In Reply to: quick follow up posted by TheHappyBurgermeister on January 05, 2025 at 15:35:06
But to my ear both the hard R (rr) and the softer R (r) both have a roll to it - one being more obvious (the rr) and the other (r) being more subtle. IMO native speakers (again to my ear) can speak the soft r and it sounds like a Spanish r whereas often a non Spanish speaker's attempt at pronouncing the Spanish r like in Mara will sound like either a d or a t as we heard in the Nebraska broadcast. Of course it's also possible that they actually may have thought his name was Mata or Mada.
In terms of Anglicizing names - I'm of two minds. I can see that some names are difficult for non Spanish speaking people to pronounce. I can also see that it can come off kind of weird in some contexts to pronounce something with proper accents - take Paris for instance. Pronouncing it properly in a conversation somewhere other than France or parts of some other countries may just come off as affected.
But as someone who has always had to spell my name to any non Spanish speaking person who needed my last name (like at the doctor's office or school) I can see the other side as well. I always, as an adult, insisted on saying my name properly when asked rather than say it in a way that perhaps might be more easily understood by a non Spanish speaking person. I'm used to having to spell it out for most people. And hearing my name butchered by almost everyone including most of my teachers growing up, it was always comforting, reassuring, and empowering to say my name around people who were maybe more worldly or knew something about the Spanish language without having to spell it or just hearing my name pronounced properly.
For young people growing up with little support, self-confidence, self-esteem, or personal power, such things can adversely affect them leading to self worth issues and second class citizen feelings which can put some feeling like outsiders. In that context, how important is something like pronouncing one's name properly? I think it can be very important. I think that's why after I got some personal strength I insisted on pronouncing my name properly even though I had to spell my name to countless people over the phone and in person. And, of course, still hearing my name mispronounced even after my saying and spelling it out correctly.