In need of help with pronouncing my Chinese name.

[LeiHuiRui]

Howdy. At my boarding house a friend from China translated my name for me. She told me that Lei2 Hui4 Rui4 was a good name (You can probably deduce my first name). I can pronounce 雷 and 慧 (and understand that with two 4th tones in a row, the second 4th becomes a 2nd) but the Rui （鋭）is proving difficult. Is it R-u-whey or R-u-ee (as in Louis). Furthermore, is there meant to be any vibration at all between my hard palate and the bottom of my upturned tongue? Thankful for any help.

[Lu]

It's closer to R-u-whey. You can ask your friend to say this a few times to get a better idea of what Rui sounds like.

Btw two fourth tones in a row remain two fourth tones. It's only 3-3 that changes to 2-3.

[ABCsOfChinese]

Here are some audio files to practice saying 鋭rui4 correctly. As a native English speaker this particular one was tough for me to say correctly in the beginning as well. rui.mp3

[LeiHuiRui]

Thank both of you for your help. I believe that I have it now. I'm curious though, how common is the name 慧鋭? It's not some odd/obscure name like Marmaduke is in Britain, is it?

[skylee]

I think 慧銳 is ok, though it is difficult to pronounce. Personally I would prefer 睿 to 銳.

[lingo-ling]

Perhaps the closest sound to it in English is "ray". If "rway" were an English word, that would be closer. The Chinese r isn't actually the same as an English r, but it makes a close enough approximation.