Japanese

Study the whole book, but also pay special attention to the topics outlined below. These are common areas of difficulty for Japanese speakers of English.

Consonants

The /r/ Sound

Learn to pronounce the correct American /r/ sound by studying Chapter Three and by doing all the /r/ exercises in Chapter Four.

When the /r/ sound is at the end of the word, as in far and computer, or before another consonant, as in dark and concert, Japanese speakers tend not to pronounce it at all. Remember, the /r/ is never silent in Standard American English whereas in British English it sometimes is.

Word Pairs for Practice

Make sure you don’t pronounce these pairs of words the same:

Native Japanese speakers tend to confuse the /r/ and /l/ sounds. Study Chapter Three to learn the difference between these two sounds, and do all of the r and l exercises in Chapter Four. Be especially careful about the r and l when they are near each other as in: entirely, rarely, and barely. Also take special care when they are preceded by another consonant as in fly and fry.

Confusing /f/ and /h/

The Japanese sound for f is a combination of the English /f/ and /h/. Be especially careful not to pronounce fu like “hu.” Compare how an American and a Japanese person would pronounce the word Fuji. For the American /f/, make sure that your lower lip is touching your upper teeth.

Confusing /b/ and /v/

Review the exercises in Chapter Four. Remember, the /b/ sound requires the lips to be completely closed, with no air coming out, whereas the /v/ sound only involves the lower lip, which touches the upper teeth and creates a vibrating air flow. Be particularly careful with words that contain both a b and v or when these sounds are close together, as in Beverly, November, vibrate, available, I’ve been and very big.

The /w/ Sound

Review the section on the /w/ sound in Chapter Four. Make sure that you are producing a puff of air and that your vocal cords are vibrating as you produce this sound. Don’t say “I us,” say “I was.” Pay special attention to the w in the middle of words and to words that begin with qu. Remember, qu sounds like /kw/ as in question. Don’t say “/kɛs/ + tion,” say “/kwes/ + tion.”

Here are some commonly mispronounced words with a /w/ sound:

1. twelve
2. forward
3. question
4. quit
5. someone (one = “won”)
6. always
7. would
8. inquire
9. somewhere
10. overwhelmed
11. quiet
12. language (u = /w/)

Confusing /ʒ/ and /ʤ/

Both the /ʒ/ sound (as in beige) and the /dʒ/ sound (as in orange) are voiced. The easiest way to fix the problem of confusing these two sounds is to practice pronouncing their voiceless pairs. First say the sh sound as in shoes and then add the vibration to the vocal cords. That will produce the /ʒ/ sound. Now say the ch sound as in choose. If you add vibration and make it voiced, that produces the /ʤ/ sound. So, if you can pronounce shoes and choose differently, you can also pronounce massage (/ʒ/) and message (/ʤ/) differently.

The th sound

Review Chapters Three and Four to learn the correct pronunciation of this sound. A common mistake is to substitute a /t/ or a /d/ for th.

Some Japanese speakers also substitute an “s” or “z” for “th.”

Word Contrasts for Practice

Make sure that you don’t pronounce these words the same:

Common Vowel Errors

The “ar” words

When the /ɑ/ sound is followed by /r/, it is pronounced incorrectly by many Japanese speakers. The /ɑ/ requires the tongue to lie flat at the bottom of the mouth and the jaw to be wide open; then the tongue must be quickly curled up to move into the /r/ position. This type of unfamiliar tongue movement can be quite a challenge for Japanese speakers. Usually one of these sounds ends up being compromised and the word farm ends sounding either like “firm” or “fam.” You need to work on clearly pronouncing both sounds.

Word Contrasts for Practice

Make sure you pronounce the words in each pair below differently:

Practice Sentences

1. I will park my car in his yard.
2. His large aparartment is not very far.
3. Mark played his guitar in the dark bar.
4. Marshall Clark will start in March.
5. I paid for the seminar with my charge card.

The /ɔ/ Sound

Be careful that your /ɔ/ sound (as in saw) is not influenced by the very different British version of this sound. In British English pause sounds almost like “pose,” but in American English it sounds much more like /pɑz/, and has the same /ɑ/ sound as in father or watch.

Word Contrasts for Practice

Make sure you don’t pronounce the two words in each pair the same way:

The /I/ Sound

You might have a tendency to pronounce /I/ (as in sit) incorrectly. Make sure you pronounce the following words differently:

The /ɘ/ Sound

You might confuse /ɘ/ as in fun, with /ɑ/ as in hop. Practice pronouncing the following words differently:

The /ʊ/ Sound

Do not make the common error of confusing /ʊ/ as in good, with /u/ as in food. Make sure you pronounce the following words differently: