Japanese Lessons

Materials for Wasabi Japanese Pronunciation Lessons

tongue-position

The Most Effective Japanese Pronunciation Lessons

Material Information

Name Wasabi’s Japanese Pronunciation Lessons
Level All Levels
Lesson Number 27
Total Time 72 minutes
Contents 1. Japanese Vowels
2. Japanese Consonant
3. Exceptional Sounds
Translation English
How to Use Wasabi Original Method

If you would like to utilize your mobile devices or hear them off-line, you can download them via the following URL. Additionally, we have labeled the audio files as follows: “vowels” as “V”, “consonants” as ”C”, and “exceptional sounds” as “E”. For example, if you would like to hear the audio for い, please use No. V02.

Download Links (*ZIP files)

Japanese Vowels
Japanese Consonants
Exceptional Sounds

Program Table of Japanese Pronunciation Lessons

Japanese Vowels

  1. [a] あ
  2. [i] い
  3. [u] う
  4. [e] え
  5. [o] お

Japanese Consonants

  1. [k] [g] か き く け こ、が ぎ ぐ げ ご
  2. [s] [z] さ す せ そ、ざ ず ぜ ぞ
  3. [ɕ] [ʑ] し、じ
  4. [t] [d] た て と、だ で ど
  5. [tɕ] ち
  6. [ts] つ 
  7. [n] な ぬ ね の
  8. [ɲ] に
  9. [h] は へ ほ
  10. [ç] ひ
  11. [ɸ] ふ
  12. [b] [p] ば び ぶ べ ぼ、ぱ ぴ ぷ ぺ ぽ
  13. [m] ま み む め も
  14. [j] や ゆ よ
  15. [ɾ] ら り る れ ろ
  16. [w] わ 

Japanese Exceptional Sounds

  1. [m] [ŋ] [N] [n] ん
  2. [kj] [gj] きゃ きゅ きょ、ぎゃ ぎゅ ぎょ
  3. [bj] [pj] びゃ びゅ びょ、ぴゃ ぴゅ ぴょ
  4. [mj] みゃ みゅ みょ
  5. j] りゃ りゅ りょ
  6. っ、-、ん

[adsense]

Note

We have adopted the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in our Japanese pronunciation lessons. Some of the symbols such as [ɕ] and [ɸ] are probably unfamiliar with learners. Thus, we have clarified them by corresponding to roman letters in each page like this; “[ɕ] representing the sound of the roman letter /sh/”. Similarly, in the following table, [] shows the IPA and // shows roman letters. It’s read from top to bottom and right to left.

Hiragana with the International Phonetic Alphabet and Roman Letters

[wa]
/wa/

[ɾa]
/ra/

[ja]
/ya/

[ma]
/ma/

[pa]
/pa/

[ba]
/ba/

[ha]
/ha/

[na]
/na/

[da]
/da/

[ta]
/ta/

[za]
/za/

[sa]
/sa/

[ga]
/ga/

[ka]
/ka/

[a]
/a/
 
[ɾi]
/ri/
 
[mi]
/mi/

[pi]
/pi/

[bi]
/bi/

[çi]
/hi/

[ɲi]
/ni/
ぢ*
[zi]
/di/

[tɕi]
/chi/

[ʑi]
/zi/

[ɕi]
/shi/

[gi]
/gi/

[ki]
/ki/

[i] 
/i/
 
[ɾu]
/ru/

[ju]
/yu/

[mu]
/mu/

[pu]
/pu/

[bu]
/bu/

[ɸu]
/fu/

[nu]
/nu/
づ*
[zu]
/du/

[tsu]
/tsu/

[zu]
/zu/

[su]
/su/

[gu]
/gu/

[ku]
/ku/

[u] 
/u/
 
[ɾe]
/re/
 
[me]
/me/

[pe]
/pe/

[be]
/be/

[he]
/he/

[ne]
/ne/

[de]
/de/

[te]
/te/

[ze] 
/ze/

[se]
/se/

[ge]
/ge/

[ke]
/ke/

[e]
/e/
を*
[o]
/o/ 

[ɾo]
/ro/

[jo]
/yo/

[mo]
/mo/

[po]
/po/

[bo]
/bo/

[ho]
/ho/

[no]
/no/

[do]
/do/

[to]
/to/

[zo]
/zo/

[so]
/so/

[go]
/go/

[ko]
/ko/

[o]
/o/

*We divided our pronunciation lessons based on how your tongue and mouth are moved. ぢ, づ and を are omitted because they are the same movement as じ, ず and お respectively.

Exceptional Sounds with the International Phonetic Alphabet and Roman Letters
 ん  りゃ
ja]
/rya/
みゃ
[mja]
/mya/
ぴゃ
[pja]
/pya/
びゃ
[bja]
/bya/
ひゃ*
[ça]
/hya/
にゃ*
[ɲa]
/nya/
ちゃ*
[tɕa]
/cha/
じゃ*
[ʑa]
/zya/
しゃ*
[ɕa]
/sha/
ぎゃ
[gja]
/gya/
きゃ
[kja]
/kya/
りゅ
ju]
/ryu/
みゅ
[mju]
/myu/
ぴゅ
[pju]
/pyu/
びゅ
[bju]
/byu/
ひゅ
[çu]
/hyu/
にゅ
[ɲu]
/nyu/
ちゅ
[tɕu]
/chu/
じゅ
[ʑu]
/zyu/
しゅ
[ɕu]
/shu/
ぎゃ
[gju]
/gyu/
きゅ
[kju]
/kyu/
 っ りょ
jo]
/ryo/
みょ
[mjo]
/myo/
ぴょ
[pjo]
/pyo/
びょ
[bjo]
/byo/
ひょ
[ço]
/hyo/
にょ
[ɲo]
/nyo/
ちょ
[tɕo]
/cho/
じょ
[ʑo]
/zyo/
しょ
[ɕo]
/sho/
ぎょ
[gjo]
/gyo/
きょ
[kjo]
/kyo/

*For the same reason as above, しゃ, じゃ, ちゃ, にゃ, and ひゃ line are omitted because they are the same movement as し, じ, ち, に and ひ respectively.

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Translator

These texts were translated into English through the combined efforts of freelance translator Christina Schaak, and Wasabi’s co-founder & project director Takyua Tokiwa. For more information on Christina and her work, please visit schaaktranslations.com.

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