Question
Since I arrived to the U.S nobody ever pronounces my name correctly. Mijail (pronounce Me-Ha- Eel). But it's annoying to explaining it every time or hear how it's mispronounced around new circles constantly. I use Misha now, it's easy but sometimes they sent me checks as "Misha" too which has no use in the bank. I don't know if I should go all the way with my nickname or just use my actual name and look for a system to explain it. Any thoughts?
Answer
Names are used for people to remember you. This is why Chinese people regularly have a "Western" name because Chinese names rendered in other languages are just random sounds without Chinese characters or tonal markers.
I also suggest adding "make cheques payble to XYZ" to every invoice and reminding your clients to write to the correct entity, so you never have any issue cashing your cheques.
