OK, LET'S GIVE THIS A TRY!
My first name is
Sachiko (幸子), which means "
happiness":
➝ Sa: The
A is short, pronounced like in the words
At and
After. ➝ Sah
➝ chi: The
CH is sharp, with a pronunciation similar to
iTCHy. The
I is short, but similar to the vowel sound in
mEEt. ➝ tchee
➝ ko: This is the stressed syllable. The
O is, once again, short. It is similar to the one in
Owe. ➝ KOH
My last name is
Murata (村田), which means "
a village's rice paddy":
➝ Mu: The
U is short. Its pronunciation is similar to that in in
rUle. ➝ Muu
➝ ra: I don't think the English language has the
R sound which is necessary to pronounce my surname correctly. An approximation would be the rolled sound in
beTTer. The
A is the same as in
SAchiko. ➝ rrah
➝ ta: This is the stressed syllable. The A is also the same as in
SAchiko. ➝ TAH
IN CONCLUSION:
• Sachiko ➝ Sah-tchee-KOH
• Murata ➝ Muu-rrah-TAH
PHEW, this was much harder than I thought it would be!
My apologies in advance if this isn't 100% correct: I wrote it with the
American Standard Pronunciation in mind. However, I might have a slight accent which makes it difficult to accurately hear and pronounce some English words and sounds.
EDIT:
• If you're still curious, writing 幸子村田 on Google Translate and selecting the voice option will allow you to hear the proper pronunciation of my name!
BONUS FUN FACT:
• In Japan,
your family name comes before your given name. As such, my name would be
Murata Sachiko, instead of
Sachiko Murata.