At uni I had a Vietnamese classmate in my group called Thanh. This was easy enough to pronounce, or so we thought. One day he introduced us to his brother, call

At uni I had a Vietnamese classmate in my group called Thanh. This was easy enough to pronounce, or so we thought. One day he introduced us to his brother, called Than. If I remember correctly, the difference between their names was in the melodic intonation, which none of us could master. Ultimately, we ended up naming then Hans and Daan. I don't recall if they were bemused or bewildered by our inability to distinguish their names, but they accepted their new names with grace.