Pronunciation Course for Japanese Speakers

Free 21-Day English Pronunciation Course for Japanese Speakers

Introduction

Is Japanese your first language?

Do you believe people sometimes have trouble understanding your English?

Improve your English pronunciation in 21 days with this free course. The goal of the 21-Day English Pronunciation Course for Japanese Speakers is to improve intelligibility and raise awareness of common pronunciation challenges faced by people who speak Japanese as their first language.

Again, the goal is to improve intelligibility and raise awareness of Japanese speakers' common pronunciation challenges.

Why did I say the goal twice?

Because this is not intended to be a magic cure for all your speaking problems, instead, expect significant improvement in your English-speaking intelligibility. In other words, by the end of this course, people will be able to understand you better when you speak English.

Over the next 21 days, we will target twelve specific sounds (four consonants, four vowels, and four consonant clusters) that often give Japanese speakers trouble. When you practice each sound, you will complete five different activities:

• Minimal Pairs
• Vowels
• Syllable Stress
• Reduced Sounds
• Tongue Twisters

The sounds of English do not exist in a vacuum, so we practice these sounds on the word level and sentence level. These activities will improve your understanding of American English stress patterns, reduced sounds, and speech music.

There are a multitude of Japanese dialects with distinct features. This 21-day course is a general guideline, so feel free to tweak the recommended daily practice based on your needs.

If you would like more ideas on how to work on your pronunciation outside of this program, you can jump to the section Additional Resources for Japanese Speakers.

Do You Need This 21-Day Pronunciation Course?

Many English language learners believe pronunciation is their biggest weakness.

A student recently confessed, “If I improve my pronunciation, my English will be perfect.”

She was wrong.

The fact is you might NOT need to work directly on your pronunciation.

Listen to these three speaking samples from Japanese speakers preparing for the TOEFL iBT. The original questions can be found on TST Prep’s official website.

Read the summary below each response and compare your pronunciation.

01, Male, Japanese, Talking About Switching Jobs

This student has some issues with his pronunciation, but there are other factors of his speaking he should focus on. In particular, he needs to first work on his confidence. He would benefit significantly from recording his voice daily and analyzing his speaking, as we do in the Speaker English study plans. More importantly, he needs to work on the placement of his voice. He speaks primarily from his lips, so it sounds like he is whispering. American English originates in the chest. This video from Rachel’s English is an excellent place to start. This 21-day pronunciation course is NOT a good fit for this student.

If you want feedback and pronunciation advice from an experienced teacher, send an email to Josh at [email protected]

The 21-Day Pronunciation Course for Japanese Speakers

The Speaker English collection of sound practice includes 18 consonant sounds, 20 vowel sounds, and 25 consonant clusters. These are the sounds of American English.

Consonants: p, b, t, d, k, g, v, l, r, z, s, h, dʒ (dg), m, n, w, j (y), f

Vowels: æ (a), eɪ (A), e(ɛ), i: (ee), ɪ (i), aɪ (ai), ɒ (o), ɘʊ (O), ʌ (u), Ʊ (oo), u: (oo), aʊ (ow), ɔɪ (oi), ɪə (eer), ə (“uh”/schwa), ɜ: (er), ɔ: (aw/or), a: (ar), eə (air), ʊɘ

Consonant Clusters: zh (ʒ), ng (ŋ), sh (ʃ), ch (tʃ), th (ð, voiced), th (θ, unvoiced), bl, br, st, sw, cl, cr, dr, fr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, tr, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp

Each day, you will complete various activities on four different sounds.

Even though there may be other sounds you struggle to pronounce well, we have selected 12 sounds most Japanese speakers find challenging. This represents a large sample size that will target current weaknesses and improve your overall intelligibility.

Consonants:

• p
• d
• dʒ
• w

Vowels:

• æ
• Ʊ
• ɔɪ
• aʊ

Consonant Clusters:

• br
• θ
• sm
• fl

Follow the links below and complete the given assignments. Set aside approximately 30 minutes each day to complete all activities.

Additional Resources for Japanese Speakers

It is important to note that this 21-day pronunciation course is not a one-size-fits-all solution. I encourage you to tweak this plan based on personal preference.

Regarding particular sounds, I have highlighted sounds often identified as troublesome for Japanese speakers.

Consonants: p, b, t, d, k, g, v, l, r, z, s, h, dʒ (dg), m, n, w, j (y), f

Vowels: æ (a), eɪ (A), e(ɛ), i: (ee), ɪ (i), aɪ (ai), ɒ (o), ɘʊ (O), ʌ (u), Ʊ (oo), u: (oo), aʊ (ow), ɔɪ (oi), ɪə (eer), ə (“uh”/schwa), ɜ: (er), ɔ: (aw/or), a: (ar), eə (air), ʊɘ

Consonant Clusters: zh (ʒ), ng (ŋ), sh (ʃ), ch (tʃ), th (ð, voiced), th (θ, unvoiced), bl, br, st, sw, cl, cr, dr, fr, fl, gl, gr, pl, pr, tr, sk, sl, sm, sn, sp

If you went through the pronunciation course, you know there are five activities to complete each day:

• Minimal Pairs
• Vowels
• Syllable Stress
• Reduced Sounds
• Tongue Twisters

While these activities are helpful, Japanese speakers should emphasize the correct word stress and consonant clusters. Regarding word stress, Japanese speakers tend to give an equal weight of stress to each word, even each syllable. Therefore, many consider English a stress-timed language while Japanese is a mora-timed one. Unfortunately, we do not include any daily activities about word stress, but you might find this site helpful.

Besides the “n” sound, Japanese syllables almost always end with a vowel, which makes consonant clusters incredibly difficult to pronounce (play → pu - ray). This is also why Japanese speakers often add a vowel sound to words that end with a consonant. My name is Josh, but my Japanese friends call me Jo-shu. Inserting vowels between consonants is a tough habit to break since Japanese is filled with thousands of English-borrowed words that follow Japanese pronunciation patterns. Go through the pronunciation practice for all consonant clusters on the Speaker English site, and pay special attention to minimal pairs. It will help you distinguish between a single consonant and a consonant cluster.

Let me know if you have any questions, comments, or feedback below. I’m always learning :)