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Lesson 1: Pronunciation - I |
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Page 2 of 4
FU
Practice saying the following words:
In Japanese, this sound does not have the distinct "f" sound English speakers are
familiar with. It is more of a blowing through one's teeth and lips. An "f" in
English can be exagerated by placing one's front teeth on their lower lip.
You will not do this in Japanese. Imagine saying the word "who" but change the
beginning ever so slightly into an "f" sound.
Fuji
Fukujima
RA RI RU RE RO
In actuality, the pronunciation is a mix between an r, l, and d. This does not mean to
mix these three letters together as we know them in English but, it will give you an
idea of what your tongue is supposed to do and how closely related these sounds are in
Japanese.
First say the following, using a distinctive English "R":
Next say the following, using a distinctive English "L":
Now say the following, using a distinctive English "D":
Finally, thinking about each of the above very carefully, practice saying the following
by combining each of the above sounds. For "ra" start with a very faint "rrr" sound then place
your tongue in your mouth like you are going to say "la" but suddenly switch to "da."
Try a similar exercise for each of the remaining phonetics, below:
These characters, in my opinion, are some of the most difficult to pronounce for
native English speakers. Everyone knows that Japanese have difficulty pronouncing
the English "R" and "L." Well, this is because there is no such sound in Japanese.
Despite the fact that these characters are represented by the letter R, the pronunciation
is not the same.
ra
ri
ru
re
ro
la
li
lu
le
lo
da
di
du
de
do
ra
ri
ru
re
ro
Now go to Page 3 for a chart of phonetics. The chart includes some audio files so you can hear the proper pronunciation of the phonetics above.
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