Which word is the hardest to pronounce

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Reply #51 - 2010 May 25, 8:10 am
Grinkers Member
From: Tokyo Registered: 2009-10-22 Posts: 298

Being an American English native speaker, I find the n sounds to be very hard to pronounce. Mispronouncing and/or not being able to hear it doesn't effect your Japanese ability, but it's still just one more thing I can't do very well.

For example 範囲 or 店員's n kind of goes through the nose. I can do it when I isolate the word, but it's just hard when trying to speak quickly in a sentence.

Last edited by Grinkers (2010 May 25, 8:10 am)

Reply #52 - 2010 May 25, 8:14 am
Evil_Dragon Member
From: Germany Registered: 2008-08-21 Posts: 683

There's no word in Japanese that is hard to pronounce. Now, Korean on the other hand...

Reply #53 - 2010 May 25, 8:37 am
Asriel Member
From: 東京 Registered: 2008-02-26 Posts: 1343

Grinkers wrote:

For example 範囲 or 店員's n kind of goes through the nose. I can do it when I isolate the word, but it's just hard when trying to speak quickly in a sentence.

I once had a conversation that was way longer than it had to be, because I couldn't properly explain that my shirt was 黄色 and not 金色

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Reply #54 - 2010 May 25, 9:49 am
Jarvik7 Member
From: 名古屋 Registered: 2007-03-05 Posts: 3946

東京特許許可局 (とうきょうとっきょきょかきょく) always gets me.

Reply #55 - 2010 May 25, 9:54 am
Raschaverak Member
From: Hungary Registered: 2008-12-30 Posts: 362

Jarvik7 wrote:

東京特許許可局 (とうきょうとっきょきょかきょく) always gets me.

Now that's a masterpiece smile

Reply #56 - 2010 May 25, 10:04 am
Jarvik7 Member
From: 名古屋 Registered: 2007-03-05 Posts: 3946

People who have problems with "n". Keep in mind that Japanese has two different sounds for ん. If you use the wrong n in the wrong environment it is harder to pronounce.

Reply #57 - 2010 May 25, 10:51 am
kyotokanji Member
From: Kyoto Registered: 2007-03-20 Posts: 160

Raschaverak wrote:

Jarvik7 wrote:

東京特許許可局 (とうきょうとっきょきょかきょく) always gets me.

Now that's a masterpiece smile

I had a great invention the other day that neede a quick patent. the failure to find this place resulted in  my patent not being done and someone else getting in there first. If only it had an easier name to say

Reply #58 - 2010 May 25, 1:34 pm
nickoakden Member
From: England Registered: 2008-08-06 Posts: 42 Website

I have trouble with any word that has a "N" sound followed by a syllable beginning with "R"/"L". For example, 連絡. It's hard to explain why..... When I say an N my tongue is already on the roof of my mouth. Then to do the R I need to take it away and flick it back again....it twists me up.

So now I cheat and just pretend that the N is an M.

Reply #59 - 2010 May 25, 2:07 pm
jettyke Member
From: 九州 Registered: 2008-04-07 Posts: 1194

nickoakden wrote:

I have trouble with any word that has a "N" sound followed by a syllable beginning with "R"/"L". For example, 連絡. It's hard to explain why..... When I say an N my tongue is already on the roof of my mouth. Then to do the R I need to take it away and flick it back again....it twists me up.

So now I cheat and just pretend that the N is an M.

Itīs hard for me too Renraku renraku. BTW strange, but jijitsu isnīt hard for me at all.

Reply #60 - 2010 May 25, 2:45 pm
Raschaverak Member
From: Hungary Registered: 2008-12-30 Posts: 362

jettyke wrote:

BTW strange, but jijitsu isnīt hard for me at all.

Then how about jijitsu-da? smile From my experience the smallest things can make the biggest difference...

Last edited by Raschaverak (2010 May 25, 2:46 pm)

Reply #61 - 2010 May 25, 2:49 pm
jettyke Member
From: 九州 Registered: 2008-04-07 Posts: 1194

Raschaverak wrote:

jettyke wrote:

BTW strange, but jijitsu isnīt hard for me at all.

Then how about jijitsu-da? smile From my experience the smallest things can make the biggest difference...

Easy, maybe because I know russian language...
However... not word、 but this phrase is quite strange and hard : 日直 誰だよ (にっちょくだれだよ）

Reply #62 - 2010 May 25, 3:05 pm
Javizy Member
From: England Registered: 2007-02-16 Posts: 770

nickoakden wrote:

I have trouble with any word that has a "N" sound followed by a syllable beginning with "R"/"L". For example, 連絡. It's hard to explain why..... When I say an N my tongue is already on the roof of my mouth. Then to do the R I need to take it away and flick it back again....it twists me up.

So now I cheat and just pretend that the N is an M.

ん is a nasal sound and isn't formed at the roof of your mouth. You don't use your tongue at all, so 連絡 isn't a problem if you're doing it correctly. If you pronounced 全員 using your tongue, people would mistake it for 善人. You'd have similar problems with any other ん+vowel word. The らりるれろ words would be comprehensible but 訛ってる.

I've been working on my own pronunciation the past couple of weeks. I'd actually like to read some proper explanations, like you'd get in an English book about phonology or something. I never dedicated any proper time to learning pronunciation. Shadowing seemed to be good, but if you're not conscious of how things should sound you might not even hear your own mistakes.