Learn Perfect Pronunciation of Japanese Consonants-Group 2
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| Hi everyone! I’m Michelle Yamamoto. |
| Welcome back to The Ultimate Japanese Pronunciation Guide at JapanesePod101.com. |
| In this lesson, you'll master the second of 2 consonant groups. |
| Again, this group will be broken down into rows. The m-row is next. |
| ま、み、む、め、も |
| The consonant m is the same as the English "m"-sound as in "map". Close the mouth, put the lips together and make the nasal sound, "m". |
| Repeat after me. |
| ま |
| み |
| む |
| め |
| も |
| Did you notice that when you say み, the tongue position changed? The front of your tongue is raised to the roof of the mouth, because it's influenced by the following "i" sound. |
| み |
| み |
| Next is the y-row. There are only three sounds of this group in modern Japanese |
| や、ゆ、よ |
| y-sound is the same as "y" at the start of the English word "you". The position of the mouth and the tongue is the same as "い", but it moves to the next vowel. |
| Repeat after me. |
| や |
| ゆ |
| よ |
| The next group is the "r" row. |
| ら、り、る、れ、ろ |
| When you say "r" in Japanese, you lightly tap the teethridge that's just behind your top row of teeth with the tongue. It's very different from the English r-sound. It's actually similar to the "l" sound. Don't roll your tongue. |
| Ready? Repeat after me. |
| ら |
| り |
| る |
| れ |
| ろ |
| Now onto some words. |
| Repeat after me. |
| りす squirrel、り・す、りす |
| りす |
| からい spicy、か・ら・い、 からい |
| からい |
| Next is the w-row. There are only two sounds in this group in modern Japanese. |
| わ を |
| The "w" in わ is similar to the English w-sound, however, ease the pressure a little when you round the lips. |
| Repeat after me. |
| わ |
| わ |
| The を sound is grouped in this consonant w-group, but it's pronounced the same as お in Japanese. |
| Repeat after me. |
| を |
| を |
| The final consonant is "ん". |
| "ん" can stand alone, and is a syllable on its own. |
| ん, ん |
| Block the breath flow far back in the mouth so that the breath flows only to the nose. This is known as a nasal sound. |
| Repeat after me. |
| ん |
| ん |
| Practice this sound with words. |
| えん、yen、え・ん、えん |
| えん |
| にほん, Japan、に・ほ・ん、 にほん |
| にほん |
| What about this word? |
| If you put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth when you say ん, you would say... |
| ほんにゃく instead of ほんやく |
| Make sure you don't touch the tip of your tongue in any place in your mouth when you say ん. Instead, it should be suspended in the empty mouth space. |
| Be careful of this word too. |
| せんえん、one thousand yen, せ・ん・え・ん、せんえん |
| Don't say せんねん. |
| Make sure that you keep the tip of your tongue suspended in the empty space, and don't touch it to any particular part, and say せんえん. |
| せんえん |
| Okay, the last pattern is when consonants such as "p", "b", "m", "t", "g" or "k" come after "ん" such as . |
| In some cases, the sound "ん" is influenced by a following consonant. |
| The first case is... |
| うんめい destiny, う・ん・め・い、うんめい |
| It sounds more like an "m" sound because it's influenced by the following consonant, "m" sound. |
| うんめい |
| Can you tell the difference with the ん sound in this word? |
| さんか participation, さ・ん・か、さんか |
| The transition between the ん and か sounds like the nasal sound "ng". |
| Again, さんか |
| Okay, repeat after me. |
| えん, yen, え・ん、えん |
| えん |
| うんめい destiny, う・ん・め・い、うんめい |
| うんめい |
| さんか participation, さ・ん・か、さんか |
| さんか |
| Congratulations! You've now learned all 46 of the basic sounds in Japanese. You've learned many words already, so now you should practice saying words you know. |
| Have you ever seen kana characters with little marks on them? You'll learn how to pronounce them in the next lesson. |
| How confident are you about your pronunciation of "ra", "ri", "ru", "re", "ro"? Tell us about it in the comments! |
| See you in the next Ultimate Japanese Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
Comments
HideDo you know any word that contains one of these consonants?
Hello Gwen！😊
り、る、and ん are indeed challenging sounds for many learners! I'm glad to hear that the diagrams are helpful for you. Keep practicing, and you'll definitely get the hang of it!
頑張ってくださいね！(Ganbatte kudasai ne! "Please do your best!")
ありがとうございます！
Team JapanesePod101.com
こんにちは、Camさん！😊
I understand what you mean! The Japanese "ん" (n) sound can indeed be tricky because it doesn't always have a direct equivalent in English. It's important to remember that the "ん" sound is a nasal sound, and it can change slightly depending on the consonant that follows it.
Here are a couple of tips that might help:
1. Practice with different consonants: Try saying "ん" followed by different consonants like "か" (ka), "さ" (sa), "た" (ta), etc. Notice how the position of your tongue changes slightly with each one.
2. Relax your tongue: Keep your tongue relaxed and let the back of your tongue touch the roof of your mouth slightly.
Keep practicing, and you'll get the hang of it! 頑張ってください！(Ganbatte kudasai! "Please do your best!")
ありがとうございます！
Team JapanesePod101.com
こんにちは。
I find り、る、and ん to be the most challenging. The diagrams showing the lip, tongue, and teeth placement is very helpful.
ありがとうございます
- グウェン
The R consonant may be tricky, but the ん sound is also deceptively hard in my opinion.
Mainly getting the tip of my tongue to stay in place.
Hello Elaine!
I understand your frustration, The "R" row in Japanese (らりるれろ) can be a bit tricky because it's a sound that doesn't exist in English. It's a mix between an "R" and an "L" sound.
Here are a few tips:
1. **Lightly touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth** just behind your teeth, almost like you're about to say an "L" in English.
2. **Practice slowly**: Start with "ら" (ra) and repeat it slowly, then move to "り" (ri), "る" (ru), "れ" (re), and "ろ" (ro).
3. **Listen and mimic**: Try to listen to native speakers and mimic their pronunciation.
Keep practicing, and you'll get it! がんばってください！(Ganbatte kudasai! "Please do your best!")
ありがとうございます！
Team JapanesePod101.com
I just can't say the R row, frustrating
Brenda-san,
こんにちは！(Kon'nichiwa!)
Thank you for your comment😊
That's a very interesting observation, and you're quite correct.
The Japanese 'R' sound is indeed similar to the Spanish 'R' when it's between two vowels.
It's not quite the same, but it's a good starting point for English speakers who are trying to master the Japanese 'R' sound.
Keep up the good work and keep those observations coming.
They can be very helpful for your fellow students as well:)
Sincerely,
Miho
Team JapanesePod101.com
If you speak Spanish, the R in Japanese is similar to the r in Spanish between two vowels.
Hi Debbie,
Thank you for your comment.
We're glad to hear that it's clear to you😇
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Cheers,
Ryoma
Team JapanesePod101.com
Wow, learning that the 'r' is not rolled was surprising. Comparing the Japanese 'r' to the Spanish 'r' it becomes much clearer how to do it correctly in Japanese.
Thank you!
trentさん
Thank you so much for your comment😄
I don't know the difference between en and eng, so no worries😅
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
Geneñoさん
こんにちは！
Thank you for your comment.
We are glad to know that this lesson is helpful for you😊
Please try and master R sound in Japanese.
Hope you enjoy learning Japanese with us:)
Sincerely,
Miho
Team JapanesePod101.com
The `R` sound is hard for me sometimes it sounds `L` or `D` but thank you for this Yamamoto-san :bow
Trying to say sen-en without it sounding like seng-eng to me feels impossible
こんにちは Lisa Cecconi,
Our members with a Free Lifetime Account are still able to study with us for free as we regularly publish new lessons on our site which are available completely free of charge for a period of three weeks. However, for our more committed students, we require subscription plans to have access to the entire Lesson Library. Please check out our detailed Help Center page to get a complete overview of what exactly is included in the Free Lifetime Account, and what perks our various subscription options can give to you. You can find all this information at: https://www.JapanesePod101.com/helpcenter.
Hope this helps! Feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.
Best regards,
レヴェンテ (Levente)
Team JapanesePod101.com
Why can I not access perfect pronunciation of consonants 4th lesson?
bhuvika yadavさん
Thank you so much for your kind comment😄
We're glad that it helped you😇
Keep up the great work!!
Please let us know if you have any questions :)
Sincerely
りょうま（Ryoma）
Team JapanesePod101.com
Thank you for posting this vedio really helped me with the "n" sound as a 11 year old student 😇
Hello Benjamin,
Thank you for posting.
We’ll consider your feedback for our future development.😄
Here is a video lesson that might help:👍
https://www.japanesepod101.com/lesson/video-s2-9-kantan-kana-9/?lp=163
Let us know if you have any questions.
Lena
Team JapanesePod101.com
R is probably the most difficult one as it changes all the time depending on the context. I’m having a really hart time getting it right. Still thanks for your input. More videos regarding the r sound would be appreciated :) take care