My name is John Paul, but I go by J.P. All my friends, teachers, and family members call me J.P. All that is, except for my high school Spanish teacher. In Spanish, J is pronounced as "Hota/jota" and P is pronounced as "Pay/pe". So my Spanish teacher always keeps calling me "Hota Pay" in class instead of my real nickname J.P.
When he first said "Hota Pay", I found it a bit funny and laughed with the class. I thought it was a one off remark by my teacher. But he kept calling me "Hota Pay" even beyond the first day of class and it is getting annoying now. I once asked him after class if he could please call me J.P. But my teacher refused, saying this was Spanish class and that "Hota Pay" was the Spanish equivalent of my name. He said he wasn’t calling me any rude words, he was just translating the pronunciation of my two-letter English name to Spanish.
AITA for not wanting my teacher to keep calling me "Hota Pay"? Even if it is harmless, I just don’t like it and prefer J.P. I live in the USA.
Does he use the Spanish translation of names for other students? If so, then you are making a mountain out of a molehill.
You are in Spanish class leaning Spanish. We all had ethnic names in language class. Why not go by Juan (John) your first name? YTAH for the “I live in the USA” remark usually followed by “speak English “. Lighten up
Tell him to call you Juan then… it’s the spanish version of your name.
I don’t see the problem here.
NAH
I get you’d rather be JP, but he *is* calling you by your name, in Spanish, in Spanish class.
If he did this in Math, or if he *only* does it with you, he would be the asshole. But in this situation, he is doing his job. Speaking Spanish in a Spanish lesson.
I think it was fair of you to ask, but “in Spanish class we speak Spanish” is also fair rule IMO. Though I’m expecting to be downvoted to oblivion by people who feel like personal preferences should be respected in every situation above all else.
But if someone’s name is John a Spanish person wouldn’t call them Juan. That’s not how names or nicknames work, they don’t translate, they are what they are. Just because their name is JP doesn’t mean that that should be translated.
Eh. Growing up lots of Spanish teachers used the Spanish version of our names.
Funny thing, I’ve lived in a bunch of different countries and I’ve never changed my name. People say it with different accents, sure. But my name is my name.
I think it’s a fun class for kids to learn what their name would be in another language, but that should be for one lesson.
These comments are so weird. Every one I have ever met in the states had Spanish and had a Spanish name in said class. Every state, every friend, every family member. I guarantee if this kid was being honest he’d tell you the rest of the class has a name too. 🙄🙄🙄🙄
Right? In French class we all had to pick a French name to go by. It didn’t have to be an exact match so we could choose. I’m wondering if the teacher is just doing the name change instead of having kids pick.
this is so true. we all picked spanish names in our spanish class and this was over 35 years ago. it was kinda fun to pick a different name. my friends who took german and french chose german and french names for their classes. i don’t even know if my teacher knew my actual name.
Unpopular opinion that will probably get downvoted, but OP needs to chill out in my opinion. I think teens who will find the most success in life would laugh this off and embrace it as a funny joke. NTA, but this reads as so sensitive and lame. The teacher is TA for not respecting OP’s wishes when they asked for it to stop, but OP needs to learn to let stuff like this roll of their back or even to play along.
NAH. It’s a Spanish class tradition as old as time. Pick a different one or just roll with your initials in Spanish. What’s the big deal?
This is traditional for foreign language classes, ask your teacher if you can pick a different name to go by in class. It’s not forever, just for the class, then if so just pick something you can live with like Tomas or Juan
Lmao, every high school Spanish class i’ve even been in we were assigned Spanish names. Mine was Camilla!