create
    a new web page to host all the valuable feedbacks I get,
    http://www.path2english.com/Reference/WhatDo.htm (please
    check back in a few days if this page isn't ready yet).

    I think the most "interesting" question that came up in a couple of
    the responses was "JacksonFive are you male or female?" ^_^ 
    The last time I checked in the mirror, I was male ^_^

                                                              JacksonFive

    P.S. I'll be at the Asia World Hotel in Taipei on April 22nd (15th
    Floor, 2:45pm) for an international English speech competition.  I
    represent Taichung (champion for Taichung).  If you are free,
    please feel free to come and cheer me on.  I would be very happy
    to meet any of our readers.

THIS WEEK's FEATURED QUESTION:

    "What is your surname and given name?"

ANSWER:

    "Your Surname is your Last Name and your Given Name is your
     First Name."

    Why did I even choose this question as the topic of this
    newsletter?  It is because I noticed many of our readers were
    keying-in their information incorrectly in our subscription form.
    Some of you put your "last name" in the "first name" box, and
    "vis-a-vis" (reverse, "first name in the last name box").

    This is a common mistake for Chinese people because the first
    character in your complete Chinese name is actually your "family
    name" while the next two characters are your "given name"; the name
    people call you by.  For Chinese, the left side is first,
    therefore you mistake it for "first name" while you mistake the
    right side for "last name".  This is correct when your name is
    written in Chinese, but not if it is written in English.

    Your name in English is written differently.  For example, James
    Wu, "James" is the first name, while "Wu" is the last name.  "James
    Wu" is the correct / common way for writing this name (first name
    or given name on the left, last name or family name on the right).

    For formal occasions, we could write "Wu, James" (as in Chinese
    names).  When you do this however, you must put a "," after "Wu"
    (family name) so people reading it know that you have reversed the
    "normal" order.

    Try it out yourself with your own name.  Write your complete
    Chinese name, then write your complete English name beneath.
    Please make sure your "family name" is on the left side for Chinese
    and on the right side for the English version.  Note: this is the
    common way for writing Chinese and English names!

KEYWORDS:

    "First Name" or "Given Name" or name people use to call you.
    "Last Name" or "Family Name" or "Surname"

    There is also middle name which only exists for English names.  For
    example, "James Brian Smith".  Chinese people usually aren't
    familiar with or don't use middle names.  Middle names are used to
    "remember" a great person or a family member (deceased or still
    alive).  If you had a middle name, your middle name would the
    "first name" of this person your parents want to "remember or
    honor".

NEXT WEEK's FEATURED TOPIC:

    "Stock Market on your mind?"

CORRECTIONS:

    Did you notice any typo's in the last newsletter?  No one is
    perfect.  I have listed the typo's below.  If you ever notice any
    typo in our newsletter, please let me know ASAP:

      Muffins are "sweet flavor" not "sweat flavor".
        This one is very funny!
      It is egg "yolk" not egg "yoke".
      It is "surname" not "sir name".

(If you benefited from this newsletter, please share it with a friend.)
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