Japanese Pronunciation: Rhythm
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- Опубликовано: 27 сен 2024
- Two keys to mastering Japanese pronunciation are rhythm and accent (expect many videos on the latter one in the future). Many foreign students of Japanese language struggle when native speakers don't understand the simplest sentences, and not because of their imperfect grammar, oh no, but because of their pronunciation. You say "grandpa" but it sounds like "uncle", you say something, but they just won't get it. These problems are not problems at all, if grasp the proper rhythm of the Japanese language. And the only way to do that is to internalize the mora system - the underlying principle of Japanese rhythm. It will also help you to understand what people say!
音節(syllable)と拍(mora)は違います。日本人は拍で音を認識するので、英語であろうと無意識に聞いた音を拍に変換しようとします。なので日本人の多くは英語等の発音が苦手で、たまにおかしな発音をしてしまうこともあります。ただ、その逆も同じで、音節(syllable)で音を認識する人は逆に、日本語を聞いたり話そうとするとその影響で自然な日本語が話せなかったりします。音節と拍の違いを理解することで、今まで聞こえなかった日本語の音を認識できるようになり、日本語を自然なリズムで話せるようになります。
Syllable and mora are different. Japanese people recognize sounds using mora-system, so no matter if it was English or other sounds, they try to change the sounds into mora subconsciously. That's why many Japanese people have trouble pronouncing English and such, so they sometimes pronounce words in funny ways. But the same thing can be said. Those who recognize sounds with syllable, because they are influenced by syllable system, they may have trouble speaking natural Japanese. By understanding the difference between syllable and mora, you will be able to recognize the sounds you couldn't hear before, and you will be able to speak Japanese with natural rhythm.
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My problem is that when listening to natives speak japanese, it sounds so lightning fast that the long vowels only sound like one mora 😅
Not to mention the silent u and i vowels which is only extensively talked by Dogen on YT.
I find that it sounds less fast the more familiar I am with the word. Like my brain processes it faster.
I think it's the same with any language. I'm having that situation with Spanish now (the way they merge separate vowels into other words is tricky).
But from my Japanese experience, this becomes natural through continuous listening/hearing. Seriously, watching anime or dorama helps. Songs, especially fast paced work too. You'll get used to it in no time.
I find it's easier to understand Japanese women
@@briannemeth9417 especially when they sing anime
I never realized that this was one of the main reasons why Japanese people have trouble pronuncing English. I have met many Japanese who do not understand the meaning of syllables in English and are unable to disginguish between them.
I don't really agree on his point at 6:22. Old habit may be difficult to change, but the primary cause is insufficient exposure/inputs and too reliant on your own instinct when pronouncing word you don't truly understand (refusal to consult proper source to correct the error).
@@ultracapitalistutopia3550 I think that's a good counterpoint. I taught English in Japan for three years and Japanese people make a lot of excused for why English is "too hard" all the while I was perfectly capable of understanding moras, pitch intonation, tongue placement, contractions, and a variety of other things "too hard" about Japanese to learn. Granted, my undergrad had a heavy focus on linguistics.
In fact, despite my grammar and vocabulary often being rough around the edges, I received genuine compliments (not of the jou-zu-de-su-ne~ variety, but the "you sound very Japanese!" kind to the point I even surprised a cab driver in the inaka one night who turned around when I didn't understand something and said "oh! you're a foreigner!") You know who didn't have issues learning English? The students who weren't told by their teachers it was too hard and who clapped out beat patterns for syllables and taught them how to stop the vowel sounds from coming out.
I met many wonderful Japanese people whose English was very good. Their secret? First and foremost, they didn't complain about how hard it was to learn. They also watched a lot of American television and practiced imitating the sound patterns, and took every chance they had to engage with people in English. If you can train your ear to understand music, you can train your ear to understand language. The musicians always seemed to do a lot better with speech contest.
@@ultracapitalistutopia3550
I’ll teach you something interesting.
First things first, we live in a world where every single hiragana (except for ん): the smallest unit of sound is followed by a vowel so IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO PRONOUNCE ENGLISH WHOSE WORDS INCLUDES SO MANY SYLLABLES END WITH CONSONANT IN ONE WORD.
(Of course,sokuon is not counted as a consonant because for us it’s just a small tsu.)
Yeah, we can change our old habits like writing letters with a hand to a foot.
In the case of me, it took two decades.
To be honest, it’s more like a view of the world rather than a habit.
It’s as hard as trying to be able to see ultraviolet.
@@turner.n I'm a linguist, and no, it isn't anywhere near as hard as doing the impossible. Your brain is hardwired to learn language. It's most definitely harder the older you get, but it's still possible. Anyone can learn to pronounce English correctly. I taught pronunciation for six years. You just have either had poor teachers or lacked motivation if you can't learn how to isolate a consonant from a vowel. I taught first year elementary students who could do it.
Most foreign language teachers in Japan agree that your issue is one of cultural stigma undermining learning. There is an attitude prevalent in Japan, much like there is in America, that learning to become fluent in another language is pointless because you only need your native tongue to function, how lucky! Why learn how to isolate consonants when you don't have to in Japanese?
I heard more excuses from Japanese about why it was so uniquely impossible to learn English, I could fill an encyclopedia. All the same reasons it's so uniquely impossible for a foreigner to learn Japanese, and yet, there have been many Westerners become so fluent that their problem becomes that they know Japanese better than most of the non-elites because they've had to study such academic language and kanji knowledge to achieve the highest levels of the JLPT and never focus on proper pronunciation. The main difference between English and Japanese is tongue placement, and if you learned proper tongue placement, you would find it very easy to isolate the vowels, much as I found it very easy never to miss one in Japanese, including the long ones, making the mora system a unique aspect of your language's palatalization.
It's not because of the prononciation, but rather because of the way they write. If you don't have the consonant vs vowel structure, any language that has it will seem more difficult.
This is possibly THE most informative Japanese training I've ever experienced. My mind is blown. So many of my questions about how to speak and understand Japanese language better were answered in this 4 minute video. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
にほんごをべんきょうしてくれていてうれしいです！
がんばって！！
I actually have a harder time saying English loan words that have been "Japanese-ified" than regular Japanese words. It's very weird saying words I already know separated into moras.
Like allergy
Leave it to the Japanese to borrow a massive amount of foreign words, but then make up a bunch of rules about them as if they made them up, and are now gatekeeping the words they originally borrowed
@@DroolRockworm Isn't that what the English did when developing their language over the past few hundred years?
@@DroolRockworm not that deep
@@DroolRockwormwere you just expecting them to pick up a perfect accent to pronounce the words they borrowed from entirely different cultures? like, do you think english speakers pronounce loanwords correctly? cafe, piano, fiance, vase. none of those sound the same in english than they do when spoken in their respective native languages
it makes sense that mora and musical rhythm are connected, since japanese is a melodical and sing-songy language (which i think is really nice)
cat, I thot so at first too, until I mastered it.
Shinobu Sengoku
No wonder anime intros sound so good,especially the inyuyasha ones
I am someone who has lived in Japan now for a combined total of 20 years. I appreciate your explaination of something that I have learned to hear but did not have much grasp on how to explain it. I always thought that people who could listen to the rhythm of the language could pick this stuff up but you point out that it is very deeply ingrained. It is part of how we hear words. It is part of the ear/brain wiring. I wonder if studying music makes it easier to bridge the gap. I study music but at a pretty mediocre level yet I think it has helped me understand the rythm and timing of Japanese. People often complement me on my pronunciation. Not on my vocabulary :(
That's interesting, Hank. Personally, I think music has messed up my spoken Japanese, as moras are pretty much thrown out the window in many Japanese songs. 「かわのようにいいいいいいい。」など。
I think he refers to just the musical notes of music without lyrics ☺️
@@earlysda That's really interesting! For me, it was the reverse. I have very natural sounding Japanese pronunciation largely because I listened to (and learned) a lot of Japanese music and lyrics before I ever started studying the language properly. I think I naturally picked up what was explained about mora in this video without even realizing it, and it might be because I'm a musician, but I've never been sure!
@@TheNevarranSeeker That's cool, Seeker.
Vocab -- write down everything you hear and can't understand, then learn it. Eventually you can understand everything you need to.
Write down everything you want to say, but can't. Learn the vocab (and grammar) to say it. Eventually, you will be able to say everything you want to say. No slacking.
Im autistic, and i pick up "patterns" really easily, so i pick up languages more easily than most people. When i was entering the U S. Army, they loved me lol. They wanted me to be an interpreter for immediate apprehensions, but I ended up not taking the invite to the military. I still love to use my talents. This video REALLY helped me to pick up the basics i need to really grab the language! Thank you SO much! When I would explain how patterns sound to me, this inflection on the voice, long and short vowels and such, certain inflections really change the use of the words! Thank you so much, SO much! This video was so helpful and i really appreciate you! A lot of people dont realize how u say the word really changes the meaning! I love it :) thanks so much!
Thank you for explaining why I've always found Japanese to be a beautifully melodic language. You're basically talking about musical notes and rythm here.
this is why studying the characters is so important! my pronunciation really leveled up after I started learning hiragana and katakana. Just understanding how the syllables/sounds are split up really does make a huge difference. Thanks so much for this video! I couldn't properly vocalize/underrated exactly why that is until now!
and the opposite goes for them as well. when they study western languages they'd use katakana for words and sound weird. they should be "forced" to use romaji the same way we japanese learners are "forced" to use hiragana
and weirdly enough, I am a Brasilian Portuguese native speaker, this mora system was not hard at all to learn. When I went to Japan, people said i had a beautiful(kirei) accent. but then again, it could be people being polite to me.
Brazilian Portuguese has the similar concept not of timing but of syllabic stress such as knowing the difference between côco vs cocô, cai vs caí, etc.
@@cofyrights it seems similar to which vowels are stressed in English. not inTEResting but INteresting. not HEllo but heLLO.
I had this same experience as native Spanish speaker learning Russian. My teachers always praised my pronunciation in comparison my American classmates. It’s quite a privilege to have been born bilingual house and having learned more than one sound/word reference system when attempting to learn a new language.
Isn't it true that there is no nicer compliment than to have native speakers say you have a good accent learning their language... I would love to hear that!!
Japanese really like being complimented. And they also like to compliment other people. And they tend not to show their truely desire to other people. So, you better know yourself whether you're great or not.
This is exactly what my biggest problem seem to be with learning Japanese. Just didn't know this was a thing so I didn't know how to pot words to it.
If you accidentally say ha in a rude way, just finish it with mbaagaa.
underrated comment lol
Ha--tdog. 🇵🇭
Yeah better be weird than rude
I absolutely love how Kaname-san teaches the underlying linguistics in a simple and relatable manner! Plus... he's just so adorable with his acting and facial expressions ❤
The way you explained the "mora" system reminds me of when we were learning about sylables in my Elementary School. We would say the words slowly and clap for each sylable. The teacher said each sylable is a beat. My real name is two sylables. Many of the other kids did three for it. I think some of them learned a different language's song first.
This is a video that really breaks the mental code for me behind the language!! Never have I heard this break down in any other Japanese language learning source.
This is one of the best videos I have ever seen explaining mora's!!! THANK YOU!
An interesting note for sakuon - Stein's Gate featured a few different times where Daru would correct Okabe's pronunciation of ハカー instead of ハッカー so the difference is quite noticeable.
Supa hakka
I love that I found your channel. I've only been learning on duolingo, but this is opening up a whole other level. Now I know that there is a whole other aspect I need to be studying! It's fascinating. Thank you!
Very easy for me as a native Finnish/Swedish speaker. We have the same rhythm, long vowels, and sokuon (double consonants).
Same! I'm Finnish too and the fact that the pronunciation of Finnish and Japanese is so similar (to an extent of course) has been super helpful. The only thing I kind of struggle with pronouncing is らりるれろ and their compound kana like りゅ and りょ
@@stinkyboy Haha yes, the "sort of R" can be a bit tricky. I'm already used to it myself since living in Japan. The combo Finnish/Swedish has definitely been helpful with overall pronunciation. As a Swedish speaker it's convenient that the Swedish and Japanese "u" is the same, a sound that Finnish speakers often pronounce differently since it doesn't exist in Finnish.
Nice to hear from a fellow Finn, living abroad I miss Finland and hearing Finnish, it's the best language in the world if you ask me (ja miksipä ei kysyttäisi 😁) and Finns have the best humor. I hope to visit again soon. 💜
@@anna8282 Haha yes, it definitely gets easier the more you speak. Hope you get the chance to visit again soon! 🙏 (Miksiköhän puhun englantia suomalaiselle 😂)
@@stinkyboy 😂 Lol I thought the same. But I just felt it would be a bit rude to switch to Finnish on a Japanese channel since it could be an inconvenience to others, the translate option only exists on mobile so far, not on laptops/computers.
I don't know much about linguistics, but I think this similarity is because Finnish and Japanese are both come from totally different language families (Uralic & Japonic) which are "Agglutinative languages" in contrast to the Indo-European languages like English. Like how in Japanese, the core sounds (phonemes, Japanese has around 20 or so) don't change as much as English (44 or so phonemes), but rather more of the same sounds are added to a word. English can code more meaning in a single syllable because of all the additional consonant/vowel sounds. Which makes a slower rhythm, but the greater complexity in each word length means more meaning can be coded into smaller words. I'm guessing that's similar to how Finnish works?
mora is actually pretty easy for me to grasp because I'm a musician, but this video was really interesting to watch because my understanding of it was completely subconscious
Same I've just picked this up from talking to students and listening to songs, and other Japanese sources. I can subconsciously convert any English word into the mora system.
I love this video! I started learning Japanese because I thought it sounded musical and therefore, very beautiful. I had studied Italian years earlier, and I loved the sound of Italian, so I started looking for an Asian language which sounded like 'music' too 😅 I'm not a musician so I didn't know the right terminology, so this is a real eye opener for me. It will definitely improve my pronunciation.
the musical aspect you're looking for is "syllable timed languages" japanese and Italian are syllable timed other languages in this category are Spanish and Greek
Linguist Mario Pei in his _Language for Everybody_ (1956) noted that, while Italian and Japanese are unrelated, their sound schemes “show striking similarities,” something that, somehow, stayed with me in the half century since I read the book.
You would almost certainly like Finnish, too. It has a very melodic intonation pattern and lots of long consonants.
To me Thai is the most sing song of the Asian languages, but any language with tones will be difficult for the non musical tone deaf like myself.
I’ve often heard that Spanish is the easiest language for a Japanese to learn because the main sounds are so similar to those of Japanese. Unfortunately my knowing Spanish does nothing to reduce the difficulty of learning Japanese 😢
I really feel like understanding musical timing has been a great help for me to understand the mora system.
I wasn't looking up Japanese, and don't know why this popped up on my feed, but you broke this down so well I was able to say the English words, how it would be said by a Japanese person, exactly like you, before you explained them in the end. Bravo! I'm shocked. You are an excellent teacher 👏🏽 I now understand why the accent is like it is and I'm subbing. I guess I'm gonna learn some Japanese now😊
Your ability to communicate these concepts is incredibly valuable and helpful. Thank you.
これめちゃくちゃ役に立ちました
As someone who had many linguistic related subjects at university and genuinely enjoyed all of them, this is such a great video!! Very clear and helpful, your work is great!
This is something that was never explained to me this clearly before. Kanama-sensei, thank you very much!
Mora is really important. For some reason, a few Japanese language learners have appeared recently who preach the importance of pitch accent in Japanese, but for Japanese people, pitch accent is not really important. What is more important is this mora. Pitch accents are totally different from region to region, era to era, and more importantly, from person to person, but it doesn't matter at all when you are speaking.
Very true words, purit.
Thank you for saying this. I’d never noticed pitch before in Japanese and became discouraged when Dogen started stressing it. Good to know that I’m not wrong in ignoring him 😂
"But for Japanese people, pitch accent doesn't really matter". You couldn't be any more wrong so take this dislike.
Your pronunciation is perfect
I'm glad you explained this, I've been wondering why Japanese make english words longer than they have to be. Everything makes sense now. Thank you alot.
This is a great way to explain this to beginners. I know when I was learning Japanese, this concept was hard at first.
I've gotta say, of all the various videos I've watched, this has been the most enlightening. It changed the way I speak and hopefully makes me better understood.
Japanese language follows the meter rule like vedic chanting, though various types of meter are used in vedic chanting. And i loved that last cuddling part ❤❤
From Thailand
I really like the way you acknowledge, never heard in elsewhere. I like how you analyze the language. It helps a lot. It makes me understand.
Wow, this was an incredibly helpful video. This is the first time I've come across the concept of mora. I've always found the borrowed words to be more difficult but I think this will help with that too.
先生、ありがとうございます！
I am not learning Japanese and it’s not one of my plans for the future but I’m still watching this video 😂 pronouncing aloud the words and learning about the difference between a syllable and a mora. Love it!
It's a constant source of frustration for me, as a teacher, that prosody takes up so little, if any at all, time and effort in foreign language acquisition! Great to see someone picking up the slack :D Fantastic video!
I'm learning Korean, not Japanese. BUT I massively appreciated watching this video. I come for a musical background & have always thought that when learning any language you have to really atune your ear to the distinct musicality of the language you're learning. It takes a lot of time and can be a pain to nail down, particularly if it's something that doesn't come as naturally, but this is literally such a beautiful part of learning different languages!...So, If I decide to learn Japanese one day then I'll definitely be coming back to this video/channel ☺
Thank you so much for this. These are the sorts of insights you don't get out of a phrase book, and bring out the beauty in the differences between languages.
fantastic teacher of japanese. he is my favorite ive seen so far. very instructive video.
It's close enough of how i learn arabic pronunciation and reading, it has short and long vowel, more so its vowel length has its meaning, if changed, so the meaning.
Anyway thank you Kaname-san. Your channel is really helpful. かなめさんのチャネルも登録しました!🙌
I studied Japanese very, very briefly on my own when I was 11 years old. This is a great video! This helps get a feel for Japanese's inflection and emphasis which, honestly, sounded a bit strange before viewing this video. This makes listening to Japanese in real time sound much less intimidating to new learners.
PLEASE make a playlist for your language videos. This one is so informative that I want to hear them all and practice, please and thank you
This was really fascinating, I like the analogy you used about the sound recognition system. You cannot simply unplug the system you’ve used your whole life and plug in a new one. It’s imbedded in your central nerve system, it takes time to tune into the frequency of the new system.
That’s why students need to focus on pronunciation from the very beginning, it takes a while to absorb the rhythm of your target language.
This is only the second video of yours that I've watched. You give such clear explanations❤ I just realized that I am inconsistent with my moras, and that will improve my speaking (and confidence) a lot! ありがとうございます。
This is fascinating to me as a 50 year old linguist, and also appeals to the kid in me who still loves Japanese anime & entertainment. Well made, fun, interesting'u vid, arigato!
This reminds me of Finnish! They pronounce long vowels and kind of glottal stops too. You hold the eh a little longer in "Anteeksi". And kissa and kisa are two different words. Rikki--you kind of stop and wait before the "kk".
This was a beautifully clear explanation of the difference in rythms that I've noticed between Japanese and English. It feels like a much more poetic way of approaching words. Very intriguing; thank you. And what better way to end a thought-provoking lesson than with a happy dog face! 😄
You are an EXCELLENT language teacher. I really look forward to the time when all humans speak one language once and for all. It will likely get changed back and we can all be united globally once again.
Genesis 11: 9.
And the world will then be at peace once and for all.
Isaiah 14: 7
*The concept of "sound recognition system" is the best explanation for the difficulty in speaking Japanese or English with usual accent.* Note: for English speakers, a silent "h" visually added to the single vowel denotes a long vowel: o ji ih sah n. kah n tah n.
Reminds me of the English rhythm video about the Pink Panther. Very interesting contrast.
This is fantastic. Learning new mother tongues is very important in having authentic sound. Thank you for teaching mora.
Domo domo arigatou gozaimasune… for teaching us about how important it is to listen, and produce rhythm with Japanese words and listen for it. I honestly had no idea of this concept, even though I’ve been to Japan 16 times! More power to you! Keep going!
This channel is great !
Thank you so much.
P.S. Cute dog
You have a great way of explaining things. Keep up the great work. You repeating the same word clearly so I can say it to myself and with you is great. There are so few good Japanese language resources out there that are easy to understand and also deep. Keep up the great work.
I would sincerely enjoy listening to him sing Baa Baa Black Sheep with Japanese moras. Thank you for this lesson. Easily understood and concise enough to remember in entirety.
Great video! I kind of felt like I was having this problem and that I needed to work on something like this when I started learning katakana/hiragana because you can see these sounds in those characters, but I couldn't figure out exactly how I should enunciate this properly and I didn't know about mora. This video hit it on the nail and puts it all together for me. Now I know better what I need to work on and how to do it. Thanks so much! 🙏
Ah... Sou apaixonada pela língua japonesa, o ritmo, a prosódia... tudo é absolutamente encantador. Meu objetivo de vida é dominar o nihongo, mas é tão difícil, né? Rs. Enfim, fiquei muito feliz em me deparar com vídeos tão legais quanto esses do seu canal que nos ajudam nesse processo :). Obrigado pelo vídeo. Abraços do Brasil.
Se para voçê é un sonho, eu tenho a certeza que voçê o conseguera ! Eu começei a estudalo recentemente.. e acho que o ideal seria poder ir ao Xapon algun dia para poder realmente praticar em imersâo. Por exemplo façer Woofing em uma fazenda ou asim.. Eu desejo-lhe o melhor e muito animo 💪 !!
(E perdoe meu "portugues", eu não o sei escrever, so falar un pouquinho porque son da Galicia, onde falamos uma linguagem muito similar ao portugues, e porque minha mama foi migrante no Brasil nos 60-70s).
I'd just like to say, you explained this extremely well. For whatever reasons, one thing I struggle intensely with, is the learning and contextualization of languages other than my mother tongue. I have tried and failed before to understand this, in one video I had multiple 'eureka' moments. Thank you, sincerely.
ありがとうございます
I think it is much easier for an English speaker to understand the mora system than it is for a Japanese person to understand the English pronunciation system.
Most native English speakers don't really understand English pronunciation in depth, either.
Though, I have to say that while it's more difficult for Japanese to speak English than English speakers to speak Japanese, it's far easier for Japanese to read English than for English speakers to learn to read Japanese. This makes it especially tough to advance from intermediate level Japanese to advanced while it is easier for Japanese to ultimately gain advanced English abilities via reading. In my experience, once you reach intermediate level, the BEST way to progress your abilities is through reading native texts. Japanese makes that so much harder to do than English.
@@AliceinJapanaland There are no Japanese people who are good at English. There are only those who manage to communicate in English.
@Joseph Williams 😆 are you trolling? you must not have interacted with many Japanese to say something like that. I've met many who are very capable in English. One of my best friends has moved abroad and passed her nursing exam in English. Another studied at Yale but has returned to Japan after graduating.
@@AliceinJapanalandbros never left the village it's ok
Omg this one little thing about moras makes me understand english so much better and that is my native language. Syllables never really intuitively worked for me. I intuitively want to treat words like moras not syllables. This really only is an issue when i try to rhyme but i never understood words this way its so cool to learn this one little thing that can change the way you understand a whole concept.
Your videos for pronunciation are extremely helpful! I’ve learned Japanese on and off for years. I always get to the same spot, start hearing how American I sound, get discouraged, and then stop. I pronounce vowels and everything correctly, but the rhythm was my issue!
I feel like I will be able to go beyond what I could do in the past now that I have found your videos, so thank you
Thank you! A very informative and interesting (pronouncing 'interesting' with mora) video. I look forward to more.
Thank you for bringing up the concept of mora. Teaching rhythm is an aspect of learning language that is often overlooked. I think mora is also helpful in explaining short and long vowels and 1.5 consonants found in other languages like Hindi. Thank you again for this insight.
this video actually help me for my pronunciation www, i've been practicing my japanese for almost 2 years and never realize about the moras or the rhythm the native japanese speakers has www. i found your channel and all of your videos are reaaaally hepful and teach about things that for my level i have to know but i really don't know in a way that is easy to me when i've to speak in japanese hahaha tx again
the color palette of this video is excellent
Interesting breakdown. I’m always trying to learn ways to teach my students English, so this was really helpful! The other day they were doing a listening activity and wrote down “hamburger” instead of “handbag.” It’s exactly how you explained it. That “nd” sound translated to the mora “m” sound usually used in ハンバーグ. They can hear me say it, but couldn’t recognize where the issue was, so they were just confused 😅.
This is probably the most important video for learning Japanese. It's extremely important to know this so learning the language is easier.
That dog in the end really ties everything together ❤
Loved this video! Suddenly things make a lot more sense! I can't wait to watch your other videos. I love Japan and I have visited 6 times, often for 4+ weeks but I have never really been able to learn more than a very few basic words and phrases (thanks to the helpful Japanese people and excellent signage in English, I have managed to survive in Japan with very little trouble. Now I feel like I can learn and understand more Japanese! Thank you!!!
Im african american and japanese, but i was born in america. Ive been trying to learn my second language for a while now, and this is extremely helpful in tandem with other things i have learned. Thank you!
finally someone provides this detailed explanation 👍👍
This was incredible! Thank you so much!!! I have been studying Japanese for years and no one ever explained this. Fantastic!!!
Wow. I'm not learning Japanese at the moment but man, do you ever do an excellent job of explaining pronunciation issues! If I study Japanese I know whose RUclips channel I'll be listening to every video of! Thanks for your great work.
Thank you for this excellent explanation. It's very helpful for understanding the difference in pronunciation between Japanese and English. Cute dog!
日本人はそのような音節基盤の発音の練習をしておりません。日本人は日本語のネイティブを真似てフィードバックで修正するディープラーニングで習得をしています。だから日本人は自然な発音が習得できるんです。音声は連続的に変化する動的な音です。
This changes my perspective a lot. As a musician this beat analogy really hits home as well. Great video!
日本も昔の人の言葉は音感やリズムがあった。現代日本は少しイントネーションが違うだけでも「出身どこ？日本人じゃないでしょ」と差別されます。同じ日本人なんですけどね。そういう人ほどユーモアが全くなくて会話が弾む事はなかったです。
Very cool video!! I had no idea about Mora, and explaining the difference between Mora and Syllables was very good!
Yamete kodasai
kudasai* for future reference HAHA
I think I just found my favourite channel for learning about the japanese language. I'm only at N4 level, I have a long way to go. Self-study is difficult but I find that using various online resources have really made me improve more than with the tutor I previously had. And your videos have helped me a lot! Thank you for creating such useful content!! Your way of teaching is excellent
Thank you very much for creating this video! You have provided a very clear explanation of a topic which is rarely shared with us in the West. This level of detail is very helpful to English speakers studying Japanese. Please continue producing excellent videos!
An intelligent and accessible way of explaining a complex matter. Thank you.
This tab bit of information is going to be helpful in my learning of the Japanese language
Excellent video Kaname San, very well explained 👍🏼ありがとう You are a natural 先生 Btw I really loved the ending, it was a very feel good ending with the cute 犬 👍🏼
I can't believe that I only now learned that the rhythm difference between English and Japanese was 1) real, and 2) had a in-depth explanation which makes sense in theory and in practice.
In my 2 Japanese classes I took in college, I always wondered how you would be able to accurately tell the difference between long and short vowels if you were just hearing a word in a normal conversation (Think the oji-san/ojii-san example) without the other person exaggering the long vowel for clarity like you would if you were repeating it or teaching someone the word for the first time. I always assumed it was more than just an educated guess depending on the person you're talking to, but when it came to my homework I always based it off of the amount of syllables I heard as the recorded sections always had a tone shift for extended vowels.
Thank you for explaining concepts of Japanese language so simply, it's very helpful from what I've seen so far
You even used a smart title to clear the concept even before starting the video. I learned that today on top of the Japanese tips.
As an American who has a fascination with language, especially regional accents, rhis was incredibly informative! I appreciate your ability to explain a concept as alien to me as mora in such a concise and easy-to-digest manner! I just hope that one day my Japanese will be as good as your English!
I am a Nihongo learner. I appreciate your explanation here. Very good video!
にほんごをべんきょうしています 👍
I find it good practice to learn common kanji immediately so in case you need them.
日本語を勉強しています
I rewatch this video every couple of weeks, thanks! Self-learning is hard and your videos give me confidence.
I have been a musician one way or another for most of my life, so listening and learning sounds has been something I just had to do. This leant itself to learning languages, and helped me a bit when I lived in Japan and picked up the language. The problem with that though is once you build up a lexicon of words and phrases, and pronounce them well and get the rhythm right(ish), people start to think, oh he can speak Japanese. Then out comes rapid fire Japanese that I have no chance in understanding.
Interesting vid btw.
Than you for this explanation. Another piece to the complex puzzle that tonal language are to me.
Wow, this is informative and well-explained in simple terms. I remember when I was a kid (in my mid 30s now) when my aunt gave me a Minna no Nihongo grammar book. I might have come across mora at some point trying to learn Japanese in my early teens, but my young mind back then might not have been able to comprehend the concept just from reading basic grammar books or didn't realize what it was/didn't know how to describe it. Thank you for this. 👍
Very valuable information. I already knew a lot of this, but it's always good to be reminded to be cognizant of mora-length.
I know this video is about a year old, so you may have already learned this, but while referring to a "glottal stop" when describing the Japanese concept of a "sokuon," especially for people who are new to second-language acquisition or who may not know linguistic terminology very well, it's more properly defined as consonant gemination. "Gemination" is essentially duplication or twinning (and for those who like astrology, the "Gemini" is related to this). For people more familiar with European languages, gemination happens a lot in Italian ("Vittorio," for instance) and other languages (Icelandic, for instance).
I'm by no means trying to "correct" or anything. I just thought this would be useful for describing these concepts later on.
Thanks for this! I think I’ve already developed a fairly good Japanese sound recognition system for a native English speaker, but you explain things so well, I’ll be sure to check out your other videos. Also, best ending to a video ever!
The dog video at the end really motivated me to continue studying Japanese. Thank you, Naito-sensei.
Thank you soo much for your time and service! Its like a private class!