At our elementary and middle school English camps, the Korean students are asked to choose an English nickname to use during classes. Many of the students are reluctant to choose a nickname or are unfamiliar with English given names, so we have tried to prepare lists of possible choices. For my elementary home room class in the Home Life booth, I wrote a list of names associated with the Brady Bunch characters: Carol, Marsha, Jan, Cindy, and Alice for the girls; Mike, Greg, Peter, Bobby, and Sam for the boys. Just a few of my students chose their own names: Angela, Rachael, Fred, and Jay.
The Fashion class teacher was able to get really creative in her class with her name suggestions: Georgio, Hermes, Calvin, Louis (as in Vuitton), Versace, Gucci, Tiffany, Choo, Coco, and Chanel are some of her students. And students have selected some really interesting names on their own. At our camps we have had Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Paris, and Bill Gates. Einstein and Picasso (both girls), Debbie (a boy), Mr. Room Nine, Trash, Staff, Hose (pronounced like José), Dog, Orangutan (a girl), The Joker, The Musician, Taz, Berlin, Bombay, and Rio.
I have mixed feelings about requiring Korean students to select Western-style names, but I suppose it is done mostly to make it easier for we native teachers who do not read hangul or would have a more difficult time remembering Korean names. And it's not unusual for adult Koreans to use an English nickname. But I did appreciate the fact that when native teachers hand out certificates to their home room students at the end of camp, we do use their Korean names.
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