5 pronunciation challenges for Japanese speakers | 日本人のための5つの発音チャレンジ

Hey everyone, it's Hadar.

Thank you so much for joining me.

This video is a part of a series of videos where I break down common pronunciation

challenges for certain speakers.

Each video is accompanied by pronunciation guide for those

speakers with 10 challenges and drills and exercises to practice

these challenges and improve clarity.

So if you are a Spanish speaker, Portuguese speaker, Russian speaker,

Arabic speaker, Korean speaker, and I think we have more, then make sure

you check out the description below the video or my website to see if you

have this guide and video as well.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at the phonology and phonetics

of English and Japanese and to see where there is a clash, and wherever

there is a clash, usually there is a challenge – a sound that doesn't exist

in Japanese or something that happens in Japanese and doesn't happen in English.

So it's going to be really, really interesting because every challenge

that we're gonna talk about, we're also going to talk about why that happens,

so you have a better understanding and you'll be able to predict it, and

also of course, how to practice it.

Now, as I said, we actually have a workbook – an American pronunciation

guide for Japanese speakers.

It is absolutely free.

So if you are a Japanese speaker or you are a teacher working with Japanese

speakers, you are going to want to have that workbook, it is very detailed.

And by the way, even though we're gonna talk about five challenges in

the video, in the workbook you are going to find 10 challenges with

the exercises and explanations.

So make sure to download the workbook.

Now, let's move on to challenge number one.

The first challenge is 'Confusing or not being able to tell the

difference between the R and the L'.

And here is why.

In Japanese there is only the R sound, the R phoneme.

The R phoneme that is pronounced as 'ur' in American English,

in English in general, has three different pronunciations.

They're called allophones.

An allophone is a way of pronouncing a certain sound.

And sometimes there are several different ways to pronounce the same

sound that is represented in the brain.

So for example, in American English, we have the T sound, the phoneme.

The sound the way it's represented in the brain is a T, but it could

be an aspirated T, like at the beginning of words, like 'time'.

Could be a held T - 'at'.

Could be a flap T - 'better'.

Right?

So it's the same phoneme, same category, but different

pronunciations, different allophones.

Same thing with a Japanese R.

The phoneme is /ɾ/, but it has three different allophones, which

are /ɾ/, 'r' - just like the American pronunciation, and L.

So what is perceived in English as an L is actually perceived in Japanese as

an R, and this is why the confusion.

Because on one hand, because they perceive it as the same sound, it feels

to them the same, right, it just changes according to the position in the word.

Because of that, it's hard for them to notice that there is a

difference when they hear English.

It's not a physical problem, they can pronounce an L, they can pronounce an R.

But it's to be able to pronounce the right sound on command,

that's what's challenging.

But also to recognize if it's an L or an R – that is a challenge as well, right?

R-L could be perceived the same.

So, the first thing is to be able to hear the differences.

The R sound in American English could be stretched out and it

has this hollow quality - 'ur'.

Versus the L, where you definitely hear the contact between the tongue and the L.

Let's practice a few words with the R.

Now here the tongue pulls back, there is no tap, it doesn't touch

the upper palate, and the lips round.

Red.

Around.

Result.

Crazy.

When pronouncing the L, the tip of the tongue has to touch the upper

palate, and has to touch it for...

for a little bit.

It doesn't just slightly touches it cuz then it's gonna be the /ɾ/ sound.

No, the L has to touch it continually, touch the upper palette.

Listen.

Alaska.

Please.

Close.

Okay?

That is the main difference.

So, when you practice the two, make sure that for the R, the tongue

doesn't touch the upper palate.

For the L, the tongue does touch the upper palate.

And then you also wanna practice minimal pairs.

For example: rain - lane, rice - lice, prank - plank.

Can you hear the difference?

Good.

Can you make the difference?

All right.

Now, there are more examples and more words to practice and an audio to follow,

so make sure you download the workbook.

The next thing is 'Adding a vowel at the end of words'.

In Japanese, words generally end with a vowel, not with a consonant,

unless it's a nasal consonant.

Unless in Japanese the word ends with 'm', 'n' or 'ng'.

Otherwise, you will not find words that end with a consonant,

like 'b' or 'k' or 'ch'.

As a result because of this constraint, whenever Japanese

speakers will try to pronounce a word that ends with a consonant,

there is going to be a conflict.

And some might try to solve this conflict by just adding a vowel, which

is what is very common in Japanese.

So instead of saying 'cab' they might say 'kabu'.

Instead of saying 'bag', they might say 'bagu', right, adding

a vowel, usually an 'u' sound.

So this is something that you definitely wanna be mindful of.

And understanding the constraint can be really helpful cuz it's not

a problem for you to pronounce the end sound, it's just that it goes

against your natural speech patterns.

Now, a way to practice it is just to practice lists of words that end with

a consonant and not with a vowel.

For example: leaf, hope, bag, sheet, dress, absorb.

Now, here's something interesting – when a word ends with an R, for example, 'care',

Japanese speakers might just drop the R - 'cae', and not add a vowel right after.

So that is what happens with the R.

And when they drop the R, if you drop the R, it's not a big deal,

it's like British pronunciation.

But if you want to work on your American pronunciation, then focus

on bringing the tongue up for the R at the end - care, here, store.

The next one is 'Mispronouncing the STIR sound'.

The STIR sound is an R vowel - 'ur'.

We find it in words like 'term', 'first', 'learn', 'hurt', 'girl' and 'burger'.

Basically, you wanna think of it as if the R takes over the vowel before,

and you just transition from one consonant to another while rounding

your lips and stretching out the sound.

The STIR always appears in a stressed syllable.

Now, the STIR doesn't exist in Japanese, and usually Japanese

speakers would substitute the sound with just one open 'aa' sound.

So instead of 'girl', they might say something like 'gaal'.

Instead of 'term' - 'taam', instead of 'first' - 'faast'.

Can you hear the difference?

So instead of rounding the lips, lifting the tongue up for the

'ur', which is basically like the pronunciation of the R sound, the

tongue drops, the jaw opens, lips are relaxed, and the 'aa' as in 'honest',

'father' and 'stop' is pronounced.

So, we are just going to learn how to pronounce the STIR sound, I'm going

to link to a relevant video as well.

And here's the tricky part.

The STIR sound appears in various spelling patterns.

Usually, IR, EAR, UR, OR, ER, just not AR, actually.

All possibilities except for AR.

And in all of these cases, the STIR sound sounds the same.

Okay?

So you bring the tongue up, sides of the tongue touch the sides of

the teeth, just like pronouncing an R - 'ur', round your lips.

Urban.

Burger.

Learn.

Her.

Hurt.

Okay?

Good.

And not 'aa'.

The next one is the U sound that is mispronounced.

In Japanese there is no U, the U is unrounded.

So think of just pronouncing the U sound without rounding the lips.

Now, I know, I know, I can work on my Japanese U sound, but for now, I just

wanted to show you an example of what it sounds like when you unround your lips.

But here's the thing.

Because it does sound a little bit like the U sound, every time there

is supposed to be an U sound in English, Japanese speakers might

actually take it to the unrounded U.

And then a word like 'food' might sound like 'fud', and 'you' like 'yu'.

You wanna make sure that you really round your lips for those U sounds.

Tense 'uw' as in 'food', 'you', 'two'.

Round the lips, the tongue's doing the same thing.

'Rumor'.

'Shampoo'.

Alright, good.

More words in the workbook.

The last challenge I'm gonna talk about today is consonant clusters.

In Japanese there are no clusters.

Clusters is when there is a sequence of consonants within the same

syllable, either at the end of a word or at the beginning of a word.

But it's one after another without vowels in between.

That does not happen in Japanese.

Maybe at the beginning, if the second consonant is the 'y' sound, but that's it.

And this is why when they come across words in English with clusters,

and there are many of them, it could be very difficult cuz it kind

of like goes against the natural tendencies of Japanese speakers.

So, one of the things that people might wanna do to solve that challenge is

to either break those consonants, so that means adding vowels in between.

For example, instead of the word 'cabs', we might hear 'cab' without the consonant,

so that consonant might be dropped.

Or in the word 'play', we might hear something like 'puh-lay',

adding a vowel in between.

So these are the things that we can expect.

Now here's how you can practice it.

First of all, you want to practice soft clusters.

What are soft clusters for Japanese speakers?

Clusters that have a nasal sound.

Because in Japanese, like I told you, it's okay to have a

nasal sound at the end of words.

So, for example, 'mine' is not posing any challenge cuz it ends with an N.

So, if we wanna say the word 'mind', it might be an easier transition into

the world of clusters because 'mine' is already okay, so it's just adding the D.

And you wanna make sure that you pronounce each sound separately and

then you connect the words together.

'Mind'.

'Homes'.

'Bangs'.

All right.

And then we also wanna practice maybe harder clusters at

the end, like 'text', right?

And you want to understand what your mouth does for each sound - K-S-T, and

then to connect it together - KST, right?

Just don't add vowels in between.

Text.

List.

Milk.

And then at the end, you might wanna try some clusters at the beginning,

like 'cry', 'play', 'street'.

All right, these are the five challenges.

There are five more waiting for you in the workbook, so just click the

link below and download the workbook.

And that's it.

I hope you found this helpful.

If you're a Japanese speaker, let me know in the comments what is

the biggest challenge out of the five that I have listed for you.

And what do you do to practice it?

Thank you so much for watching this.

If you have friends or family members or students or colleagues that you'd

like to share this with, please do.

I would be so grateful.

Now, if you're not following me on social media, I'm also on Instagram

at @hadar.accentsway, and TikTok, where I publish daily content.

It's a lot of fun.

. So, come on over there.

Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day, and I'll see you

next week in the next video.

Bye.