Lesson Two: Pronunciation
Let’s look at some words that many people are familiar with. These are words that commonly used in English. See how many you can recognize! You need to pay close attention to differences in pronunciation! English speakers pronounce them based on English rules. But the original words are pronounced quite differently in Japanese.
Here are the first five words. Tap the button to hear how they would be pronounced in Japanese.
Did you compare them with how they sound in English? The sound isn’t the only thing that changed! In English, for example, manga and anime refer to certain styles of comics and cartoons. But in Japanese manga refers to ALL comics and anime refers to ALL cartoons. Also, most Japanese people don’t use the word kamikaze.
karaoke | カラオケ |
kamikaze | かみかぜ |
karate | からて |
anime | アニメ |
manga | まんが |
Here’s another set of words for you. Remember to check the English pronunciation against the Japanese!
futon | ふとん |
romaji | ローマじ |
tsunami | つなみ |
samurai | さむらい |
ninja | にんじゃ |
There are a few things I need to point out. Romaji is what we call Japanese that is written in English letters instead of Japanese characters. Also, a futon is a mattress that you sleep on in Japan. They are really comfortable!
Are you feeling comfortable with these words? Then it’s game time! がんばって! (ganbatte!) (Hang in there!)
GAME: Hit-a-word
There you go! It’s important to know how to pronounce words correctly in Japanese. Try your best to match my pronunciation. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let’s go through one more game to get ready for the next lesson.
GAME: Word search
If you master all the words from this less, the next lesson will become available. I’m looking forward to teaching you more, so hurry up and master your words!
