Japanese pronounciation tips from natives to English speaker

[Yukai]

Hello~!

I am currently studying Japanese quite frequently now,
it's very enjoyable and challenging!
Especially for a native English speaker!
I'm curious, though.
Is there any typical pronounciation mistakes that native English speakers make when they speak Japanese? A native friend of mine has told me that we tend to over exaggerate when we speak Japanese.
What are your tips for pronunciation in Japanese for English speakers?

[Liz21]

Well, I'm just a Beginner, but I know that English speakers have trouble with the "o" sound. We always want to make our lips narrow at the end of the sound and it comes out "oh-uu", instead of just "o".

Recently, my Japanese language partner criticized (nicely, of course) my katakana pronunciation. It's difficult to say the actual katakana sounds instead of cheating and saying the English sounds, know what I mean?

Thanks to JPOD lessons and Naomi-sensei, I have recently become aware of "pitch" location. I think this is important, also.

I'd be interested in hearing what suggestions will come from native Japanese speakers. Ah, it's so hard! But, it works both ways, of course. Japanese speakers have just as much trouble pronouncing English. We can learn from that, too!!

[samihu]

I've been told I have pretty good Japanese pronunciation so...

The 'r' sound...it's somewhere between an r and an l with a d thrown in. Similar to the Spanish r sound.

The 'n' by itself is more in your throat/up your nose than English. Kinda like 'ng'.

The 't' and 'd' sounds are made with the tongue hitting the back of the top teeth, not the top of your mouth.


That's all I can think of at the moment.

EDIT!

I thought of another!

"fu" is not a hard 'f' sound. It's kind of between an 'h' and an 'f'. Your lips are more pursed and sort of blowing.

[untmdsprt]

Recently, my Japanese language partner criticized (nicely, of course) my katakana pronunciation. It's difficult to say the actual katakana sounds instead of cheating and saying the English sounds, know what I mean?

Liz, how did you find this person? I've been searching for a language partner that can help me and not hog the entire conversation in English.

[Liz21]

Hi, there!
I found "Miharu", who lives in Chiba, on a site called "Mixxer": http://www.language-exchanges.org/

We have been meeting on Skype once a week for one hour for several years! So, we have developed a great deal of mutual trust and honesty. We have been using Japanese for Busy People as a text. Usually, I read some of the text and ask her for feedback as to my pronunciation. And I help her her with English pronunciation.

But, to tell you the truth, we speak mostly in English. It's the usual problem that you probably are talking about: my Japanese is very limited and she has a great English vocabulary. So we enjoy chatting about things in English, because it's the only way we can really communicate. So, my pronunciation is getting better, but my conversational skills in Japanese are really bad.

Another tip for pronunciation: use the Voice Recorder in the Learning Center. It does not lie! Listen carefully to your own voice and compare to the native speaker. I love this feature of JPOD, but I have to open Safari to use it. My Firefox has some kind of conflict with it.

Good luck!

[Neil53]

Hi Liz!
Miharu is great isn't she. Although, I speak too much in English as well. Mixxer is a great source for practice partners.

Hi, there!
I found "Miharu", who lives in Chiba, on a site called "Mixxer": http://www.language-exchanges.org/

We have been meeting on Skype once a week for one hour for several years! So, we have developed a great deal of mutual trust and honesty. We have been using Japanese for Busy People as a text. Usually, I read some of the text and ask her for feedback as to my pronunciation. And I help her her with English pronunciation.

But, to tell you the truth, we speak mostly in English. It's the usual problem that you probably are talking about: my Japanese is very limited and she has a great English vocabulary. So we enjoy chatting about things in English, because it's the only way we can really communicate. So, my pronunciation is getting better, but my conversational skills in Japanese are really bad.

Another tip for pronunciation: use the Voice Recorder in the Learning Center. It does not lie! Listen carefully to your own voice and compare to the native speaker. I love this feature of JPOD, but I have to open Safari to use it. My Firefox has some kind of conflict with it.

Good luck!

[Liz21]

Hi, Neil!
It's such a coincidence that we both know Miharu and we both use Japanesepod101.com!!