New beginner here...

[NGVertigo]

Hello,
name's Josh. Just started earlier this week with JPod101 and working my way through the introduction series.

One of the things I caught on the 2nd Intro lesson was that there would be a way to pronounce or change the name to suit Japanese native language. I couldn't find anything on the website as to where it was, so I thought I'd ask here.

I think my first name wouldn't be a problem; I've heard it spoken in a Japanese setting and accent before (goodies you find on Youtube). But my last name would be a trick, something for the language fiends, I'm guessing: O'Neill.

Now, to show my beginner status, there's only two relating items I've ever heard of. Oni (which I believe is demon) and Onii-chan (a term of endearment to an older brother...)

I expect to be wrong, that's how I learn.

[jemstone]

oni and onii-chan is close to your last name, but not quite there.

you could go with オニール (o-ni-ru, long vowel i). something like onii-chan but drop "chan" and add "ru".

[NGVertigo]

オニール is really on the spot, I think. I googled that up, and the first searches yielded the American surf clothing brand O"Neill (Founded by Jack O'Neill way back in the day)

オ For "O"
ニ for "Ni"
ー is the prolonging of the "I" sound?
ル for "Ru"

Interesting to see it written all in Katakana... (which I'm not familiar with yet)

Of course, now I'm fumbling around with Kanji to see if I can compose an alias of sorts... <.< for fun.

[jemstone]

yes, the ー is to prolong the vowel sound of the character before it. i learned from here (somewhere in the forum) that this line is only for katakana usage. does not exist in hiragana usage.

edit:
but that's not to say that there is no prolonging of vowel sounds in hiragana. its just done in a different manner.

for example, aeroplane is ひこうき (hi-ko-u-ki). when pronounced, it sounds like hi-ko-ki with the "o" sound extended.

[jaypunkrawk]

Hajimemashite Joshu-san. Boku mo Joshu desu.

はじめましてジョシュさん。僕もジョシュです。