I was wondering if any Asian or Islamic historians had any tips for remembering names/places.
I have been trying to read more about Chinese and Islamic history recently but find myself getting confused by the similarity of the names to my American ear. I am sure this is just because I was raised with Western history so don't have a frame of reference. I bet John Markson and Mark Johnson would be confusing if I wasn't American but that doesn't make it less frustrating.
Does anyone have any tips/advice on things that helped them or is it just keep reading and it will start to make sense eventually?
I've found, especially with Chinese and Mesoamerican names, that learning to say them passably well is a great help. Often you'll find that certain sounds will elide out or different syllables will be accented. This adds another layer of interpretation to what can seem a homogeneous mess of letters. Rather than just seeing John Markson and Mark Johnson, I can hear "John MARK-son" and "Mark JOHN-son."