Help me improve my English!

[Delphine]

soooooooooo embarassed to ask
This time it's not a matter or spelling or grammar, but I would like to know how the following first names sound to you (are they weird, uncommon, ugly?):

1. Allen
2. Ashton
3. Marilou

My friends told me 'Allen' makes them think of Woody Allen and 'Ashton' makes them think of Ashton Kutcher - so I wanted to know if you can actually meet someone with one of these names IRL in the States or the UK, without thinking that? And Marilou is just a French name for girls.

I know it must seem dumb to ask, but I needed to know ;^; Multiple opinions would be cool. Thank you!

 

[Zulehan]

Not dumb at all.

Ashton makes me think of the actor Ashton Kutcher, too, though Allen is quite common where I live so I do not immediately and only associate it with a celebrity.

Marilou is unusual for me, but I have a relative here in the States who has that name.

 

[Hana-Nezumi]

Allen is a bit uncommon. With that spelling, it's usually a last name. More common as a first name is "Alan". But even Alan is not so common to me... and maybe becoming bit old-fashioned? I can think of people named Alan, but nobody born after 1985 and nobody I've met. I don't think it's a bad name though. It sounds very much like a "normal name"

Ashton does remind me immediately of Ashton Kutcher. I've never met anyone named Ashton, but from the sound of it I would think of it as being an upper-class name, probably someone who comes from a snooty social circle.

Marilou is a name I've never heard before. It sounds quirky but kind of cute? A bit old-fashioned and country sounding though... Maybe a little bit silly.

(No offense to anyone who has these names though! This is just my opinion of the sound of the names alone)

 

[starlark]

soooooooooo embarassed to ask
This time it's not a matter or spelling or grammar, but I would like to know how the following first names sound to you (are they weird, uncommon, ugly?):

1. Allen
2. Ashton
3. Marilou

My friends told me 'Allen' makes them think of Woody Allen and 'Ashton' makes them think of Ashton Kutcher - so I wanted to know if you can actually meet someone with one of these names IRL in the States or the UK, without thinking that? And Marilou is just a French name for girls.

I know it must seem dumb to ask, but I needed to know ;^; Multiple opinions would be cool. Thank you!

Allen is quite a popular name here in the land of crumpets and tea parties, though I think Alan is the more popular way of spelling it.

Ashton IMMEDIATELY makes me think of Ashton from 5 Seconds of Summer. Heck.
But yeah, there's a boy in my school called Ashton. I think there's a girl called Ashton too!

I don't know anyone called Marilou but it's a really cute name! I think it's like Mary-Lou, which I've definitely heard of.

 

[Hana-Nezumi]

Oh I suppose I should have mentioned where I'm from as well, it's the United States. Seems there can be a lot of variation in how common names are between the different English-speaking countries.

 

[Delphine]

I see... Kind of sad that Ashton makes everyone think of the actor XD *bursts in tears because she really wanted to name a character Ashton*, oh well if starlark already met at least one guy with that name... Why not? I'll see!
But I think I'll forget about Allen because the way it's pronounced in my language is not quite the same as Alan (must seems bizarre for you, I know), it sounds exactly like the word we use to say 'breath' but you know, as in 'bad breath' XD So maybe I'd better spell it 'Alan' haha!

Thanks everyone for sharing your opinions, it really helped! You guys are the best ?.?/ <3

 

[Guero101]

remember, I before E except after C. [:

 

[AskaRay]

IDK I knew an Ashton once

I think it's a nice name, haha..

 

[Delphine]

remember, I before E except after C. [:

Is that a rule you teach to kids when they learn how to write? XD Thanks ~

IDK I knew an Ashton once

I think it's a nice name, haha..

Me too ;-;

 

[dude98]

Is that a rule you teach to kids when they learn how to write? XD Thanks

I dosen't work for the word science xD

 

[Delphine]

I dosen't work for the word science xD

Guero, how could you lie to me like that?! ;0;

 

[AskaRay]

"I before E, except after C
Unless it sounds like an "A" like in neighbor and weigh"

is the full rhyme
but of course there's exceptions

english is terrible, I'd be screwed if it weren't my native language honestly... seriously applaud everyone learning English, you all are awesome

 

[Delphine]

"I before E, except after C
Unless it sounds like an "A" like in neighbor and weigh"

is the full rhyme
but of course there's exceptions

english is terrible, I'd be screwed if it weren't my native language honestly... seriously applaud everyone learning English, you all are awesome

Why, thank you! I feel the same way with French. You think English is bad? French is ten times worse ;-;

 

[AskaRay]

f

Why, thank you! I feel the same way with French. You think English is bad? French is ten times worse ;-;

I took French for four years D: It was..........okay.
Then I switched to Japanese and it's like, okay, sometimes easier and sometimes harder..

I've mostly forgotten my french now but I remember very basic things and sometimes when I'm trying to think of a word in Japanese I'll remember it in French, ahaha.

 

[Delphine]

f

I took French for four years D: It was..........okay.
Then I switched to Japanese and it's like, okay, sometimes easier and sometimes harder..

I've mostly forgotten my french now but I remember very basic things and sometimes when I'm trying to think of a word in Japanese I'll remember it in French, ahaha.

Oh so cool that you're learning Japanese! One of the things I want to do one day. And yeah same happens to me, I get confused with English/French and sometimes Spanish x__X

 

[dude98]

Why, thank you! I feel the same way with French. You think English is bad? French is ten times worse ;-;

Kids at my school say French is hard

 

[AskaRay]

Oh so cool that you're learning Japanese! One of the things I want to do one day. And yeah same happens to me, I get confused with English/French and sometimes Spanish x__X

Haha, thanks! It's fun...
Oooh man Spanish. See, like most people around here are English/Spanish bilingual and...nope. D:

But yeaaah... one day Iwant to learn as many languages as I can :O

 

[okun0ichio]

I think you should watch English movies/tv shows with English subtitles. That helps a lot in learning languages since you can see them in use and kind of get used to it. It also helps that you're reading the words and listening to how they're being pronounced at the same time. You also get to see it in context. Just reading could help too but it would be more difficult since you might often encounter words that you don't know and that would slow you down.

Technically I'm supposed to be bilingual (English and Chinese) because of how Singapore is but like many others I'm much stronger in one of them(make a guess Dx) due to the fact that I'm much more exposed to one than the other.

Not sure if anyone has said this yet but I think "Health is Wealth" is an interesting quote to know.

 

[Delphine]

Kids at my school say French is hard

And they're right Dx

Haha, thanks! It's fun...
Oooh man Spanish. See, like most people around here are English/Spanish bilingual and...nope. D:

But yeaaah... one day Iwant to learn as many languages as I can :O

I understand you, learning languages is so interesting

I think you should watch English movies/tv shows with English subtitles. That helps a lot in learning languages since you can see them in use and kind of get used to it. It also helps that you're reading the words and listening to how they're being pronounced at the same time. You also get to see it in context. Just reading could help too but it would be more difficult since you might often encounter words that you don't know and that would slow you down.

Technically I'm supposed to be bilingual (English and Chinese) because of how Singapore is but like many others I'm much stronger in one of them(make a guess Dx) due to the fact that I'm much more exposed to one than the other.

Not sure if anyone has said this yet but I think "Health is Wealth" is an interesting quote to know.

Yeah, that's what I already do! Thank for the advices, and the quote, which I didn't know ~ Makes me think of 'Time is money'.

It's so cool that you speak Chinese, even if it's a little! n_n

 

[okun0ichio]

And they're right Dx



I understand you, learning languages is so interesting



Yeah, that's what I already do! Thank for the advices, and the quote, which I didn't know ~ Makes me think of 'Time is money'.

It's so cool that you speak Chinese, even if it's a little! n_n

I hope you have lots of fun bettering your English, it's easier to learn when you're enjoying the subject after all

My Chinese's really rusty now since I don't use it that much ehhh.