The New York Times
A Difficult Surname?
To the Editor:
Re ''America, Say My Name,'' by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Sunday Review, March 10):
My grandfather arrived in the United States from Armenia in the 1890s, and we're still teaching folks how to pronounce our surname. (It's juh-RAH-yahn.)
Ironically, immigrants read it and in most cases pronounce it correctly. Americans don't seem to take time to actually read it and think that they can wing it.
It comes out wrong every time! We're not giving up, America!
Stephen Vartan JarahianJersey City