Dogen

Phonetics Lesson Updates!

Added 2021-08-02 09:42:23 +0000 UTC

Good afternoon, Patrons!

I hope this post finds all of you well. I wanted to let everyone know that I have updated two lessons of Japanese Phonetics with high-quality native recordings: Lesson 47 and lesson 48, which tackle some of the finer points of Japanese consonants [n] and [h]. I talk a little bit about some of the difficulty I have had with one of the [n] sounds in lesson 47, and also discuss a common issue that even intermediate and advanced speakers have when it comes to some loan words in lesson 48.

Lesson 47
Lesson 48

I'd like to briefly note here that the original lesson 47 had a section on how に has a slight 'ny' like character to it, but I now believe that teaching the sound this way could end up confusing learners, and thus removed this section of the lesson. For my current thoughts on に, please watch the current version of episode 47 (linked above), and listen to and imitate the high quality native recordings in said lesson.

As usual, if anyone has any questions or concerns with regards to this post, feel free to leave a comment below! Thank you for your continued support, and good luck with your future Japanese studies!

Dōgen