Japanese Teacher Grades Your Japanese #2 (The Japanese 'R' Sounds) | Dogen

Learn Japanese pitch-accent and pronunciation from my Patreon Series "Japanese Phonetics"
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Full Japanese Phonetics Bibliography:
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JapanesePod101.com Video (Watch from 7:14 and note the tongue movement at 7:38):
• Learn Japanese Pronunc...
Glossika Phonics video (Note how the tongue doesn't dramatically curl back):
• [ ɾ ] voiced apical al...
Dogen / Dōgen / Japanese / A Japanese teacher grades your Japanese #1 (The Japanese 'R' Sounds) / Grading your Japanese / Japanese phonetics / Japanese pronunciation / Japanese pitch-accent / Madeline / 日本語 / 日本語の発音 / ラ行の発音 / 日本語のアクセント / アクセント / 高低アクセント / 音声学

[@Dogen]

Japanese pitch-accent and pronunciation lessons: www.patreon.com/dogen

[@itowelhaveadream9463]

OH MY GOD HE IS WEARING A DIFFERENT SHIRT

[@StevenBara]

world crumbles...

[@kittenmcwhiskers]

IKR

[@odd1ty612]

Japafrica

[@cricketknowall]

I think you've been hypnotised... Have you been listening to Toto often recently?

[@nictheguy]

It's actually on his chair, so at least it's still in the video!

[@madelinejjc]

This was so helpful Dōgenさん thank you! I was sounding like an idiot trying to properly say ‘ら れ り ろ る’ while watching the rest of the video hahaha I’m going to record more videos of myself speaking Japanese from now on to keep analyzing and improving 😊💪🏻

[@ThaiTalkwithPaddy]

Your Japanese sounded great Madeline! Especially for only 1 year of study! 🤓

[@Jerk2127]

IN ONE YEAR????? My Japanese sucks... and I live in Japan close to Dogen XD. You're like my idol.

[@mcmodmod5533]

As Dogen points out: Lots of native input will also help you hear the phonetic inaccuracies in your own speech.

[@Dogen]

My pleasure, Madeline! Can’t wait to hear you in another year-it’s seriously crazy how good you already sound. Keep it up!

[@jonahnieuwenhuizen9492]

Hahaha those where difficult for me as well, being Dutch our R sound is very pronounced and comes more from the back of the throat

[@eri_kyunkyunjapanese]

I like the way he points out being very gentle, indirect and humble. He doesn't seem judgemental at all.

[@moneypowertron]

it's the Japanese way.

[@eri_kyunkyunjapanese]

@@moneypowertron Yes, haha😂 Maybe that's why I'm comfortable with watching his video!

[@michaels3003]

Personal qualities aside, this is an important attribute of a teacher.

[@LeonSKennedy7777]

This is top quality stuff, folks. Finding material like this is more rare than you might assume!

[@yukineswan]

My assumptions are more rare you can believe.

[@RonaldMcPaul]

Yeah it's cool, I'm not a serious Japanese learner but Dogen and Matt inspire me.

[@pinkponyofdoom5686]

dogen senpaiii! i only recently discovered our jp teacher overlord but am loving the shit outta his contentcoptypesto 🍙🍙🍥🍥🍥🍜🍦🍥🍦🍦🍜☕🍜🍥🥖🥖🍜🥖🍥💐🍜🦋🍥🦋🦋🦋🍥🦋🍥🦋🍥🦋 #/! __#/£/!!! #/:#:#-@)=%×`§`¶¶;¶÷§;¶[¶°¶]]§¦¦[¬[¦¶ @@ ¦[] §¶

[@Bloooooooooopp]

Very true

[@feelingpeachi3]

This room is a whole vibe and I’m down for it

[@Emblematicify]

I'm guessing it's his office work space, and when he records he puts the paper walls around with the 営業中 sign outside, half as a joke, half as a sign for the wife and kids to not yell out when he's recording.

[@Paintplayer1]

@@Emblematicify he's just done a studio tour and you should definitely watch it, his setup is great

[@angelest312]

Like you've mentioned, the Japanese "R" has similarities to certain intervocalic "dd" sounds in certain Englishes (including North American English), like "ladder", or (if you say it with a flap) the "tt" sound in "better". I find that it's useful to explain it as a "d" rather than an "r/l" sound because it's essentially an alveolar tap, not a retroflex sound.

[@user-xv6li5em5l]

i'm brazilian and i speak ladder exactly as lerer, probaly my english pronounciation is wrong but is realy like this

[@epiccamper]

@@user-xv6li5em5l Thats pretty much the way I learned to pronounce the word ladder as well, as a Brazilian. I barely hear any foreigner saying it like ''lédar''. I do not think it is wrong to say ''lérar'' but since I am no expert, who knows.

[@redwiresound]

@@epiccamper British Received Pronunciation doesn't have alveolar flaps/taps; all /t/'s are [t], and all /d/'s are [d]. However, several British accents have a tendency to realize intervocalic /t/'s as a glottal stop [ʔ]; e.g. "better" becomes "be'uh". But yeah, most Americans, Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders pronounce the "dd" in "ladder" as something resembling the Portuguese/Spanish/Italian/Japanese/etc. "r". In fact, r's themselves are realized as flaps in several English dialects, most notably Glaswegian English, but it's found throughout Scotland, Wales, some parts of Ireland, most of South Africa, the Caribbean, India, and pretty much anywhere English is spoken as a second language.

[@seneca983]

Don't the Japanese sometimes realize the sound as [l] instead of a tap?

[@d.r.9746]

But didn't Dogen just explain that it's not really an alveolar. You have to place the tongue against the ridge and then flick away which isn't an alveolar. I'm panicking because I thought I had the R down and easy.....

[@flaviospadavecchia5126]

As an Italian speaker, the Japanese R is almost identical when in between vowels to the Italian single R, but not in R-beginning words, because we'd have the trill.

[@FrancisCWolfe]

Do some Italian speakers not have a short trill for intervocalic r and a long trill for rr?

[@flaviospadavecchia5126]

@@FrancisCWolfe long trill for RR, yes. I guess some speakers might actually have the the trill for intervocalic R, but that would be rare, I'm not really sure.

[@contagiousintelligence5007]

In Hungarian the R is pronounced the same way as an Italian R, we have tried trill it. I can’t pronounce the Japanese R:(

[@Android25K]

As a Spanish speaker, the Japanese R is like Spanish r, not R or rr, but r

[@TW-um5hs]

It’s weird hearing Dogen speak English for a extended period of time 😅

[@LetsaskShogo]

She already has great Japanese! I hope she keeps up the good work! 加油💪

[@northyreport]

👎

[@ihatetomato8808]

@@northyreport加油って中国語で頑張れって意味らしいよん💪

[@northyreport]

@@ihatetomato8808 don’t know what you said but my money is 🆙💯

[@_P2M_]

​@@ihatetomato8808 いえいえ。明らかに「油を加えて」って意味です。

[@papafhill9126]

Yea, the way my Japanese friend taught me was the sound is made with the "da" sound, while also making a "ra" and "la" sound. It's like your tongue wants to commit to a "da" sound, but just gets lazy and doesn't fully make that "d" consonant sound.

[@RaphTheKing27]

I relate so much to Madeline - from listening to recordings of myself, my accent sounds similar to hers and I keep making the same mistakes so this video was useful for me too.. Thank you Dōgen先生!

[@gravyhippo]

Your new set up is so much more intimate!

[@hoi5466]

Just passed 日本語教育能力検定試験 last year, and now looking for a job as a Japanese teacher, and these videos of you grading Japanese of Japanese learners help me (native Japanese speaker) a lot too! Thanks! Also, love the contents of your other videos!

[@forest2356]

Thought I had been pronouncing the “r” sound slightly incorrectly at first, but after you explained the tongue positioning I realized that I was fine 😅 that was one of the main reasons I’ve been afraid of speaking (I didn’t want to get hooked on pronouncing it wrong)

[@dumalun8388]

Not fair, I will be fluent in about three thousand years I guess.

[@user-nq2zs6of5x]

Ikr I feel the same, but I don't think that attitude will help me learn it if I believe it's too hard to learn, I went into it knowing how difficult it was but don't compare yourself she probably practiced a lot or heard a lot of japanese. Or some people seem to be born with it which is unfair ._. Just don't give up listen to this man kzbin.info/www/bejne/qordfoyZitmsbNU

[@nataliesoutlet]

So helpful! Thank you so much for the videos, professionalism and tips 🙏🏽🌈✨

[@HerrTipple]

I am not studying Japanese and probably never will, I found Dogen because of his very funny sketches. But I still enjoy watching this video because it is fun to simply watch a clever man talk about an interesting subject he is very knowledgeable of.

[@LadyPelikan]

I'm in the same situation, and I agree completely.

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

sounds like a proper waste of time

[@shivanshshukla5883]

@@user-yk1cw8im4h Someday he might study it becahse of Dogen though

[@user-yk1cw8im4h]

@@shivanshshukla5883 yeah "someday"

[@kakahass8845]

@@user-yk1cw8im4h This is one of if not the most ironic comment I have seen.

[@Icsant3]

Man, Madeline was crazy good! I've also been learning for about a year and I definitely don't feel skilled enough to speak that much!

[@rafairacki9302]

She is a native Chinese speaker so it's much easier for her than for westerners. Kanjis + many words sound similar. I know some Chinese people at my company that passed JLPT N1 after 1-2 years of studying.

[@Icsant3]

@@rafairacki9302 Oh, idk why I thought she was from the Philippines. I guess cos Dogen made that comment about the Spanish r sound. Still, she's an inspiration!

[@pijusbacevicius8797]

My ass! It's impssible to speak like that in just a year of studies, starting from the zero. Maybe she DECIDED to learn, one year ago, but actualy she had already some basis. And of cours it helps knowing kanji...

[@PoolsJones]

Lol thank you. I watched her speak and asked myself where the nearest bridge was. (Although my Rs are a non-issue!)

[@diegoci2179]

Learning the japanese r has been really interesting to me as a native spanish speaker, cause to the untrained ear the japanese r and the spanish soft (non trilled) r sound nearly identical. In a lot of cases, I can essentially get away with only slightly tweaking my rs to match the inflection of speaking in japanese, but the thing is words in spanish can't start with a soft r, so i actually have no idea how to make that sound in starting position and for a long time i didn't even notice i couldn't do it and made sort of an awkward middle ground between a spanish, japanese and english r. So basically, because of spanish grammar rules, I've had to do a bunch of research on how to relearn a japanese sound i already know how to make.

[@adriandharma1910]

Dogen's not wearing his blue sweater! I think I spotted it behind you though on the chair. Great lesson! I had trouble learning this at first but luckily the friend that taught me Japanese in the beginning was adamant to get the R sound right. I found it really annoying at first that I keep getting corrected but now I'm grateful.

[@maliketh1173]

The 9 people who disliked don't know how to pronounce "R"

[@weefyeet6177]

Yo, when I followed your "r" sound explanation I suddenly managed to 食べさせる, させられる, and 食べられる without ending up feeling like my tongue just thickened. すごい!

[@weefyeet6177]

And while watching some miscellaneous anime, the final boss 食べさせられる has appeared. はぁ~~~

[@AConnorDN38416]

I definitely struggle with the 'r' sound as well, particularly りょ　（I have a hard time distinguishing between よ　and りょ for one thing). I also find words where an 'r' sound follows an 'ん’ like in the word 君臨　and 遠慮. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the 'r' sound in Japanese is so much more subtle than it is in English, so when saying something like 君臨 my mouth wants to pronounce it like 'koon reen'

[@thepolaris907]

Hello! I am Japanese. I find it difficult to pronounce "r" in English.

[@Mistershongmail]

ああ I think the English R is one of the most difficult sounds to learn for a non-native speaker. It’s so different from most other languages R sounds.

[@thepolaris907]

Sean Lee-Levins そうなんですねー Also, pronunciation of "water" is quite difficult for me ˚‧º·(｡>⌓

[@niismo.]

@@thepolaris907 English isn't my mother tongue so I'm not an expert, but I dont/just very subtly pronounce the "r" sound when saying "water".

[@b.s1505]

Hi there, im not sure if this is gonna help u but Japanese ら行sound usually represented as "L sound that has distortion of D" for some native English speakers whos expert of speaking Japanese as second language... and this D distortion really got appeared in りゃ, りゅ, りょ. if u cant think/imagine that ら行 sound is something in between L and R then possibly better think that its more like mixture of 80% of L sound and 20% of D sound(distortion) edit: ok this was actually explained in this video... my bad.

[@yu-ph7qi]

日本人ですが見ています！英語の勉強にもなります😍

[@jzarwo]

英語のRとLは勉強してるけど、日本語のRについては考えた事なかったなー。言われて見ればたしかに日本語のRの場合、舌が速く動いてる。ゆっくり発音しようと思ってもRのところだけは速い。

[@H808Beats]

Nice shit bro keep it up 🔥🔥🔥

[@wanitooo]

Why do i find this so funny

[@Godforeverilove]

Somehow I picked up the L&R sound in japanese quickly (still not perfect). I think it was made easier because I learned how to roll my r's in spanish before hand, but i'm not sure.

[@ragerteenager968]

I'm a native spanish speaker and honestly our soft Rs are similar to japanese Rs (not the same but very similar) !!!

[@SalmonSalmonfish]

Hahaha me too! I sucked at Spanish in school but at least I got something out of it lolol

[@yellobird5682]

皆さん、ほぼ会話が出来る方ばかりなのにそれでもネイティブ並にまで高めようとされていて感心しています。だから気になった点を書いておきますね。 前回出演したnoahさんやmadeleineさんもそうでしたが、最後の「聞いてくれてありがとうございました」という使い方は日本語的に間違ってるので、「私の日本語はいかがでしたか？」「この機会を与えてくださりありがとうございました。」「どうぞよろしくお願いします。」を使った方がいいと思います。なぜならば、「聞いてくれて…」は、恋愛や将来の事、夢などの悩みや迷いを相手に打ち明けて、解決したり安心した時に使われる言い方だからです。英語で使うフレーズをそのまま外国語に訳したら違う意味になっちゃうって、ほんと言葉って面白いですね。

[@franciscotavares9529]

勉強になりました！しかしこの場合、自分の感謝をyelloさんに伝えたかったら「教えてくれてありがとうございます」という言い方が合っていますか？それとも、シンプルな「ありがとうございます」の方がいいですか？

[@yellobird5682]

Francisco Tavares 「教えてくれてありがとうございます。」で合ってますよ。 普段はこんな細かい事を言わないのですが、ネイティブ並みを目指している方にとって為になるならば、と思ってコメントしました。でも本当はもっと指摘した方が皆さんにとっていいのでしょうね。けどそこは日本人、相手に失礼かなと思って遠慮しちゃってます。😊

[@kengonish6104]

横やりのコメントで申し訳ないのですが、 「〜してくれて」って表現に、何か違和感感じます。「〜していただき」に変えると違和感無く聞けるのです。 「教えていただきありがとうございました」etc

[@franciscotavares9529]

​@@kengonish6104 横やりコメントにはなっていませんので心配しないで下さい！逆にありがたいです！それでも、またぎもんが増えます。 謙譲語と尊敬語が元々使われていない場合だとしたら「～していただき」を使っても不自然にはなりませんか？僕はまだ「です」「ます」しか使えませんので、急に尊敬語と謙譲語を使うと不自然になるかと感じます。それは自分の勘違いなのでしょうか？

[@yellobird5682]

Kengo Nish いいんですよ。実はこちらもそこまで指摘しようかどうか迷ってました。けど、今回は「聞く/聴く」に深い意味合いがあるので、それに焦点を合わせて説明しました。 指摘していただいた様に、「くれて」は友人や家族、年下に使うカジュアルな言葉なので、その場合は「ございました。」は付けずに「ありがとう。」だけの方がスッキリしますね。 そして今回のケースはもう少し丁寧に話すべき場面だと思うので、「いただき〜ありがとうございました」又は「くださり〜ありがとうございました」という風に、どちらとも丁寧な表現に統一した方がスッキリします。 ご指摘、ありがとうございました😊

[@64vamp96]

the excitement that i felt when i realized that my native language, bosnian, is also a pitch accent language was enormous

[@jackphillips6742]

I took 4 years of Spanish at High School and regularly interacted with Native speakers(my comfortable conversation language) and grew up in New Zealand with Māori waiata (songs) and haka (chants) and Māori verbs, when I started my Japanese language journey 2018-Present, I have had 0 problems with making the sounds in Japanese. Māori is extremely similar phonetically and Spanish is quite rhythmic. In fact, my pronunciation lead to many comments of "日本語上手で、" but I struggle with intonation and knowing which pitch to use when, and my grammar isn't sharp. So I still found this lesson to be really beneficial. Thank you!

[@user-hk3yx7fp4r]

You are such a wonderful teacher, Dogen san! You never judge her Japanese. You don't brag about your Japanese. You just gave some advice based on your experience. Thank you for your kindness and modesty. 🙏

[@noahgiamei]

(Native English speaker) For me, the Japanese "r" has been easier to pronounce when in the middle of a word vs. as the first letter. That tip about tongue placement is super helpful. Something I've also found helpful for the Japanese "r" sound is the sound in the middle of "kitty" or "pretty" - spoken as an American where the t's aren't articulated clearly and become more like a soft "d". In words where it sounds more like an "L" or "R", it's like a front L or R, aka no rollback. If say it quickly enough, I'm sometimes able to avoid bending it to any English letter.

[@KillerSoap4321]

You made me so happy with the tongue diagram for the “R” sound because that’s what I’ve begin to do naturally while learning Japanese, and I’ve put a lot of effort into pronouncing things correctly from the start 7 months ago. To know I’m on the right track is a big motivator. どうもありがとうございます。

[@janey4319]

THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING THE "R" IN LINGUISTIC TERMS!!! As a Linguistics major this makes a lot more sense to me that everyone else's explanations I'm looking forward to learn how the Japanese "D" differs from English... If I were to guess, it is a bit more front

[@peenywallie]

It's dental, my dude.

[@Haguxchan]

I've heard that in English we actually do use the Japanese tap 'r' for words such as 'latter' and 'ladder'.

[@leocomerford]

I'm not an expert, but I don't think that can be right. The 'tt' and 'dd' in those words contact the alveolar ridge in a similar way to a tapped 'r', but most English speakers would use their usual rhotic (ie. "stick-your-tongue-up-in-the-air") 'r' at the end of either word. (The main exceptions being people with cringe non-rhotic accents who just say 'aaah' instead of 'r' at the end of words, and those Scots and others who use tapped 'r's more or less everywhere.)

[@enwenized]

Both the video and the comment section are actually spot on for the illusive Japanese 'R' sound. Wow, a rare gem! My whole class could have benefitted from this during first or second year. Very good explanations.

[@pahoopahoo]

日本語の勉強において、国やその人の母語によって相性があるように思うのですが、私の感覚では台湾の方は日本語の上達が早いよう気がします。 道元先生が指摘した｢今年(ことし)｣の点ですが、外国出身の方は日本語の｢イの段｣の前の音にストレスを置きたがる癖があると思います。 代表的な例で言うと先生が以前指摘した｢わたし｣もそうです。他には｢すみっこぐらし｣のことを｢すみっこぅグラッシー｣と｢ら｣にストレス(アクセント?)を置いているのを聞いたことがあります。こういうのを聞くと日本語の単語なのに日本人には英語に聞こえることがあります(それくらい違います)。 といやらしいことをまたまた書いてしまいましたが、この女性の方は1年の勉強にしては日本人である私が聞いても素晴らしい日本語だと思います。 若干の修正点が見受けられますが、今後相当なレベルになる潜在性を感じます。 この｢イの段の前のストレス｣やラ行の発音も面白かったですが、私は特に英語圏出身の方が｢オの段｣を発声する時に｢オゥ｣もしくは｢オー｣と少し伸びやすい特徴があると感じています。 それでも結果的に不自然に聞こえない単語ならそこまで問題ではありませんが、そうではない単語だと日本人の耳には自然な完璧な日本語には聞こえません。 例えば｢土日(どにち)｣などは｢どーにち｣になったりします。 英語もろくに話せないくせにいろいろ厳しいことを書きましたが、この番組はそのような高みを目指しているものと見受けられたので了解いただけたらと思います。

[@itsfonk]

Growing up in the southern U.S., I’ve always heard Japanese R’s as a stunted or abbreviated D sound. Your elaboration here is very interesting. I wish I had known of your channel years ago…

[@Ralesk]

6:35 Dogen finally says retroflex, I was anxiously waiting for it after all that description of a retroflex r :D

[@eita9676]

This video reminds me how I usually pronounce “ら”. Even though my tongue is Japanese I could not tell the difference between the way of making sound of “ら” and “r” , ”l”.😅 Your lecture is so exact and easy to understand! Thank you Mr. Dogen!

[@user-sq5rn5ci5m]

In Brazilian portuguese(and spanish as well I think), we have the trembling R as well, it's the same as Japanese R. Some children who is starting to speak portuguese have trouble saying this trembling R and there's some exercise to improve this R's pronunciation. I'll see if I can find it and post here.

[@rafaeldoe1549]

But the trembling R doesn't appear in every Brazilian accent. For instance my accent from the Northeast doesn't tremble the R at all.

[@almeida5390]

But in south it becomes present, as "Churrasco" or even in the center of the country, just like "Porta" when said by those who live in Minas Gerais.

[@user-sq5rn5ci5m]

​@@rafaeldoe1549 I think it has, I mean, there's no other way to say "arara", "trava-língua", "tetraplégico" or "trator" without trembling. I-if you don't tremble these words, I'd love to know which state of Northeast you are from, since I'm a bit curious.

[@phrodendekia]

Im Argentinian, and I noticed some Brazilian people often pronouce the r as people from Paraguay do. Sounds like when north american people miss pronounce the spanish r's, as in the english word car. Maybe that's what the previous comment was referring to

[@rafaeldoe1549]

@@user-sq5rn5ci5m Oh yeah sorry, I was a too radical in my answer, I tremble the R in those words

[@barfchan]

king, thank you for the lesson

[@sasharodriguez384]

dogen's english has gotten really good

[@akiyamada2306]

Practicing a sticato action against that part of your palate will help you build up the dexterity and muscle memory to say your ら's faster. The trilled or rolled R sound in Spanish is also helpful to jump into the whole thing, you just stop before the roll is finished and fine tune from there. I like that you brought up it's similar tongue placement to the English D bc if you sit there and bounce back and forth between the English Da and Japanese ら you can really tell the difference like a down in the back of the mouth vs an up

[@akiyamada2306]

I taught a Japanese native speaker the L sound by making them stick a chopstick in their mouth and curl the tongue up around it. This exaggerates the shape obviously. curling the tongue up to that front part of the palate while dipping the back if the tongue was unnatural for them. So if a native English speaker comes to learn it's between an R and L they might get the front of the tongue right but drop the back of the tongue too much elongating the initial rrr sound

[@TheDrAwesomepants]

I've heard the Japanese "R" sound described as being halfway between a "d" and an "n" rather than an "r" and an "l" which made it make a bit more sense to me.

[@YEP753]

lmao wtf it worked

[@etherdog]

Dogen-sensei, thank you for the last two videos especially. Your explanation has made it MUCH more clear what the differences are between pitch accent and stress accent (and the "R" sound). I am just a (late middle aged) beginner, but want to be able to communicate respectfully when my wife and I visit Japan as soon as is not irresponsible to do so. Arigato gozaimasu!

[@paellaman1]

Native Spanish speaker here trying to shed some light. The way Madeline is pronouncing the "r" sound sounds like an smaller version of the "rr" sound in Spanish. Let me explain a bit; in Spanish (from Spain) when a word starts with R (like the word "Recordar" [remember]) or has a doble "rr" in the middle (like the word "correr" [run]), we make a relatively loud "r" round made by trembling the tongue really quick. To my knowledge (and I'm no expert in this matter) Madeline is doing the same "tremble" but in a shorter fashion. When we say words like "Recordar", the first "R" is pronounced with like two or three really really quick trembles of the tongue against the palate; Madaline seems to be doing the same thing but instead of 2 to 3 quick trembles she's doing just one of those trembles. In my opinion (again, I'm no expert, just a Dogen fun that wants to give something back to Dogen) the Japanese "r" sound is a lot closer to the Spanish "r" sound. When the "r" in a word is in the middle of the word (like the word "cara" [face]) we do a quick sound, with zero tremble; is just like a quick "deaf" sound (if that makes sense); is a sound a hundred times more subtle and gentler, it's like the same tongue position, but the sound doesn't come directly from the movement of the tongue but from the air surrounding the tongue. I don't really know if this was helpful (I really hope so), but above all; Madeline your Japanese is really really impressive for just a Year, keep the great job you're doing!!!! Best regards

[@madelinejjc]

After reading your comment I really made a big breakthrough in understanding how I was saying my 'r's! I did take Spanish when I was younger and just realized today I picked up a bad habit of not differentiating between 'r' and 'rr' and just use one trill like you said, when saying words with one 'r'. Thank you!

[@Mika-kana]

For me the Japanese R sounds similar to spanish R, but there have been some few times that I’ve heard words that have らりるれろ in them that are pronounced with L Spanish sounds, they were very rare though. I would like to know if there is a reason to this. Edit: Typo

[@felipevasconcelos6736]

That can happen in some dialects.

[@Sage_Lucas]

Not an expert on this, but from what info I have I'd say it's either that person's accent or dialect, just like you have different accents for the English language - American, British, Scottish etc. Someone from London is going to speak rather different sounding English compared to someone from some cities in the north of the UK.

[@kevintorres9377]

@@Sage_Lucas I've been living in London for a few years now, and I can say that even in London there are different pronunciacions, eg. South London and North London.

[@shion3948]

Because the Spanish r and Japanese r is not the exact same sound

[@NicoYui]

i still cant get over when he introduces himself in ENGLISH

[@caw3675]

Love these videos!! I don't so much have issues with my "R" sounds anymore but I had a teacher tell me that my ください sounded like くらさい. Which drove me batty trying to fix it bc I never thought I'd have issues with a "D" sound and I'd never heard anyone touch on the similarities between the two. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! Thanks so much for the great content!

[@diegosantos5818]

Maaan, this spanish language tip saved my life, I struggled so much with this, but as a portuguese native speaker that also speaks spanish, I was able to get that in latin languages most of our middle "r" syllables sound like the japanese r sound. Like "hermano", where you can see clearly the fast movement of the tongue, you're such a genius!

[@wesdesu]

Honestly one of the words I struggle with saying the most is りょうかい and you're explanation of your troubles with R sounds made me feel better about myself haha. Your 2+min explanation starting around 5:10 about tongue placements and stuff is super helpful! Side note do other native english speakers' jaws get tired when speaking japanese? I feel like I'm using different muscles to when attempting to speak japanese compared to speaking english.

[@MaddyBlu9724]

I keep getting reccomended these videos and even though I have zero interest in learning Japanese or linguistics/phonetics I just keep clickin em.

[@cndcpwll]

SUPER interesting! Erik Singer is a dialect coach who has a fair number of videos floating around that cover R (mostly trouble from an American's perspective, though), and also provides visual references of mouth movements.

[@bereal8253]

I find your videos so incredibly educational and informative, even though I'm not learning japanese at all. I've finally come to realise why I sound so "dead" or "monotone" when I speak English. My native language is probably a pitch accent language, that also explains why native english speakers sound so taxing to my ears. They're always riled up.

[@cerealbloodx]

You're the best teacher Dogen!

[@Temple_of_Passion]

Your background is like a piece of art... love the videos btw. Thank you

[@JenBlonko]

Being a native Spanish speaker I can describe the Japanese R as an L that works like an R. In Spanish, the non rolling R has the tongue come from behind the alveolar ridge and then slide off it fast. This contributes to Spanish speakers being faster at pronunciating. The L, on the other hand has the tongue set on front of the alveolar ridge, slide a bit to touch the teeth and then leaving to make place for the following vowel. With that I can say that the Japanese R is an L because it slides off in front of the alveolar ridge and works like an R because it puts the tongue on the alveolar ridge, with the difference that the tongue does not COME from behind, but rather is set on the alveolar ridge from the beggining. This last difference is what causes the relaxed Japanese R to basically be an L. I love this video, this channel, and language. What else can I say?

[@Icsant3]

Man, I never see anyone talking about the differences between the japanese r and the spanish r! In my head there's absolutely no difference, but i do notice a bit of difference when speaking (more like an r mixed with a bit of English d, like Dogen said)

[@tayloraustin1026]

I've researched this for 3 days straight now and not one connected the dots like this! Thank you so much!

[@krustyk98]

I love this, keep making more! I have been learning Japanese for 2 months but I've only actually put around 1 week worth into actually learning Japanese. This gives me motivation and want to keep going!

[@Utaira]

I totally agree with your observation on the contact positons of ら and だ

[@elementart_]

Really cool graphics at 4:04, nice work!

[@cantacarallada]

I'm checking how I pronounce the "r" sound (I'm Spanish). I feel like my tongue is a snake lying down warily facing a danger that attacks and retracts really really fast 😂. Hope that helps 😅. I do think there is a slight "slapping down" movement when it reaches the "wall of the mouth", but that happens for only a few mm, probably. No extreme winding up like in the pic. That's it, expert opinion 😎.

[@PEDROGARCIA-qj3gr]

Mexican here, I think it's depends from where you are from, in the Spanish we have the long "r" and the short "r", in some accents the long "r" is more used than in others, and in some the short "r" is even pronounce more like a "L" sound, so take this comments with a grain of sand, not every single native speaker is gonna give you the same advice. So basically what we do to pronounce each one is passing air through the wall and the tongue, what makes the sound is the slapping in the wall, to make a short r we slap one time and to make the long r we push 2 times, but in my accent we slap 3 times when we do the long "r," it's not really the standard Mexican accent (if something like that even exist). not do it more than 3 time or it gonna sound more like the purr of a cat. I feel my English is a little broken, sorry by that, I need more practice.

[@rrondon3280]

@@PEDROGARCIA-qj3gr Un grano de sal, sí pero tienes razón. A lot of Northern Mexicans pronounce the [rr]s very strongly.

[@acgm046]

I feel that, as native speakers of Spanish, we have an inherent advantage for Japanese pronunciation with our own 'r'. If I'm not wrong, that's one of the last consonants we master, so it makes sense that it's kinda hard when learning to produce it for the first time. It's a relief we can prospectively apply (kind of) the same sound into Japanese.

[@jame254]

@@acgm046 i agree it's easier. Spanish speaker here as well.

[@JoseRuizCompositor]

Definitely we have an advantage while speaking japanese (a lot of the sounds are the same). Regarding the rolled r, I'm costarican and, well, we don't do that here xD but the flap is used veru very similarly within all the spanish speaking countries

[@internetexplorer8588]

As me and my brother found out if you have practiced your Kakyoin rero's your tongue might already be in the right position . Blew our minds anyway

[@ZAPjiji]

The subject of this video is also same as major obstacles for us Japanese to learn English. We have a great deal of difficulty learning the "L" and "R" sounds (both in terms of listening and pronunciation).

[@irvindelarosa2697]

30 seconds in and this is already the most English i've heard on this channel.

[@edithconn3096]

It's so true that the Japanese 'R' and English 'D' sound alike! In my case, my nickname is Edie and I go by that in Japan. However, to make the writing and speaking simpler, I translated my nickname to iri instead of idi. And honestly, they sound almost identical. Thanks for the lesson!

[@kiyahforever]

This video is so quality it should cost money to access. Seriously, you just blew my mind and changed the way I think about the Japanese r. Thank you!!!!!

[@user-rw1tm7bw6w]

Hi! Im a native spanish speaker and i got so surprised when you talked about the position of the tongue while pronunciating the japanese 'r' because we have exactly the same 'r' sound in spanish. I'm Chilean, and we are well known as the fastest spanish speakers, and we place the tongue in the exactly place that you mentioned in the video. It is so interesting to see how people are feeling struggled with that stuff when to me, thats something that ive been doing my whole life. Greetings from here

[@lulunitaaa]

That is so true!!!! I’m Japanese and I’ve been learning Spanish for about three years now, and I also think the r sound in Japanese and in Spanish are exactly the same!!

[@kyle6344]

Just a thought (from trying to explain the concept of pitch accent to friends after learning from your phonetics series), sometimes it helps to describe non-heiban words as having a "downstep" rather than an "accent". If everyone's on the same page about what an accent means in pitch accent lingo then they're interchangeable, but accent means different things in different contexts while downstep conveniently describes what the pitch of a Japanese word actually does

[@thornajal1045]

I've never. And I mean NEVER subbed to a patreon.... Dogen is tempting me something fierce. Amazing work keep it up!

[@vuuvovuuv]

one thing that really helped me was meeting someone named りえ but incorrectly hearing her name as "Di-e" -- i was also always taught the "r/l mixed" method of R sounds but there's a lot more D in there than i think is commonly taught

[@Abeturk]

21+ tenses in turkish language... Anatolian Turkish.verb conjugations A= To (toward)(~for) (for the thick voiced words) E= To (toward)(~for) (for the subtle voiced words) Okul=School U=it= it's-(that) Git=Go ...(verb root) Mak/Mek...(emek)=exertion (process) Git-mek=(verb)= to Go ( it's originally get-mek =to get there now on ) Gel-mek= to Come Yap-mak= to Do Bak-mak= to Look Gör-mek= to See 1 .present continuous tense (now or then, right now or later, nowadays or soon) it's used to explain the current actions or planned events (for the specified times) Yor-mak =to tire (~ to try - to deal with) (for the subtle and thick voiced words) A/e....Yormak= to try(deal) only mentally.. I/i/u/ü....Yormak=to try (deal) both physical and mental about.. is used as "--Yor" positive.. examples.. Okula gidiyorsun ( you are going to school)= Okul-a Git-i-yor-u-sen ( School-to go-to-try it's-you) (You're try-to-Go to school) Evden geliyorum ( I'm coming from home) = Ev-de-en Gel-i-yor-u-men ( Home-at-then try-to-come I-am) (from home I try to come) negative... A)..Ma= Not B)...Değil= it's not (equivalent) examples.. A: Okula gitmiyorsun ( you are not going to school)= Okul-a Git-ma-i-yor-u--sen (School-to go-not-to try it's-you) -(You're try-to-not-Go to school) B: Okula gidiyor değilsin ( you are not going to school)=Okul-a Git-i-yor değil-sen (You aren't try(ing)-to-Go to school) Question sentence: Ma-u ?=Not-it =(is) Not it? is used as....Mı-Mi-Mu-Mü Okula mı gidiyorsun? ( Are you going to school?)= Okul-a Ma-u Git-i-yor-u-sen ? ( To-school Not-it You-try-to-go ?)(~Towards the school or somewhere else are you going ?) Okula gidiyor musun? ( Do You go to school?)= Okul-a Git-i-yor Ma-u -sen ? ( To school Try-to-go Not-it-you?) (~Are you going or not going towards the school ?) Okula sen mi gidiyorsun ? (~Are you the one going to school ?) Sinema'ya gidiyor musunuz? (Are you going to the Cinema?)= Sinema'y-a Git-i-yor Ma-u-sen-iz ? ( To-the Cinema Try-to-Go Not-it-you ?)-2.plural Evde misin? (Are you at home) = Ev-de Ma-u-sen = Home-at Not-it-you (Not-it-you At-home ?) 2 .present simple tense (everytime, always or never , anytime or at all, often,rarely or sometimes, now or later, soon, if possible) it's used to explain our own thoughts about the topic positive.. (verb)-A-Var= Existent-ready-available-present TO (verb) (verb)-E-Er= Get TO (verb) Var-mak =~ to arrive (at) ...(to attain).....(for the thick voiced words) Er-mek=~ to get (at) ...(to reach).....(for the subtle voiced words) examples.. Okula gidersin ( you go to the school)= Okul-a Git-e-er-sen (You get-to-Go to school) Arabaya Biner (s/he gets in the car) =Araba-y-a Bin-e-er (s/he gets-to-ride to car).. Hergün erken kalkarım (I get up early everyday)= Her-gün er-u-ka-en kak-a-var-u-men ( I that get-to-direct (myself) up when that early everyday) O gidince çıkarız (We get out when he has gone)= O git-ka-en-çe çık-a-var-u-(men)-iz ( we get to go out as that time which he go) Gece olduğunda uyursun ( You sleep when it's night)= Gece ol-du-ka-u-an-da uyu-y-a-var-sen (You arrive in asleep at that time which it became night) negative... Ma= Not Bas-mak =to dwell on, ~to pass over (~ to press onto/into) ...(for the thick voiced words) Ez-mek = to crush (~ to press down) ...(for the subtle voiced words) Maz=Ma-bas= (no pass)=(not to dwell on)=(to give up)=(vaz geçer) (in the thick voiced words) Mez=Ma-ez= (no crush)=(do/es-not)=(to skip)=(es geçer) (in the subtle voiced words) example.. Okula gitmezsin ( you don't go to school)= Okul-a Git-ma-ez-sen (You no-crush--Go to school)=( you skip of going to school) O bunu yapmaz (s/he doesn't do this) = Bunu yap-ma-bas ( s/he no-pass--Do this)=(s/he gives up doing this) Niçün şuna bakmazsınız = (why don't you look at that )=Ne-u-çün şu-n'a bak-ma-bas-sen-iz (2. plural)= what-it-reason at that you give up looking Bunu görebilirler = (they can see this) = Bu-ne-u Gör-e-Bil-e-er-ler =They-get-to-Know-to-See what's-This 3.simple future tense (soon or later) it's used to explain the events we thought that is going to happen Çak-mak =~ to tack...to fasten ...(for the thick voiced words) Çek-mek=~ to attract , to bring beside, ~to take, ~to catch (~to keep close it) ...(for the subtle voiced words) example.. Okula gideceksin ( you'll go to school)= Okul-a Git-e-çek-sen (~You attract-to-Go to school) (~Attracts-you -to-Go to school) Ali Okula gidecek ( Ali is going to go to school)= Ali Okul-a Git-e-çek (~Ali catches-to-Go to school) negative... A. Okula gitmeyeceksin ( you won't go to school)= Okul-a Git-ma-e-çek-sen (You catch-not-to-Go to school) B. Okula gidecek değilsin (the one is not you to go to school)= Okul-a Git-e-çek değil-sen (it's not you tak(ing)-to-Go to school) 4 . simple past tense (currently or before) it's used to explain the completed events which that we're sure about Di = now on (anymore) Di-mek(demek) = ~ to deem , ~ to mean, ~ to think so is used as....(Dı-di-du-dü) example.. Okula gittin ( you went to school)= Okul-a Git-di-N Okula gittin mi ? (did you go to school ?)= Okul-a Git-di-N Ma-u ?( You went to school Not-it ?) Dün İstanbul'da kaldım (I stayed in Istanbul yesterday)= Dün İstanbul-da kal-dı-M negative... Okula gitmedin ( you didn't go to school)= Okul-a Git-ma-di-N Bugün burada kalmadılar (They didnt stay here today) =Bu,gün bu,ir-da kal-ma-dı-ul,dar 5 . mental past tense (which we did not witness)- (just now or before) it's used to explain the completed events which that we're not able sure about Muş-mak = ~ to inform , meaning... I'm informed about - I realized- I'm notice- I got it- I learned so - I heard that...or it seems so (to me) if it's in the question sentence...do you have any inform about...do you know..did you heard...are you aware or does it look like happened such ? is used as....(Mış-miş-muş-müş) example.. Okula gitmişsin ( I heard about) you went to school)= Okul-a Git-miş-u-sen (I'm informed about) You've been to school) Bir hata yapmışım (I realized I made a mistake) = Bir hata Yap-mış-u-men (Seems that I've made a mistake) negative... A. Okula gitmemişsin (I've been informed about) you didn't go to school)= Okul-a Git-ma-miş-sen (I've been learned that) You're not gone to school) B. Okula gitmiş değilsin (I heard that) you hadn't gone to school)= Okul-a Git--miş değil-sen (I've been informed about) You haven't been to school) others. 6.Okula varmak üzeresin (You're about to arrive at school) 7.Okula gitmektesin ( You're in (process of) going to school) (~ you have been going to school) 8.Okula gidiyordun( Okula git-e-yor er-di-n) (You were going to school) 9.Okula gidiyormuşsun ( Okula git-e-yor er-miş-sen) ( I heard that) You are going to school)(2.I learned that you were going to school then) 10.Okula gidecektin ( Okula git-e-çek erdin) (You would go to school after/then)(2.~I had thought you'll go to school)(3.~You had said going to go to school) 11.Okula gidecekmişsin ( Okula git-e-çek ermişsen) ( I heard that) You'd like to go to school then)(2.I learned that you'll go to school) 12.Okula giderdin ( Okula git-e-er erdin) (You used to go to school bf) (2.~you would go to school bf/then) (3.~You'd like to go to school then) 13.Okula gittiydin ( Okula git-di erdin) ( I remember you went to school) (2.~I've seen you're gone to school) 14.Okula gitmiştin ( Okula git-miş erdin) ( I know that) you had gone to school) (2.~I had seen you went to school) 15.Okula gitmiş oldun( Okula git-miş ol-du-n) (you have been to school) Bu bir Elma = This is an apple Bu bir Kitap = This is a book Dur-mak=to keep to be present there Durur=that keeps to be present there is used as....(Dır- dir- dur- dür- or Tır- tir-tur-tür) It's usually used on the correspondences and literary language... (formal) Within the official speeches its meaning =(that keeps to be present there) Bu bir Elmadır= (bu bir elma-durr)= This is an apple ..keeps to be present there Bu bir Kitaptır= (bu bir kitap-durr)= This is a book ..keeps to be present there Within the daily talk its meaning =( I think that or I guess that) (informal) Bu bir Elmadır= (bu bir elma-dur)= (Think that) this is an apple Bu bir Kitaptır= (bu bir kitap-dur)= (Guess that) this is a book 16.Okula gidiyordursun =( Guess that) You were going to school ) 17.Okula gidiyorsundur =( I think that) then you are going to school ) 18.Okula gidecektirim =(Guess that) I would go to school after-then ) 19.Okula gideceğimdir=( I think that)then I'm going to go to school ) 20.Okula gitmiştirler =(Guess that) then they had gone to school ) 21.Okula gitmişlerdir =( I think that) they have been to school ) ....(informal) 21.Okula gitmişlerdir = They have been to school (officially) ....14..."Okula gitmişlerdi"..or ."Okula gitmiştiler" = They had gone to school Anlayabiliyor musun= Aŋı-la-y-a Bil-i-Yor Ma-u-sen ? = Not-it-you Try-about-Know to-Understand =~ Are you able to understand ? Anlayabilir misin= Aŋı-la-y-a Bil-e-Er Ma-u-sen ? = Not-it-you Get-to-Know to-Understand = Can you understand ? Anlayabilirim= Aŋı-la-y-a Bil-e-Er-Men = I Get-to-Know-to-Understand = I can understand Anlayamam = Aŋı-la-y-a Al-Ma-Men = I Not-Take-to-Understand = I can not understand O Anlayamaz = O Aŋı-la-y-a Al-Ma-Bas = s/He No Pass-Take-to-Understand = s/He can not understand Aŋ= moment Aŋı= memory Aŋıla=get via memory (save to memory)

[@riseandshinemrfriman5925]

7:30 _that_ was very informative and helpful. I thought I was doing it right until I saw your tongue movement and heard the explanation after, and oh boy is this different from any other R sound... it totally requires a LOT of practice to do it subconsciously. Thank you very much for your help, Dogen!

[@Crazyalex360]

This series is the best ad for your course. Very seriously considering it.

[@SylvioNetoEmmo]

That background and the color grading of the video looks superb!

[@Xeculus]

This is super helpful, thank you!

[@CoconutJewce]

I had people in my 3rd year Japanese classes in uni that still were pronouncing the "r" sound with a hard 'r.' lol It's definitely a hard sound for English natives. Though, I always have had trouble with pronouncing "ふ" correctly. I had teachers that would strictly say it like hu and then some would say it like fu, or a variation in between the two, so I was always really confused.

[@Manny-mg6ej]

I have just started leaning nihongo yesterday and had been searching videos about r sound and this is the best video i have found.

[@joseluisvidalespena9078]

This kind of content is awesome because while learning Japanese it helps you understand the phonetics of the words on a conscious level and furthermore to speak with confidence.

[@sangatsu6819]

I’m Japanese and I felt one of the things that made her Japanese sound not like a native speaker was the way she pronounced “さしすせそ”. I heard English “sh(ʃɪ)” sound that Japanese doesn’t have in her Japanese. But Her Japanese is so good😊✨ so I don’t think she should care about it at all unless she strives for “Perfect” Japanese.

[@yugeikisdeadchannel.]

This new series is great! As an Spanish native i'd say that we don't really have these problems with the "R" since we already say it in the way Japanese speakers do (we also have the strong R in "Perro", "Carrera",etc. but whatever). It's still interesting to see the way it's taught. Pitch accent is difficult regardless of your native language so it'd be nice to see it getting more emphasis in the future, even when they are saying it right. Maybe pointing out common mistakes that people do, explaining why it's wrong and using the person in the video as an example of how to say it (or how NOT to say it), idk, something like that would be cool~

[@dumalun8388]

I can relate, being a native Yiddish speaker. And I am learning Spanish with no R issues.

[@vialgyy]

So many Spanish speakers, do you have any problems pronouncing しゃ / じゃ ? Since spanish doesn't really have this sounds I think. I was raised bilingual, spanish and catalan, and luckily both languages combined cover most of the japanese sounds so the pronunciation feels at home.

[@yugeikisdeadchannel.]

@@vialgyy I think that, unless you're from some specific countries, you shouldn't have any problems pronouncing them. "しゃ" pronunciation does exist in Spanish ("SHAkira" or "Geisha" for example, even though the last one isn't an Spanish word per se). Still, it might be weird for some of the South American spanish speakers since a lot of them pronounce "Sha" as "Cha" (ちゃ) but it shouldn't be hard for them to make the sound. For people from Argentina or Uruguay it should be easier than the other countries since they use the "Sha" very often. "じゃ" should be VERY easy to pronounce for most, since it has the same pronounciation as the spanish "Lla". On the other hand, it should be way harder for people from Argentina or Uruguay, since they pronounce "Lla" as "Sha" (e.g instead of saying "siLLA", the spanish word for Chair, they'd say "siSHA"). Obviously how noticeable these changes are might depend on the region of said countries. Regardless, people from the rest of the countries shouldn't have any problems nailing the pronunciation~

[@azineox9633]

I love this kind of videos!

[@TokyoXtreme]

The lantern behind the paper screen makes a cool effect. Nice design.

[@Purplesquirrel007]

I don't even study Japanese, but I love this series so far because Dogen is so wholesome and nice to everyone. Keep it up!

[@AttitudeCastle]

Dogen is such a wonderful teacher

[@adrian482]

Looking forward to more of this kind of content! It’s really helpful for me when it comes to correcting errors early so they don’t become a part of my Japanese as I’m currently learning the language.

[@dcflow7859]

Thank you dogenさん

[@fresusjeak]

I'm finding your teaching videos in this setting & format to be fascinating! I also appreciate the progression of your set decoration.

[@Tim_v_r]

Hats off to the people that submit, really brave Japanese learners!!!

[@kotokotoko_]

私は日本人の英語学習者なのですが、 この話、英語のRとLの発音を考える際に、逆に役立ちそうです。 あまりラ行の発音を分解して考えたことがなかったので、おもしろかったです。

[@joeydesu4010]

I love this series. It helps it people a lot including me.

[@Lillyluri]

How long I have been waiting for someone to explain this to me!!!!!!!!

[@rasu2947]

wait, after hearing this explanation and your example, I think my lisp helps me sounds like 70% Japanese r. my first time being grateful I have lisp lol

[@stetson_newsie2600]

I sound like an idiot making these sounds over and over, but I think I'm getting it.

[@epiccamper]

This ''r'' thing always bugged me and your video really helped me to understand it a bit better. My situation is peculiar so I will explain in case anyone is interested. I am a native Brazilian Portuguese speaker and here we have two ''r'', one strong and the other weak, as we call colloquially. The weak ''r'' occurs between two vowels, as in ''barata'' (cockroach), which is pronounced as the same 'ra' a Japanese speaker would think of. The strong ''r'' is equivalent to the h row in Japanese and occurs at the beginning of a word, as in rato (mouse, mice), before a consonant, as in repórter (news reporter) or as a double r, like the verb to arrive, as in ''arrastar'' (to drag). When I was a kid I wasn´t able to pronounce the weak r, always saying like l so I would pronounce barata as balata and so on. I went to a phonoaudiologist and she helped me learn the weak r, but I feel my way to say ra, ri, ru, re and ro is artifical, due to the fact that I learned it by an unconventional way, instead of the natural acquistion from exposition to the spoken language. My weak r always sounds like a rolled r, with the tongue touching the mid of the palate, not the tip near the upper teeth, as it would be expected. After the video I tried to practice the r with the correct tongue position as shown, but it fiendishly difficult lol.

[@reapnotsow]

thank you as always for an entertaining and informative video!

[@benflorida383]

dogenさんの声、癒されます。セラピーを受けている気分になる🌿

[@orti1283]

Thank kamisama I'm a native spanish speaker, the 'R' sounds and vowels are very easy for us cuz they're basically the same (except for the u). In exchange we have to deal with the distinction between 'CH' and 'SH', the exhaled 'H', the soft 'W' sound and so, but I think it's way less of a pain than having to modify your native 'R', 'K' and vowel sounds