Coffee Name

Americans are unable to say foreign names. They don't even try to think outside of the box / strict pronunciation rules they were brought up with. For example, the whole world calls the country Iraq (pronounced Ee-rak) while the Americans pronounce it Ay-Raq. The same goes to Iran (Ay-Ran), or even Italians (Ay-Talians). Israel (Ee-sra-el) is pronounced (Eez-Real), which kind of fits, because it is a surprise that it "is real".

So it is no surprise that they can't pronounce my totally complicated and impossible Israeli name, Elad. They pronounce it Ee-Lad. It should be El-Ad, literally God Forever, well what can I say, my parents had high expectations of me. :-)

So, to make it easier for Starbucks / Panera Bread / whoever needs to call me by name to get my order, I give a fake American name. Sometimes I am Josh (a pet name my sister gave me), sometimes Kyle (as in Kyle McLachlan). Surprisingly, I am not the only one. Many foreigners do it, but also many Americans. You can hear all about it on NPR's All Things Considered at this link:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128828538