Enunciations difficult for native english speakers?

green · Jun 26, 2002, 00:14

I am starting to study up on Japanese for a trip I will be taking in a couple years. It is important to me to be comprehendable, to sound as native as possible. So, I have some questions.

Can anyone recomend/point-to any sounds that are difficult for native English speakers to pronounce? Especially slight' hard to notice differences that an english speaker would assume on some level is pronounced in an English way.

thanks.

samuraitora · Jun 26, 2002, 02:05

There are a few things that are hard for americans...tsu, fu or hu, and the r's...I will find and post a few good sites with audio files.

Vidook · Jul 3, 2002, 03:53

The hardest parts are:

single length vowels vs. double length vowels

the "glottal stop" of a small TSU

StorDuff · Jul 6, 2002, 08:34

I had trouble with Tsu but picked it up fairly fast. I just find it very hard to talk/write in Japanese using r's then go back to English. I always get caught up replacing l's with r's then get mixed up on that and spell the rest of the word wrong.

samuraitora · Jul 8, 2002, 23:28

I have ran into the same problem...when I was a kid with my Japanese friends...spending the night or just hanging out with them, I would come home speaking engrish with a japanese acent...too funny.

moyashi · Jul 20, 2002, 21:30

samuraitora basically hit all the tough ones.

Other's I guess would depend upon your own native language or that native language's dialect.

R vs L
ra, ri ru re ro .... written with "R".

construction of the sound would be to start off with the English "L" mouth in a smile and when you make the sound don't allow your tongue to hit the roof of your mouth strongly like in the English "L and N" sounds but rather as light taps. Of course RU and RO forces a round shape at times but most importantly is the smile and light tapping when you run through ra - ri - ru - re - ro.

So, now you all know why Japanese confuse L's and R's, their "RA" sound is neither but both.

nebosuke · Jul 24, 2002, 19:59

The toughest thing for me has been Ryu. I think I can make it sound understandable, but not sound correct.

Harvey · Jul 26, 2002, 23:18

the "glottal stop" of a small TSU

That's hilarious. I love "glottal stops".
引越し。びっ�_り。たっぷり。なまってる。ばっちり。べりグッド。
ビッグカメラ。なにつっとんねん！？

Jun 26, 2002, 00:14	#1
green Junior Member Join Date: Jun 25, 2002 Posts: 8	Enunciations difficult for native english speakers? I am starting to study up on Japanese for a trip I will be taking in a couple years. It is important to me to be comprehendable, to sound as native as possible. So, I have some questions. Can anyone recomend/point-to any sounds that are difficult for native English speakers to pronounce? Especially slight' hard to notice differences that an english speaker would assume on some level is pronounced in an English way. thanks.

Jun 26, 2002, 02:05	#2
samuraitora Regular Member Join Date: May 29, 2002 Location: Detroit MI Age: 35 Posts: 782	There are a few things that are hard for americans...tsu, fu or hu, and the r's...I will find and post a few good sites with audio files. __________________ ja mata samuraitora (^_-)/

Jul 20, 2002, 21:30	#6
moyashi Regular Member Join Date: Apr 15, 2002 Location: SonyLand Age: 40 Posts: 1,566	samuraitora basically hit all the tough ones. Other's I guess would depend upon your own native language or that native language's dialect. R vs L ra, ri ru re ro .... written with "R". construction of the sound would be to start off with the English "L" mouth in a smile and when you make the sound don't allow your tongue to hit the roof of your mouth strongly like in the English "L and N" sounds but rather as light taps. Of course RU and RO forces a round shape at times but most importantly is the smile and light tapping when you run through ra - ri - ru - re - ro. So, now you all know why Japanese confuse L's and R's, their "RA" sound is neither but both. __________________ crazy gonna crazy

Jul 26, 2002, 23:18	#8
Harvey Regular Member Join Date: Jun 10, 2002 Location: Osaka Posts: 445	the "glottal stop" of a small TSU That's hilarious. I love "glottal stops". 引越し。びっ�_り。たっぷり。なまってる。ばっちり。べりグッド。ビッグカメラ。なにつっとんねん！？ __________________ Help me I'm Harvey! http://www.japannewbie.com iPhone apps to learn Japanese! http://thejapanesepage.com/iphone Here as well http://www.japannewbie.com/iphone/

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Jul 3, 2002, 03:53	#3
Vidook Junior Member Join Date: Jul 3, 2002 Posts: 3	The hardest parts are: single length vowels vs. double length vowels the "glottal stop" of a small TSU

Jul 6, 2002, 08:34	#4
StorDuff Regular Member Join Date: Jul 6, 2002 Location: Austin, Texas, USA Posts: 61	I had trouble with Tsu but picked it up fairly fast. I just find it very hard to talk/write in Japanese using r's then go back to English. I always get caught up replacing l's with r's then get mixed up on that and spell the rest of the word wrong.

Jul 8, 2002, 23:28	#5
samuraitora Regular Member Join Date: May 29, 2002 Location: Detroit MI Age: 35 Posts: 782	I have ran into the same problem...when I was a kid with my Japanese friends...spending the night or just hanging out with them, I would come home speaking engrish with a japanese acent...too funny.

Jul 24, 2002, 19:59	#7
nebosuke I am Jack's Custom Title Join Date: Jul 22, 2002 Location: L.A., CA Posts: 30	The toughest thing for me has been Ryu. I think I can make it sound understandable, but not sound correct.

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