- A FEW MONTHS AGO, I BECAME THE FIRST AMERICAN
TALK SHOW TO AIR IN CHINA, AND I WANTED TO WELCOME
MY NEW CHINESE VIEWERS, SO I ASKED THE PEOPLE OF CHINA
TO WRITE TO ME WITH A LITTLE, TEENY, TINY
REQUEST. AND HERE'S WHAT I ASKED OF THEM. I REALLY WANT TO LEARN
MORE CHINESE NOW. THAT'S MY GOAL. AND I WANT TO PERSONALLY WELCOME
MY NEW CHINESE AUDIENCE BY READING ALL OF YOUR NAMES
ON THE AIR. SO ALL YOU HAVE TO DO
IS WRITE YOUR NAME ON A PIECE OF PAPER
THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS... [laughter] AND YOU CAN SEND IT
TO THIS ADDRESS. WELL, OUT OF A BILLION PEOPLE, 12 OF YOU ACTUALLY FOLLOWED
THE INSTRUCTIONS. SO I WANT TO READ YOUR NAMES
ON THE AIR. I WANT TO KEEP MY PROMISE. BUT IF YOU WATCH MY SHOW, I HAVE A HARD ENOUGH TIME
PRONOUNCING AMERICAN NAMES, SO LUCKILY WE HAVE
AN OFFICIAL "ELLEN SHOW" CHINESE TRANSLATOR
STANDING BY AT ALL TIMES. SHE'S BEEN WAITING IN A CUBICLE
FOR 11 SEASONS, AND NOW IT'S FINALLY HER TIME
TO SHINE. DO YOU MIND HELPING ME OUT? WOULD YOU COME ON OVER HERE? THANK YOU SO MUCH. [cheers and applause] HI.
HOW ARE YOU? HAVE A SEAT. I WOULD HAVE PRONOUNCED
YOUR NAME, BUT I DON'T-- WHAT IS YOUR NAME? - WELL, MY AMERICAN NAME
IS SUNNY. MY CHINESE NAME IS YUONG JA. - YUONG JA.
- YUONG JA, YES. - OKAY, GREAT.
BUT I CAN CALL YOU SUNNY. - YES.
- OKAY, SUNNY. AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM? - I WAS BORN AND RAISED
IN BEIJING, CHINA. - OKAY, WONDERFUL.
OKAY. SO YOU'RE GOING TO HELP ME OUT. AND THIS IS CALLED YUAN?
IS THAT WHAT THAT-- - YUAN, YES. - YUAN?
- YEAH. - ONE.
- YUAN. - YUAN. OKAY. SO I'M GONNA START,
AND THEN YOU'LL HELP ME OUT. THIS ONE HAS A LONG NOTE, SO I'M GOING TO START
WITH THIS PERSON HERE. "HELLO, ELLEN. "I AM YOUR BIG, BIG, BIG FANS. "SO, SO, SO LOVE
WATCH YOUR 'ELLEN SHOW.' I KNOW IT'S KIDDING
WRITE POSTCARD ON RMB." IS THAT WHAT THIS IS? - RMB, YES, THE CURRENCY. - "BUT SERIOUSLY
I LIKE YOU IDEA. "NEXT WEEK
IS OUR SPRING FESTIVAL. "I WISH IT'S YOUR COME SEE
MY POSTCARD. "AND ALL THE BEST WISHES
TO YOU, THE PRESENT TO YOU. "YOU CAN BUY THREE CUPS
OF STARBUCKS "WHEN YOU COME TO CHINA. BIGGEST FANS." JIAO MINGY? - [pronouncing name] - [repeating name] - YES. [both saying name] - AND THIS IS 100 YUAN,
AND SO THAT IS $16 AMERICAN? - ABOUT $15, $16. - $15 OR $16?
THANK YOU SO MUCH. ALL RIGHT, AND NOW WE HAVE--
I WON'T READ ALL THE-- THIS IS, UM... - [reading name] - [repeating name] THIS ONE, THEY DIDN'T EVEN TRY
TO DO AMERICAN. THIS IS JUST CHINESE,
SO WHO IS THAT? - [reading name] [repeats name] - WELL, YOU--
- IS THE NAME. YEAH, THAT'S A NAME. - I KNOW, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE
YOU WANT TO SAY MORE. - NO.
- 'CAUSE YOU STOP-- [reading name]
- YEAH. - ALL RIGHT. [reading name] - [repeating name] - [repeating name] [reading name] - [reading name] - YEAH.
[laughter] [reading name] - [reading name
in reverse order] - [repeating name] - [reading name] - BUT THEY DID IT BACKWARDS,
SO-- THEY PUT THEIR LIKE THEY WERE--
- THEY'RE AMERICAN. - FILLING OUT A FORM
OR SOMETHING. [reading name] - LET ME SEE.
[reading name] - [repeating name] - [reading name] - [repeating name] [both repeating last name] AND HERE THEY TRIED
TO HELP ME PHONETICALLY SO I COULD LEARN THIS. WU SHI AI LUN? - ACTUALLY, IT SAYS,
"I AM ELLEN." SO THAT'S HER NAME,
EI LUN, EI LUN. "I AM ELLEN." - OH!
ELLEN. [reading name] - [reading name
in reverse order] - OH, THEY'RE DOING
THE LAST NAME FIRST FOR SOME REASON. IS THAT A NORMAL THING? - THAT'S CHINESE TRADITION. WE ALWAYS SAY
THE LAST NAME FIRST. - OH, OKAY. THEY'RE WATCHING
"THE DEGENERES ELLEN SHOW" OVER THERE, THEN. [laughter] [reading name] - YEAH, I'M PROBABLY GONNA PUT-- - SO I'M GONNA REVERSE
EVERY ONE OF THEM. [reading name] - [reading name] - [repeating last name] "LIE JUNE WE." - LI JUN WEI. - JUN WEHHHHH. - LI JUN WEI. - LI JUN WEHHHHH. - "WAY." - THIS ONE IS GOOD, 'CAUSE
IT'S NOT ONLY THE HUNDRED, BUT THEN THEY PUT IN, LIKE,
A COIN AND SOME ONES IN THE BACK TO KIND OF ROUND IT OUT
TO PROBABLY 20 OR SOMETHING. WHAT'S THAT COIN WORTH? - UH, THIS?
LET ME SEE? - IS THAT REAL,
OR IS THAT JUST, LIKE, A GROMMET OR SOMETHING? - THE DENOM--IT'S RIGHT HERE. - DON'T TOUCH MY MONEY. - [laughs] I CAN'T SEE IT
FROM THAT SIDE. - ALL RIGHT, AND THIS IS
DU YEN JI. - [reading name] - [repeating name] - [reading name] - "WEEE"? [laughter] AND THIS IS JUST A 50,
SO WE WON'T READ THAT. ALL RIGHT, SO--
NO, WE WILL. WHO IS THIS ON THE 50
THAT-- - [reading name] - OKAY. WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH
FOR SENDING THOSE IN. AND TO THE OTHER 999 MILLION
PEOPLE IN CHINA, I'M STILL WAITING. AND THE OTHER 7 BILLION PEOPLE
ON EARTH, I ACCEPT ALL DENOMINATIONS. AND, SUNNY, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
It's 2016. Mispronouncing Chinese names as comedy is just lazy. You can do better than this Ellen.
I posted this as a reply for why we do not go by a Chinese names commonly.
how terribly hard it was to watch this....
it seems she had problem pronoucing the W sound for some reason. Which is odd, since it is common in English as well, and it is pronounced the same way as English.