ohayoo gozaimasu

[tamii]

Hi everyone, Im new to this forum (and japanese).

Anyways, I just had a question. My friend and I were debating how midori is pronounced. How do you prounounce it... they say that "r" is more like a "d"
so would it be something like "me-doh-dee" or is it just "midori". My sister had a friend from japan and her name was midori, but if Im talking about the color green do you say it like "me-doh-dee"? It sounds weird.

[nice gaijin]

The R sound in English uses quite a bit more lip-motion than in Japanese. To many, the Japanese R sounds similar to the English D, but they are distinct phonemes. Don't worry about trying too hard to reproduce Japanese pronunciations unless you are speaking in Japanese. When I am talking with English speakers I still say things like "karaoke" and "karate" like an American is expected to; if I use the Japanese pronunciations all I get are blank stares and the feeling that I'm being condescending.

so "mee-doh-ree" is fine.

[tamii]

okay, thanks alot

[breez]

When I am talking with English speakers I still say things like "karaoke" and "karate" like an American is expected to; if I use the Japanese pronunciations all I get are blank stares and the feeling that I'm being condescending.

Ah, yes. Actually one can find those words in an English language dictionary and the pronunciation given is the one English speakers use. Same deal with all loanwords I guess, like my native language word sauna in English ("soona" as opposed to "sauna").