Pronuncation: Consonants Part 1

This section will be divided into 3 parts so that you have time to practice each sound. Japanese is very different from English in how consonants work because all their characters are phonetic. Also, all but one of their consonant characters end in one of the five vowel sounds. One very important thing to note about consonants and vowels in Japanese is vowels dictate the shape and movement of the lips, whereas consonants dictate the movement of the mouth and tongue. Try to be mindful of this when trying to say these sounds:



K

   　か (ka)   き (ki)　く (ku)　け (ke)　こ (ko)

• This sound is similar to a hard 'C' or 'K' as heard in the word "con" and is represented by a 'K" in Romaji

S

   　さ (sa)　し (shi)　す (su)　せ (se)　そ (so)

• This sound is similar to an 'S' as heard in the word "soft" and is represented by an "S" in Romaji. Although the character し is written as "shi" in Romaji, it is important to remember that the same soft 'S' noise is used in all 5 of these characters. To the native English speaker's ear, し will sound like a 'Sh' sound. Try to shape your mouth and tongue in the same way for all 5 of these characters and create the 'Sh' noise in し.

T

   　た (ta)　ち (chi)　つ (tsu)　て (te)　と (to)

• This sound is similar to a 'T' as heard in the word "tea" and is represented by a "T" in Romaji. Remember to practice using the same motions for all 'T' characters. ち and つ will sound like a "Ch" and "Ts" sound respectively.

N

   　な (na)　に (ni)　ぬ (nu)　ね (ne)　の (no)

• This sound is similar to an 'N' as heard in the word "no" and is represented by a "N" in Romaji.

H

   　は (ha)　ひ (hi)　ふ (fu)　へ (he)　ほ (ho)

• This sound is similar to a soft 'H' as heard in the word "home" and is represented by an "H" in Romaji. The character ふ will sound like an 'F'.

I hope that this extra information is helpful. Remember to take it at your own pace but try for one a day. If you have any questions or suggestions please leave a comment or send me an email. See you tomorrow.