| Yokoso!Welcome to my Japanese Lessons.Have | | | | are actually a slight variation of the main |
| you ever watched an old Japanese samurai movie | | | | sounds.They are the Secondary Sounds:ga za da |
| on the late show? Chances are you thought that | | | | ba pagi ji - bi pigu zu - bu puge ze de be pego zo |
| everyone was always angry at everyone else | | | | do bo poThere are situations where two |
| and spent a lot of time yelling in monotonous | | | | consonants are together with a vowel.They |
| staccato tones. I felt the same way. It was all | | | | produce the following Tertiary Sounds:kya gya |
| unintelligible blabber, not a real language. Well, | | | | sha ja cha nya hya pya bya mya ryakyu gyu shu |
| guess what? It is actually possible to make some | | | | ju chu nyu hyu pyu byu myu ryukyo gyo sho jo |
| sense out of the nonsensical language that you | | | | cho nyo hyo pyo byo myo ryoNow that you are |
| hear on Japanese movies, etc. With a little | | | | armed with the correct sounds for the language, |
| understanding of how the language works, you will | | | | why don't you pull out your Japanese Name or |
| be on your way to sounding just like those yelling, | | | | Phrase and give the pronunciation a try? with a bit |
| sword-swinging samurai of yore.What I would like | | | | of practice you should be able to get the sounds |
| to do is provide you with a basic understanding of | | | | just right.One last thing to mention that I found |
| the Japanese language. It is not meant to replace | | | | really helps with getting the pronunciation right. |
| formal study at an institute of higher learning. Not | | | | Almost all of the sounds can be said without the |
| everything can be covered, but I will do my best | | | | use of the lips. Think of yourself as a ventriloquist, |
| to provide language tips that will help you develop | | | | speaking from a puppet. Don't move your lips, and |
| your Japanese language skills.I will be working | | | | keep them relaxed. It should help. And |
| mainly with "conversational" Japanese in nature; | | | | practice.Here are a few simple sentences that |
| something that you can use right away in certain | | | | you can use for pronunciation practice and begin |
| situations. Learning to read and write can take | | | | to memorize for your future use:Practice |
| years.Of course in order to truly become fluent in | | | | Sentences:1. Watashi no namae wa Ken desu. (My |
| any foreign language it is always desirable, if at all | | | | name is Ken.)2. Kono biiru wa ikura desu ka? (How |
| possible, to immerse oneself in the language and | | | | much is this beer?)3. Toire wa doko desuka? |
| culture (like what I did - threw away a life in | | | | (Where is the toilet?)4. Mata ne! (See you later!)5. |
| biotechnology for a brave new world). Coming to | | | | Ohisashiburi desu ne. (Long time no see.)6. Ohayou |
| Japan will do wonders for your language ability if | | | | gozaimasu. (Good morning.)7. Konnichi wa. (Hello.)8. |
| you ever have the chance. I understand that this | | | | Konban wa. (Good evening.)9. Oyasumi nasai. |
| is not feasible for most people, so I will strive to | | | | (Good night.)10. Koko wa doko desu ka? (Where |
| do my best to provide you with current lessons | | | | am I now?)--------------------------- |
| and examples for study.Pronunciation in | | | | The Culture Pocket: A Brief History of the |
| JapaneseMaybe you have recently had a phrase | | | | Japanese Written LanguageMost scholars believe |
| translated for you with the corresponding | | | | that prior to the introduction of Kanji from China, |
| pronunciation written in roman characters. Or how | | | | there was no formal written language. No one is |
| about a tattoo in kanji (Japanese characters)? | | | | certain when the script first came to the islands |
| That is rather popular these days. But how do | | | | but some believe that it could have been around |
| you pronounce it so it sounds close to natural? | | | | the first century AD. In the early third century, |
| Fear not for help is on the way! In this lesson you | | | | artifacts have been recovered that depict some |
| will learn a bit about the history of the language | | | | form of writing.Kanji was first used as a system |
| and how the language sounds. So sit back, take | | | | of writing sometime in the late 5th century or |
| out your notebook and enjoy the first lesson | | | | early 6th century. It is difficult to set an exact |
| Japanese Lesson series.Let's get down to | | | | date because of the writings being based on the |
| business.In Japanese there is no clear stress on | | | | Chinese calendar which is difficult to interpret. |
| syllables in words as there is in English. A | | | | More than likely, Chinese or Koreans who came |
| non-Japanese speaker would pronounce the city | | | | to the islands to live began using the characters.In |
| of Yokohama as "Yoko-HAA-ma" and the family | | | | the beginning kanji was more than likely used to |
| name Yoshida as "Yo-SHEE-da". In English, stress | | | | represent sounds (phonetics) for loan words from |
| tends to be placed on the second last syllable of | | | | other cultures. Also, the introduction of Buddhism |
| longer words. Not so in Japanese. All syllables are | | | | into China and eventually Japan prompted |
| spoken with equal strength and length. A Japanese | | | | translations of the scripts using the script. |
| speaker would say "Yo-ko-ha-ma" and "Yo-shi-da" | | | | Buddhism probably had the greatest influence on |
| without stressing any parts.Try saying the | | | | the development of the language due to the huge |
| following words without putting any extra | | | | influx of people from the mainland to build |
| strength or stress on any of the syllables:1. | | | | temples, translate documents, make statues, tiles, |
| Yokohama 2. Kawasaki 3. Nagasaki 4. Hiroshima 5. | | | | copy sutras, etc.Around the seventh century it |
| Amerika6. Osutoraria 7. koohii 8. Nippon 9. | | | | seems that the Japanese people began mastering |
| beesubooru 10. koppuSome texts say that there | | | | the language themselves and started to do some |
| are long and short syllables in the Japanese | | | | work of their own. The language began to make |
| language. I disagree. In most cases the longer | | | | some changes as it took on more than just a |
| sound of a syllable is due simply to an extra | | | | phonetic reproduction of foreign words (KUN |
| vowel placed after the previous syllable. For | | | | reading). Eventually it began to be used to |
| example Tokyo is actually pronounced like | | | | represent ideas and concepts.Chinese and |
| To-u-kyo-u and Kyoto is Kyo-u-to (note here that | | | | Japanese are completely different. In terms of |
| the final to in Kyoto sounds shorter than the | | | | structure, Chinese is actually closer to English than |
| middle to but it is just because it lacks the | | | | it is to Japanese. And yet, the Japanese, in their |
| additional u which makes the sound appear to be | | | | amazing ability to adapt things to their own ideas, |
| longer. Pronounced carefully, the "long" syllable | | | | were able to take the Chinese and add marks so |
| takes twice as long to pronounce as the "short" | | | | that it would conform to the Japanese word |
| syllable.Practice these sounds:1. biiru 2. biru 3. | | | | order. Then the kanji began to take on a second |
| konpyuuta 4. konpyuutaa 5. koka koora6. | | | | reading, known as the ON reading, as mentioned |
| Toukyou 7. Kyouto 8. suteeki 9. ginkou 10. | | | | above. It may be that the Korean language had |
| waapuroThere are five vowels in the Japanese | | | | influenced the development of the Japanese |
| language: A, I, U, E, O. These vowels have one | | | | language as both have similar word orders and |
| sound apiece. Unlike the English "a" which can have | | | | also use honorific auxiliaries.In the Nara period |
| the sounds found in cat, crawl, cape, the Japanese | | | | (710-784) there was an explosion of Japanese |
| A sounds like the vowel found in the word cup. | | | | literature. It seems that much of the oral tradition |
| And as a matter of fact, all of the syllables in | | | | of passing on history was translated into script |
| Japanese are very short and clipped (Suzuki | | | | for the future generations. The language began to |
| sounds more like S'z'ki). Remember that | | | | become more and more complex.Hiragana began |
| whenever you see a vowel in a Japanese word it | | | | to be developed around the Nara period as well. It |
| will always have the following sound:Vowel: a i u e | | | | has its roots in the simplification of a cursive-style |
| o | | | | of writing kanji. This cursive style was mainly |
| Sound: up heat soup left slopeMost consonants | | | | used privately among individuals to make notes, |
| sound as they do in English with a few exceptions | | | | letters and other personal documents. For about |
| worth noting: K, G, S, Z, D, T, P, B do not have | | | | 1400 years the hiragana had a very large set of |
| the puff of air that is associated with same | | | | letters. In 1900 it was standardized in brushwritten |
| consonants in English. The N is also a very unusual | | | | and woodblock-printed forms, mainly for artistic |
| sound as it can actually take on four different | | | | purposes. Because of this, hiragana tends to have |
| sounds, depending on where it is found in the | | | | a roundish, flowing style and shape.Officials and |
| word.If it precedes a vowel (as in no) it has the | | | | scholars continued to use classical Chinese for |
| normal N sound found in English. Before t, ts, d, n, | | | | their work for many hundred years. As the |
| ch, j it also posses the normal n sound.If it is | | | | language developed, it became necessary to add |
| found before p, b, m it takes on an m sound.If it | | | | notes next to the text to aid in the reading of |
| is found before k and g it sounds like ng as in | | | | the texts. This began in the Heian period |
| finger.If it is found at the end of a word, or | | | | (794-1192). Because space was limited, scholars |
| before all other sounds, it has a nasal sound, | | | | began using a shorthand version of the kanji used |
| similar to the French n as in pain (bread).There is | | | | for pronunciation. This was the beginning of |
| one other sound that we need to discuss. It is the | | | | Katakana. In the beginning it was not entirely |
| most difficult sound for foreigners to pronounce | | | | different from hiragana but over time developed |
| correctly. It is the R sound. This sound is not | | | | a more square appearance, more scholarly. |
| found in the English language. It is a somewhere | | | | Eventually the katakana script evolved such that |
| between the English L, D, R and is a rather short, | | | | it began to be used solely for writing foreign loan |
| chopped sound. In this case the tongue quickly | | | | words, or concepts that did not exist in the native |
| flicks the roof of the mouth just in front of the | | | | Japanese language.Reference: Japanese |
| soft upper pallette. This sound takes a lot of | | | | Correspondence Course for JET Participants, |
| practice to get right and in order to pronounce it | | | | 1993- Cameron Switzer, Fukui, JapanCameron |
| correctly you need to hear it to be able to | | | | Switzer has lived and worked in Japan for over 15 |
| reproduce it.The following chart shows all the | | | | years. He is fluent in the language, the culture and |
| possible combinations of consonants and vowels in | | | | business.To visit his personal site, please go to |
| the Japanese Language. Note that in almost every | | | | where you can learn a lot about life in Japan and |
| case (except for n by itself) all consonants are | | | | have a great time while doing it!If you would like |
| followed by a vowel. This makes the language | | | | to continue studying the Free! Japanese Lessons, |
| very easy to pronounce.a ka sa ta na ha ma ya | | | | please visit: |
| ra wa wo ni ki shi chi ni hi mi - ri - - -u ku su tsu | | | | today.For assistance regarding business related to |
| nu fu mu yu ru - -e ke se te ne he me - re - - -o | | | | Japan, please visit Cameron's business site, |
| ko so to no ho mo yo ro - - -There are some | | | | Intrmarket Solutions, at: |
| other sounds which are not quite as common, but | | | | today. |