My Gift
My name is Xiaofan. In Chinese, it can be two characters. I think of the character Fan as an electrical fan in English. However, in Chinese, there are many different characters that are pronounced the same. In my name, the Fan means beauty. The special thing is that my cousins’ s last character has the same part in my family. It is hard to explain in English. In my family, my cousins’ names have two characters, but I have three. The reason is that my father thought I was so small when I was born, so he added the character Xiao which means small in Chinese. I mostly like my name, but sometimes I do not like it. I like my name because it is gift that my family gave to me. It also different from other people. On the other hand, I do not like it because many teachers and students do not know how to pronounce it. When I was in China, every new semester, everyone gave me more attention when teacher called my name, and I did not like that feeling. Although the name has given to me many problems, I still will continue to cherish and love it though my whole life.
Beautiful name! For me it also sounds a little Greek, because many Greek names ends with "phon". This word root "phon" means “sound.” For example, there was an ancient Greek historian Xenophon of Athens, who lived 300 years before Common Era.
ReplyDeleteI know what kind of feeling you would have when someone pay more attention on your name. The same character we get is XIAO. However, my name is easy to be same with others. When you feel you do not like your name, you can think you have a special name.
ReplyDeleteHi, Xiaofan. I am Heather. I like your name so much because it is special, and your are my first friend to have the name with the character "Fan". I know the feeling that you do not like my name because there are many people cannot pronounce my name either. I do not like this feeling, and it makes me feel that I am odd or different than someone. However, throw away the negative you will know how beautiful your name is. You are always the best, and you are the best "Guai Ge" forever.
ReplyDeleteHi Xiaofan, before I read your article, I guess your name means small rice. As I know, xiao means small and fan means rice. Now I know what does your name mean.
ReplyDeleteI never thought a name can be a gift from family. It is the gift for my entire life. I have no special feeling about my name, but this can be a reason which makes me like my name.
ReplyDeleteActually, I like your name Xiao. When i was in the middle school, i want to change my name to Xiaofen. I think Xiao is sound good. Your name is nice and beautiful. You should continue to cherish and love it though your life.
ReplyDeleteHi Xiaofan, Is Xiao your last name? Because my last name is Xiao aslo, it is not very common in China.So, I got a little excited. Haha.
ReplyDeleteHi,xiaofan. I know your feeling when the teacher don't know how to pronouce your name. It means your name is very special. I think you can change your bad feeling to happiness when someone don't know how to pronounce your name bacause you are special.
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ReplyDeleteHi Xiaofan! In my country Fan means fanatic, in fact being a fanatic in my culture it's something like be a joker and also means you follow your team even when you're sleep, so if you were in my country the first thing that we will ask you would be "Are you in my team?"
ReplyDeleteXiaofan, first I should say that you are beautiful like the meaning of your name. Second, I like your name especially the pronounce because there is mix of some sound in one letter. I try to pronounce your name correctly. Please let me know if I pronounce your name wrong.
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