Long vowels: spelling vs. pronounciation

[MichaelMcD]

Hi, I'm new here - just started learning a week ago but I've been listening to JP101 non-stop in addition to the two books I bought (both in Finnish, adds an interesting twist!).

My question is:
When you have a long o vowel, a 'u' character is used for the extra vowel, but it should be pronounced as 'oo', not 'ou'. However, when JP101 does the 'break-downs', the extra syllable is pronounced as a 'u'. This seems to contradict the rule. Can anybody explain why that is? Is the 'break-down' just following the spelling in these cases?

Thanks for your help!

Michael

[Psy]

You're completely correct. The break-down is just emphasizing the spelling of the word as you will see it, with the full pronunciation being as you described. ou is said oo, ei is said ee, n+m/b/p becomes mm/mb/mp and n+any vowel is ng-vowel. For example toukyou sounds like tookyoo, kirei sounds like kiree, konbanwa sounds like kombanwa and kin'en sounds like king'en.

That's Japanese pronunciation in a nutshell. For tonal aspects, be aware and just keep on listening. Welcome to the community and ganbatte!

[jkeyz15]

Kind of...not really. It still comes out pretty much the the same, just pronounce the vowel twice and slur it together.

Also for n+vowel note that the n becomes nasal (you use your nose).