3 Common JAPANESE Pronunciation Mistakes to Avoid | explained in easy Japanese with subtitles

[@nadat3391]

I realize that he talks very slowly in comparison to other Japanese youtubers, maybe its because he is trying to teach Japanese so he wants to take it slowly. I just wanted to appreciate that and say thank you!

[@_____J______]

Clearly so

[@cromer6249]

As he talks slowly I’ve been understanding more of what he’s saying

[@kame9]

same, I though he start speak english but after 5 segs understand and i realized he speaking japanese, clear and slow and not high japamese accent

[@Haguxchan]

yeah i speed up his video by 1.5x :)

[@fia_ruka]

@@cromer6249 well for me i actually do, so it is helpful to some people

[@handybanana2274]

These dual language captions are amazing, I've never seen that before on KZbin without an add-on

[@mytokis3856]

Japanese Ammo also does this ^^ with the addition of only kana subtitles in between the regular Japanese subtitles and English subtitles. She does videos for more beginner type learners though idk your level but yeah for you or anyone who happens to see this comment ^^ in case it's helpful. I watch her videos to review grammar and end up learning some extra tips/clearing up some confusion i had.

[@M_SC]

All the “easy french” “easy whatever” language channels do it

[@stephaniem8278]

The speed at which you talk, the gestures and expressions you use, and the vocabulary you use make it very easy for beginning Japanese students to understand you without subtitles. I am actually challenging myself to watch more videos this month without subtitles as part of my listening study. I realized when I did this that I could focus a lot better, and especially on the pronunciation. Keep doing what you're doing, I appreciate it very much.

[@nicoper]

Timestamps: 0:45 「っ」 4:20 「ー」 9:50 「らりるれろ」

[@professoroflogic8788]

I feel like drinking a building today.

[@Pandefly]

For English speakers, らりるれろ will sound a lot better if you try to pronounce it with an L-sound instead of an R-sound. It's still not the same sound but it's a lot closer. らりるれろ is somewhere between an L and a D, and depending on which type of English you speak you might actually use this sound in place of a D or T sometimes (ex, if when speaking naturally you say "got to" as "gotta" (ex "I gotta go now") that TT is likely the L-D sound in らりるれろ instead of an actually T sound)

[@ikiyou_]

For some reason, I had luck making the R sound almost like I was *rolling* an r, and stopping before I actually rolled it.

[@shua8087]

I agree. I actually observed that it's like a rolling "r" but with only one roll and sounds more casual.

[@LoveYourself-un5ct]

That’s a good example!

[@77ale]

As a Spanish speaker, they are very very similar sounds. That’s probably why people are having luck rolling their r’s, but not actually completing the roll. But since I’m a Spanish speaker, I always want to pronounce it way closer to the Spanish way haha, I also have better luck with ろ compared to り and some of the others. I’ll keep practicing! (The “gotta” tip was very helpful btw)

[@FDE-fw1hd]

@@77ale the Spanish r and Japanese r are the same r. It's called the flap r. The pronunciation difference is probably the vowel coming after it.

[@t-shaysan1770]

This channel is fantastic! it's so hard to find videos in Japanese like this. I'm really enjoying them.

[@Gabby-du4mc]

ikr!

[@TEDIELTS]

Seriously. This is exactly what I needed.

[@ChibDibs]

Roast what english pronunciation? It was literally perfect American English.

[@CatsinHats4]

He even pronounced the most commonly mispronounced word correctly. Ironically that word is pronunciation

[@mercysnowden6130]

Right?! I heard his English and it’s one of the most natural sounding voices I’ve heard from someone whose native language is Japanese! And I can’t even believe that this video was made ONLY a year ago!! His English speaking-pace-wise and accent-wise has improved so much that sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s not his 1st language!! (So if you ever see this comment Hotoki-san, 頑張って続けってください! You are like a super human!! Keep it up and good luck with your schooling for being a doctor, you’re awesome!)

[@mm-yt8sf]

i fear the day dogs and cats realize they're being told to wait in a rude way ;-) (we must keep it our human secret)

[@cjustinlim2103]

フィリピンのマニラ出身です。フィリピン語はその「っ」の音があるから、ちょっと便利だと思います。 ひときさんの発音は僕と同じ外国人にとても分かりやすいです。ありがとうございます!

[@rimaaouadi590]

I just realized i had no subtitles on and i was struggling so bad yet i understood the meaning of the video (: i don't understand how i didn't realize i was stressing so bad to understand 😂

[@Onomappu]

That means maybe it’s time to start watching it without subs😉

[@Gabby-du4mc]

@@Onomappu IKR! hahaha happened to me too. I think so too!

[@daliz0527]

I feel sometimes immersion is the best way, as it makes you focus more to try to piece things together. It also improves your listening skills

[@keitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii]

Same here! Just subscribed to thus channel and find so many helpful contents. Watched few and yes, also realized that I've been watching without English subtitle. The automatic Japanese subtitle, I must say, is very unique and helpful way to understand his contents.

[@sanron420]

半年から僕は日本語を勉強しているけど、よくわかるのができました。 これは僕をとても嬉しくなります。 ドイツ人だから、日本語の勉強は難しいんですけど、よく頑張ります！

[@Silveirias]

Learning Japanese as a native speaker of Finnish, I feel fortunate these languages have a very similar pronunciation. :) In Finnish the difference between double consonant (small っ) and double vowel (ー) versus single consonant/vowel is also huge, so it's not difficult for me to hear the difference or pronounce the difference between something like 待て and 待って, ビルand ビール. We have things like tuli (fire), tuuli (wind), and tulli (customs). Personally, I think the hardest things for me are sounds that do not exist in Finnish. My nightmare word is 七時 (しちじ) because none of the consonant sounds exist in Finnish. :D I also found sounds like にゃ、みゅ、きょ a little challenging at first and would say something more like にや、みゆ、きよ... I'm guilty of the third one and was initially going for a too rough of an R sound based on Finnish, but have since learnt to pronounce it softer.

[@ThatKiku]

Basically the same experience here as a native Estonian speaker :D Can especially agree on 七時, and really any of the Japanese j-, ch- and z- sounds. Shi isn't as bad, but definitely becomes a tongue twister when I have a whole rollercoaster of all these hissy sounds in the same sentence. And I never even figured out the English R, so getting the hang of the Japanese one seems like a distant dream so far ^^' One interesting thing though, I don't know if it exists in Finnish or not, but in addition to the importance of single and double consonant difference, there's actually three classifications for vowels in Estonian. The singular, the double, and the elongated (they probably have official names, but that's what they basically are). So 'tuli' (fire), Tuuli (a girl's name), and 'tuuli' (partitive plural of wind) are all pronounced different, and it's a very clear distinction for the local ears.

[@Silveirias]

@@ThatKiku Agreed, sh- isn't bad on its own, but combined with ch- and j- is too much. 😂 Come to think of it, I sometimes find it hard to distinguish between s- and z-, but most of the time this isn't a problem. I don't think Finnish has that. Tuli and tuuli are obviously different, one being short and the other being long. But the name Tuuli and the word tuuli are pronounced the same and mean the same (wind). But they are conjugated differently. Wind's would be tuulen and Tuuli's would be Tuulin. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Estonian words can end with a double consonant, right? This isn't possible in Finnish. It has to be a single consonant or (most commonly) a single or double vowel for proper Finnish (spoken Finnish behaves differenly, we like dropping letters) unless it's a song or poetry in writing and even then this habit isn't really favoured anymore and you'd just drop the second consonant: meill' ukkoina jo syntyy sylilapset / ja nuori mies on hautaan valmis jo. But outside old poetry we'd write meil. This is spoken Finnish, though. Proper Finnish would be meillä. I don't think there's any difference in pronunciation for meill' or meil, at least not in modern Finnish. 🤔

[@ThatKiku]

​@@Silveirias The difference between double and elongated is how the former, while clearly longer than a singular letter, still has a very distinct cutoff. Whereas with elongated, you can basically stretch it out as much as you want and give it a soft ending. Also, it slipped my mind before, but this elongated form does in fact apply to consonants as well. An example would be 'kolli' (double, meaning 'monster's'), and 'kolli', (elongated, partitive of 'monster'), and they sound different. And you're right, they can. I'll agree 'meill' is weird even for me to pronounce, because of the specific letter combination, but double consonants at the end are very common, probably more common than double vowels. "koll, pikk, kapp, samm, häll, kass, barbariss", to name a few. It's interesting with the difference of spoken and proper language tho. Didn't know there was a difference with that. Languages sure are interesting, haha! I've never had any actual experience with Finnish other than serving tourists at previous jobs and picking up terminology around coffee, but it is high on my list of "maybe one day" ;D

[@pooferss6056]

Hei samoin! Toril tavataan!

[@PiiNi524]

Yes! I was looking for this comment. Learning japanese as a Finn almost feels like cheating. Pronunciation is so similar in most cases and differentiating double consonants and double vowels is so easy.

[@Suisyo]

Of all the sounds in Japanese, rya, ryu, ryo are by far the hardest for me. I feel pretty comfortable with ra, ri, ru, re, ro but the other 3 are a struggle to pronounce consistently. Thank you for going over this slowly and methodically. It was incredibly helpful ^-^

[@akumayoxiruma]

It sounds so cute when he talks in Japanese.

[@panjamysy]

I am JUST beginning to learn Japanese, I know very, very, VERY little but I was able to follow along with the basic idea of the video and found myself able to pick up on several words and phrases I recognized because you speak so clear and slowly. I will definitely be watching more videos from you to help me study :)

[@ep6808]

The 'matte' vs 'mate' thing reminds me of one of my Italian lessons in school... we were saying 'penne', aka pens, except we said it with no emphasis on the double 'n'... our teacher turned bright red because it means something very different with a single 'n' 😂

[@Randomkloud]

you english is pretty good. There's a billion non-native people who speak accented english (me included) so your slight accent sounds pretty normal to me.

[@77ale]

This is some of the most informative and helpful videos I’ve seen on this! Sometimes other teachers have a hard time explaining, you do it perfectly:) Especially explaining the mouth movements, I subscribed immediately!

[@anayelihernandez4864]

A question why do you want learn japonés? Plisss

[@77ale]

@@anayelihernandez4864 I love the language and would like to study in Japan!

[@TuanNguyen-ir5re]

your English pronunciation is pretty good. I am not a native English speaker but your English is much much better in pronunciation than many Japanese I know who speaks English also.

[@srinivasan2208]

In my mother tongue: ま= ம て= தெ って=த்தெ So, まって= மத்தெ I think this is one of the best thing I can use to learn Japanese using my mother tongue. My mother tongue has disadvantages too: க=か/が ச=さ/ざ ப=バ/パ The words below are also used in my mother tongue which has been borrowed from Sanskrit. ஷ=sha ஸ=sa ஜ=ja ஹ=ha க்ஷ=iksha

[@Onomappu]

Wow!! I've never seen these letters. So cool. We also should have disadvantages of pronunciation in your language haha

[@theguy5898]

Honestly, Tamil's phonological library is impressive. You guys have so many letters! My Tamil ex tried to teach my Hindi-speaking idiot brain how to say his name with the "zh" sound and I just could not do it for the life of me.

[@mikkosimonen]

I'm Finnish so the first two are no problem for me and they're actually mistakes that people make with my language too! And I noticed that the way you explain gemination (the little っ) with the sound getting "stuck" in the throat is the same one I use when I try to teach English-speakers how to pronounce my name.

[@Marylily2]

I can’t begin to tell you how helpful this was for me. I knew that these words and sounds were all pronounced differently from one another, but your tips on how to differentiate them were fantastic. Thank you so so much for this!! Also, your English is better than mine. 😂

[@Andinus3000]

This is amazing, I've never even thought about how words like 学校 are written vs how they are pronounced. This makes me appreciate how important real life speaking and listening interactions are. Great video!

[@HaohmaruHL]

Some romanizations use "oh" instead of "ou". For example the pokemon Ho-oh was romanized like that when it's actually "Houou" but americans can't read it like that so they had to change it during localization. One of my fav fighting game characters Haohmaru, from Samurai Spirits (Samurai Showdown in the west) also got under the knife when the games got localized. Japanese railways use "ō" or "ô", like "Kyōtō Station" for example, because the foreigners are used to seeing "Kyoto", when the right way to romanize it would be "Kyouto". Same thing with Tokyo, it's actually Toukyou (there are only 2 syllables, tou and kyou, and pronouncing it as to-kee-o the way westerners do is not correct but Japanese people somewhat used to gaijin saying it so they will let it slide). The worst part is that Japanese started making these mistakes themselves. If you go to Japan and look at any police station it says "koban" which is actually incorrect and should be "kouban" or at least "kōban" instead. Same with "kanko bus" (tourist bus) which should be written as "kankou bus" or "kankō bus. This is important because japanese have lots and lots of homonyms and "kanko" is a completely different word than "kankou". (there are like 7 different "kanko" words which mean different things and around 18 different "kankou" words which mean different things). Imagine going to a japanese school in japan and trying to remember the words, only to be screwed over by seeing the incorrect spelling everywhere.

[@ClaudiniGod]

As a native Spanish speaker in glad our soft R is very close to the Japanese RL. Thanks for the video.

[@77ale]

Can you give some examples of some words with the soft R? I can’t think of any rn haha I’m also a Spanish speaker, but I have some issues with the jpn RL. Whenever I pronounce it more on the L side, it sounds the same as when they say らりるれろ, but I feel it sounds TOO much on the L side. Maybe my brain is just tricking me at this point

[@ClaudiniGod]

@@77ale there are many words with soft r, but in this case i would risk it to say the problem could be localised to how different Japanese people pronounce the r, since I've heard some people lean more towards the L side and others stay consistent on the r side. Probably it depends on other factors like the talking speed, dialect or even the kind of words in which the RL sounded is located. I would have to read more about it since I'm just speculating. Pera, pradera, poros, caro, ahora, mujer, etc. For how long have you studied Japanese? I'm pretty much a newbie.

[@77ale]

@@ClaudiniGod Tysm! This was very very helpful. I too hear the L and R sound lean more towards one side or the other based usually on placement, or sometimes it just comes down to the person. Tysm for listing some words too btw! For me right now it’s more consistent on the R side, unless a certain word sounds more on the L side. Listening to a lot of clips and stuff tends to help. I can pretty much make both the sounds with some minor difficulty, the issue for me is just starting to remember when to use what. I’ve studied for just a few months now! So I’m a newbie too haha! I know all the kana, but what may come off as different is that right now I’m just stockpiling some kanji knowledge, before I move on to learning any grammar. This is so once I move on to grammar I will have (hopefully) a smoother learning experience. By just knowing some kanji I won’t have to spend most my time deciphering anything. Currently, I can recognize about 230 kanji, and around 800 vocabulary words using those kanji. At this rate I’ll be starting grammar studies very soon. (Another helpful factor is that I have a lot going on in my life right now, so only studying kanji daily rather than having to worry about grammar just yet has taken a weight off my shoulders) Well how about you? :) how are you faring learning Japanese?

[@ClaudiniGod]

@@77ale Although a newbie, you are already past the turning point it seems! It's been a month since I started and I don't know how many kanjis I know but I'm Level 2 on WaniKani. I know all the kanas as well and I try to read as much as I can on a daily basis since my reading speed is too slow (i think). I have never been so motivated to learn a new language before, so I'm taking advantage of it of course! Do you watch anime? What kind?

[@FDE-fw1hd]

I'm pretty sure the japanese r and Spanish r are both flap rs

[@jossattridge270]

for small tsu and english learners we actually do this in english. If you say 'black cat' you'll notice we dont pronounce the ck of black but your mouth forms the shape of the ck and then almost spits it out with the next word. Small tsu works the same way.

[@megitarubi5668]

私は日本語を勉強している大学生です。ひときさんの教え方は分かりやすいです。ありがとうございます。

[@chwan9]

As someone who is learning Chinese right now, I am wondering why I keep watching Japanese lessons constantly. Tbh I fell in love with your channel and your teaching style ♥️ Thank you for the useful lessons ♥️

[@badassoverlordzetta]

This is a super interesting video. But as a born and raised in Hawaii 4th gen Japanese boy I can tell you that no amount of pronunciation practice will scrub the America out of you. I didn't even have to open my mouth in the airport for everyone around me to know I was a foreigner (and honestly I'm not even sure what gave it away). One of my favorite memories of Japan was going to the train station departing from Narita Airport and being utterly lost and an elderly man started yelling at me in broken English that I needed to get on the train that was just about to leave. He was right, and I was able to get to my hotel, but I still have no clue how he knew what I was looking for since I didn't speak to anyone there lol.

[@Geck0GC]

I was so confused about how people could have strong accents when speaking Japanese until I went to a Japanese class. Some people spoke the words with strongest of accents

[@zephyraticus5066]

I'm loving your videos! The duel captions and the slower speaking than most Japanese youtubers is very helpful for beginners like me! ありがとうございます！

[@CarolynOnUTube]

the description of how position your tongue at the end was super helpful, thank you! my pronunciation still sounds a little bit like kanyo instead of kanryo but it's closer now! practice practice 😂

[@lynlyn4306]

Actually I wanted to say thank you for the slowed down speaking. It's great practice - especially since the topics I've seen are the kind of things that might come up in a Japanese lesson or everyday life (e.g. restaurant). And wanna give props for the good hair bro. Respect.

[@jnzbhn]

I’m currently learning japanese as well and this explanation really helps me a lot to understand whats going with my tongue and why I can’t say it correctly thank you so much i’m quite improved with my pronunciation more contents like this ♥️ (btw your english pronunciation is great, legit)

[@gaofan2856]

One of the best for Japanese learning I have found so far. Started learning Japanese by myself recently, struggled with finding good content. Thank you very much for such a great explanation!

[@LHTA]

wow, a nice pronunciatiation practice and comprehensible inpuy=t japanese. thanks

[@MrHamburgerHelper]

日本人の練習相手と話す時、「ちょっとまて」って言ってしまったんです。当たり前だと思いますが、相手はその間違いを示してくれなかったです。😭😅　恥ずかしくてたまらないです。☠️😭　 助かりました。本当にありがとうございます、先生！☺️

[@ActionCat2000]

Your English pronunciation is SO good! No roasting here. I'm cool with tsu and with elongation, but I have a terrible time with ryu/ryo. Maybe part of it is that I speak Spanish, and I always want to roll the r. Your description of what the tongue and teeth physically do during the pronunciation is INCREDIBLY helpful, and I wish everybody explained pronunciation like that. Arigato gozaimashita!

[@michiipichii]

Your videos are so fun to watch without subs. I actually understand most of it so I can watch it without making me want to cry and snatch some vocab lists and contemplate why "I am still so bad after so many years". I mean sure it's not 100% but this at least makes me feel a lot better about my abilities. Thank you! I appreciate the way you speak slowly and clearly for us.

[@mittu3346]

videos like these (an absolute beginner) make me wanna get into learning japanese again!

[@ロイ-o8x]

Very helpful thank!!　このビデオはとてもゆ用です　ありがとうございます！！

[@Dokusha_]

proud to say i can undestand him without subtitles

[@ДаниилГерасимов-й9л]

Oh holy shit, I've been studying japanese for just 3 months and that's the first video in that language that I've mostly understood! どもうありがとございました!!! It's fantastic! Now I feel that work in a correct course!

[@FutureBoyWonder]

i thought your english was great and then you said a sentence and im like "THERE IT IS!!" I can do great pronunciation and then i put my japanese into a sentence and things go south. Your individual words were spot on but your lack of native speaking shined through like a blinding light once you said a sentence ha :)

[@pb7199]

my heritage language has similar sounds to japanese so I had pretty good pronunciation right from when I was a beginner but for the life of me I could not pronounce 'n-r' (i always end up pronouncing it as 'n-n'). I haven't studied japanese in about 4 years but I did major in linguistics, so your explanation showing the tongue movement was very helpful! thank you for this video, I think I might revise my japanese because i was surprised by how well I could still understand you, you've given me some hope hahaha

[@KyaKramer]

For English speakers having trouble with the little 'tsu' (っ), think of the way you say the phrase "uh-oh". The pause in "uh-oh" is called a glottal stop. It's very similar to the using the little "tsu" for double constants. Clapping each mora is also helpful as that slight break between the double constant is considered its own mora (syllable). So "mate" (まて) is 2 mora and can be said in 2 claps, and "matte"(まって) is 3 mora and is said in 3 claps. If you're a rhotic speaker (you pronounce your "R"), then try using the "L" sound at first. It isn't a perfect replacement but it keeps you from scrunching your tongue back. I personally struggle with this, but I'm getting better. Shitsurei-shimasu (失礼します) is a very important and common phrase that can be hard to pronounce, but a good one to practice. Thank you for the video! ありがとうございます!

[@massayoprabhasanont]

私は日本語を勉強しているタイ人です。この動画をたまたま見つけました。ひときさんの説明がとても分かりやすくて、非常に役に立つ動画だと思います。ありがとうございます！ ちなみに、ひときさんが事例として取り上げた「ら」の間違っている発音の二番目はタイ語にはその音があって、ひときさんの発音がすごく上手です。そこも感動しました😄

[@maromaro123]

日本語の「らりるれろ」の発音は、"ระริรุเระโระ" より、"ละลิลุเละโละ"の方が近いです。 日本人にとっては、"ร" か"ล" なのかを聞き分けるのは、ほぼ不可能です。 しかも、会話の中では、"ร" と"ล" が省略されて発音される、もしくは、"ร" が"ล" の発音に変わることもあるので、タイ語のヒヤリングはかなり難しいですね。

[@massayoprabhasanont]

@@maromaro123 ”ล”のほうが言いやすいので、多くのタイ人は”ร”を使う単語でも”ล”の発音をしがちですね。でも、”ร”の発音を自然に言える人は私にとってすごくスマートに見えると思うので、私も最近きちんと”ร”の発音をするように意識しています。確かに、分かりにくいですね😅

[@Peachiaful]

my japanese lessions start in january but this was very interesting and helpful. thank you!

[@nategwright]

Man, even as someone who’s never struggled with “らりるれろ” sounds, the “んりょ” pronunciations are tough! I find myself having to reset my tongue between ん and り, which sounds real clunky. Thanks for the tips!

[@kwell869]

A trick to help with this is that when "ん" is followed by a r, p, or b it's often pronounced like an 'm' instead of 'n' there is a good video by "Dogen" about this (You can also kind of hear Onomappu do this). Saying "m + りょ" is much easier than "n + りょ".

[@efodG]

I've been watching your videos to practice my Japanese listening skills lately. It's very helpful because of the dual language captions. Anyway if I can speak 3 languages as you, I wouldn't make a big deal about your pronounciation. Thank you very much and keep up the good work!

[@spicymangooo]

Even if it's simple I will take any and all pronunciation tips! That's actually the hardest parts of studying alone.

[@iman3724]

I found this so helpful! Thank you for making this. You speak at a pace that’s easier on my brain to follow in Japanese too ☺️

[@mexyeet6569]

Actually. This was really helpful.

[@morganfaye93]

9:57 上手❗️

[@impactframes6514]

*gasp* WaniKani?!

[@jonorisin73]

I absolutely love your videos! You speak so clearly and you’re helping me brush up on my Japanese which I haven’t really been using for over 20 years.

[@tamara.rirurero]

thank you so much for this video ! i am japanese but my japanese is not fluent . i grew up in america and i have not used that much japanese since i was 5 and my accent , memory, and pronunciation got really bad over the years due to not practicing . i'm still young and i am now taking lessons, but this video helped me a lot ! 本当にありがとうございます！😭

[@ginomctony6773]

these videos have been helping a bunch with new words and how to pronounce them, also with tricks and stuff to help retain knowledge, but i just realized this and it might help some other english speakers who are learning pronunciation, "ra ri ru re ro" is said like "la li lu le lo" anyone who has played metal gear solid has now just been like "woah" you saying them all separately and clearly is what made me realize this.

[@coocoonutty9148]

Regarding the elongation mark, we have something quite similar in Dutch where we call the vowels either a long sound or a short sound. They're normally indicated by whether the vowel is double or or singular (eg maat = measurement, mat = mat). So it was quite easy for me to get naturally :D

[@IsleNaK]

Same for German where you add an "h" after a vowel

[@modthefirst3405]

I didn’t know truly how to pronounce ら、り、れ、る、ろ, and with elongating certain sounds, I didn’t know words like まってとまて were different. Therefore, this video was a hidden gem to find

[@lunamoth_]

thank you very much for these explanations and dual-subtitles! also, your solutions for people who struggle with certain pronunciations are extremely helpful ❤️

[@SqueamishNerd]

It wasn't until I started learning Japanese that I realised that I had been pronouncing R wrong in ENGLISH. The thing is that Japanese ら, り, る, れ, ろ sounds basically exactly like how R sounds in my Swedish dialect (R differs a lot between Swedish dialects, in my dialect R is usually pronounced [ɾ] before vowels), and when I started to learn Japanese I noticed that both Duolingo and several KZbinrs were explaining how to pronounce Japanese ら, り, る, れ, ろ, and I was so confused because to me it was a sound I had always been able to make. That's when I realised R in most English dialects was an [ɹ].

[@ninaoneill648]

I never realized that when you pronounce elongated vowels you open your mouth wider, I just kept trying to pronounce the same sound for a longer time. Thank you so much for this video!

[@ogiejii7885]

Easiest way for me see the mate/ matte difference is saying these to phrases. I win, too I went, too. There is a very distinct difference in the T sound.

[@ObroaSkai37]

Thank you for speaking slowly! I don't understand everything but at least I can catch the words. And of course adding the subtitles helps. どもありがと :)

[@木星大人Jupemoox]

Just graduated from Chinese language school now learning Japanese on my own, hopefully I’ll be able to learn as well ! 😄

[@木星大人Jupemoox]

That’s why I was surprised when you just started off with 大家好

[@lakisam7150]

So I still trip up a little saying 完了 However I learned how to say the Japanese "R" correctly by saying Naruto over and over again 🤣🤣🤣

[@Onomappu]

It's hard to say it perfectly soon but you started practicing. So you can improve your pronunciation! I love Naruto too dattebayo. 😊

[@Teslo_In_FinalFantasy]

Lol Naruto’s great! I’ve never had these pronunciation troubles and when I talk about Naruto to friends they look at me strangely and ask “Why are you saying it weird?”

[@jammydoughnuts]

I can pronounce らりるれろ perfectly, but I really struggled with 完了！ I don't know what it is about that ん before the r sound that makes it so tricky, but my mouth got so dry just attempting to do it for 10 minutes lol. I only said it correctly once, which was probably just luck!

[@pazu2222]

Once again His video made me smile. Love you Hitoki-sensei, you're our *HERO*!!!!

[@paloma8423]

説明してくださってありがとうございました！ 「らりるれろ」の部分で、「ああ、やっぱり英語のｒがよく出てくるね」と思ったが、スペイン語のrrも例にしてびっくりしました。本当にスペイン語が話せる方の中でそういう間違いは普段ですね。 私にとって一番下手な発音は必ず「づ」と「ず」です。頭痛っていう言葉はすごく難しいけど…

[@runningriot7963]

英語の発音は上手だと思います。完璧じゃなくて、分かりやすいですよ。それよりこのタイプの動画はめっちゃ役に立ちますよ、いつも有り難いです！

[@NorthernShinigami]

your english subtitles. are. AMAZING.

[@Koutouhara]

For the words with っ and ー I think it's easier to think of it in terms of syllables as Japanese is a syllabic language. Mate - まて - 2 syllables Matte - まって - 3 syllables Biru - ビル - 2 syllables Biiru - ビール - 3 syllables It's helped me distinguish between these similar words as I can actually count out the syllables by tapping my hand or something when practicing a word. The thing that helped me with the soft R sound was saying L and R sounds alternating and then merging them so 'La La La', then 'Ra Ra Ra' with a hard R, then La's, the Ra's with a softer R. Over time my mouth will move like I'm going to pronounce my L's but my sound are R's so it ends up with the in-between soft R.

[@jurajojo2543]

Just mentioning this is more often considered a mora than a syllable. (or phonemic syllable vs phonetic syllable) The examples you gave all have 2 syllables but some of them have 3 moras. Although, the definition for mora can sometimes be very vague, but JP has clear distinctions between moras.

[@Koutouhara]

@@jurajojo2543 Correct, I was simplifying my explanation since not everyone would know of niche grammar vocab, and many don't even speak English natively.

[@danielevans7439]

Because you asked to be roasted… it’s “pro-NUN-ciation,” not “pro-NOWN-ciation.” (Even native English speakers mess this up.) I never knew there were words that use the おお spelling, and the かんりょう　example is really helpful. Thank you!

[@meimikadzuki7149]

I'm glad that my mother language is Turkish and I'm able to read and understand these things, I feel lucky✨✨

[@Hevendemo]

I forget how to speak japanese living in the states so long despite growing up in japan. Your lessons help me get back to listening to the language and reading without being back there. It is very nice and comforting in a way ^^ it is slow at speaking so it is nice

[@hannylemus8728]

Thank you so much for this video, it was so helpful for me. I have problems with pronouncing ra,re,ri,ro,ru too, since my first language is Spanish. I always say the r strong

[@cchibikawaii]

Glad that I finally understood a video in Japanese without struggling! Thank you!

[@rege_the_great3670]

The speed of speech is very appreciated!

[@yeetboy8671]

I took this video as a challenge and watch the whole video without subtitles. I still cant speak Japanese fluently but because he talks quite slow, he providing visuals, and with the help of words and phrases that I already know I can piece together what he is saying

[@t_aikutsu]

I've begun to start watching Japanese videos without subtitles with this video and I can say I understood a lot of it, ありがとうございます！ PS: 英語の発音はいいだよ！頑張ってね！

[@GIChiyo]

This is incredibly helpful, especially the last part of this, I finally cracked the n-ryo sould, thank you!

[@jacob-josephheroux1469]

I'm starting my first class at uni in January! I'm excited to come back and watch often!

[@GamingNuke]

Honestly just glad I came across this channel! いろいろありがとうございます。

[@fengy5629]

Omg I love the way you talk. I can understand everything you say! So helpful.

[@tweesii]

Favourite Japanese KZbinr so far 🌌💜 thank you so much 💕

[@superboywing]

英語がすごいですね。 Your last tip for transitioning from ん to りょ was especially helpful… it's almost like your tongue flicks out after touching the roof of your mouth. Sometimes diagrams showing how the tongue moves inside a mouth are so confusing, but you managed to demonstrate it in a very intuitive way with your hands, thank you!

[@PitohuiLife]

cool i can get through this video without subtitles, guess i learned something

[@onorebakasama1038]

That was a very helpful visualization of ra ri ru re ro! I'll have to practice more.

[@CandyYayi]

Thank you for this video, it helps me a lot to realize those little mistakes. Hope to see more of this. My mother language is Spanish so I can not tell you if your English is good enough, I barely write little comments in English, but I think you do great

[@stemorlando]

先生、このビデオが面白くて便利だと思います。見せてくれてありがとうございました😊

[@HIVELY26]

I really love the explanation of the んりょ sound. I've never known the correct way to pronounce words that use the ん followed by らりるれろ, and this just helped confirm that I was on the right track! Also pacing and language used is very easy to follow. Even though I still consider myself a beginner, I could understand enough to know what was meant throughout the entire video without subtitles.

[@supechube_k]

if ur having trouble saying 待って then i have a trick which in my opinion and experience is more useful than the one he mentions in the vid, just imagine the 1st syllable ending in a consonant so "mat" then say the next syllable starting with that consonant so "te" so start by saying "mat" then say "te" and sorta combine them for those of you who are wondering what actually happens when you say this sound: when you say the "t" sound in english, ur tongue comes close to the back of your teeth but doesn't actually touch it, and there's also a little bit of air added(aspiration) but this extra air disappears when there is an "s" sound before it meaning the "t" sounds in "talk" and "start" arent actually exactly the same, but in japanese and most languages, there isnt this extra air in the "t" sound or at least its reduced and the tongue does actually touch the back of ur teeth, so try saying "toe" then "と" now the vowel sounds are slightly different as well (toe=/toʊ/ と=/to/) but that's not what we're focusing on rn in the english one the "t" sound has a big puff of air and the tongue doesnt touch the back of ur teeth but in japanese the tongue does touch the back of ur teeth and the aspiration is cut, so thats how you say the regular japanese "t" sound in the ひらがな letters た,て and と, but this was about った,って and っと so making a "t" sound in any language involves pushing the air through ur mouth but using ur tongue to make an obstruction, stopping the air and letting it build up for a tiny amount of time before releasing it, now in japanese when u make the "tt" sound in ったって and っと u let the air build up behind ur tongue for a bit longer than usual before releasing it and thats all the phonetics no one asked for.

[@Onomappu]

Thank you!

[@supechube_k]

@@Onomappu your welcome!

[@ShinjukuSensei]

ありがとうございました仁紀先生！very useful. i love listening to your voice, its clear, well paced and probably the best native communication i can understand the clearest. もう一度お願いします！！

[@thisIsCoopexx]

いいビデオですよ!たくさんのことを学びました。有り難う!

[@BrJPGameplay]

こちっらこそ、ありがとうございます Event tho I learnead very little japanese so far, somehow I understood what you were saying, I hope is a sign of improvement. Anyway, thank you very much.

[@jg6936]

You are doing a good job. You are so patient. Your students could be half as patient and do well.

[@suhanaa5157]

Arigatou gozaimashita..😊

[@cravarc]

Your English pronunciation is pretty good!

[@cheetosan]

wow i didn’t even realize i already did this, i just kinda knew the slight difference in pronunciation of words bc i’d listened to so much japanese speaking. very neat video, it hadn’t rly registered that these were actually rules xD

[@JordanNZ30]

Omg thank you for this video!! I needed to hear this!! ありがとうございます！

[@wendyyy5573]

Oh, this is very helpful for self learner like me. Thank u! Oh, and your english pronounciation was not bad at all!