Useful expressions in Japanese

LESSON 1- Pronunciation and the Alphabet

First, we'll give you the alphabet and a few notes on how to pronounce Japanese words.

 

On pronunciation:

Japanese is pronounced in syllables. Each Japanese letter (kana) represents one syllable. At the moment, we will not be including the actual Japanese kana on this page, just practice how to speak first!

There are five vowels: a,i,u,e and o. Each is always pronounced the same way, the way it is spelled! Simple, right!

REMEMBER: Vowels are pronounced the same as in Spanish or Italian;

Short vowels:

 Vowel combinations:

All combined vowels are pronounced in full;

Important Note: All vowels and consonants must be given full value when spoken. One of few exceptions is "u", which is almost mute, except where it is the initial syllable. An example is desu.

Desu, as in "Dare desu ka?" (Who is it?) is pronounced as des, as in desperate. (without the 'pret'!)

Suteeki (steak) is near to "steiki". Remember ee is e + e not i + i.

One last tip, the "tsu" sounds like that in "pets" (silent "u") and the "r" is pronounced with the top of the tongue; a sound midway between l and r, never rolled.

Add each vowel to the consonants on the left to produce the whole Japanese alphabet, it's that easy! (almost)

(Where you see nothing, there is no sound for that letter or combination in Japanese.)

Now here is the katakana alphabet. 
NOTE: Your browser should automatically detect the language, but if it doesn't you may need to edit the browser options to add Japanese as a language. 

Here is the Japanese alphabet in hiragana: 

Now, you know the syllables and how to pronounce them. It is soon time to put them together and start making words! 

That will be your next lesson.....