Add phonetic name field on profile
planned
Cindy K
Using names is such an important tool in establishing relationships, but sometimes new names can be intimidating. Would it be possible to add a pronunciation field to the profile?
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Tom B
It would be nice to be able to do a recording like is available on linked-in.
David E
And also a place for a nickname if they're ok going by that. I used to teach young students from China and maybe 75% of them seemed to like using nicknames online. It made the sessions less "formal" and more playful. (And as Samprita mentioned, being able to record an audio clip would be great.)
Akshay Ravikumar
planned
Akshay Ravikumar
Great idea! I think this is something we can do—not 100% sure about timeline, though.
Samprita R
This is a great idea Cindy! I wholeheartedly agree because sometimes that are these rather unique names which often times are difficult to pronounce. Even I've had few tutors that have pronounced my name wrongly ( which is alright ).
So I think it'll be really nice if there was a way we could record our voice saying our name and putting it beside our profile picture / avatar. That way if someone happened to come across our profile and finds it hard to pronounce it or has absolutely no idea how to, then they can just reference that audio.
Cindy K
I found two websites that have pronunciation databases: https://www.behindthename.com/ and https://www.nameshouts.com/. I might reference them if I get see a tricky name among sessions registrants. For an automated solution, I wonder if the programming wizards could arrange to check the first name field against one of those databases and prepopulate an editable phonetic field.
Tarun G
Cindy K: Very interesting! I use an algorithm called "just ask" when I need to learn how to pronounce someone's name i.e. I politely and honestly ask, and ask feedback as I learn to pronounce accurately!
But this database seems great, and if SHW's adding this feature, totally worth showing suggested, editable pronunciations. For editing it's best also to show or link to a glossary (like books that draw on sources in classical languages do).
Tarun G
Interesting idea! Just like Slack, does it help to let users either add phonetic spelling, and/or record an audio clip pronouncing their name?
Kareena S
Ahh I remember bringing this up when we were beta-testing for the website.