ra, ri, ru, re, ro

Question is regarding lesson 1.6- Romaji and the sounds in the Japanese Language. Hi, I have just listened to the chart of basic Japanese syllables.. and the "ra, ri, ru, re, ro" seems to be pronounced "da, di, du, de, do". Is this correct? Thanks!

[quo]*Quote from * super_t Question is regarding lesson 1.6- Romaji and the sounds in the Japanese Language. Hi, I have just listened to the chart of basic Japanese syllables.. and the "ra, ri, ru, re, ro" seems to be pronounced "da, di, du, de, do". Is this correct? Thanks![/quo] If you are American, or a native English speaker the Japanese R maybe somewhat troublesome to master. It more is a mixture of the English D, R and a little bit of L... So like the Japanese you may have met who have trouble with their English R's, you now know their pain through the Japanese R :lol: . So in terms of pronounciation, *Ra, Ri, Ru, Re, Ro* will probably be the most challenging to learn out of the entire kana chart. Ganbare yo! (Give it your all!... hey that had an R in it too..) If you want me to try and describe it with words, you basically have to flick your tongue against the roof of your mouth as you are enunciating the english R sound and then follow with whatever vowel is appropriate. I hope that helps, but if it doesn't I gave my best shot. :lol: 8) デレク

Excellent explanation Derek-san, as always. -Sayaka :P

みなさん こにちは Hi everyone. I try to describe the ra,ri,ru,re ra sound similarly to デリク but using the English L sound. When we say an L the tongue is flat against the pallet. When I had to learn the ra,ri,ru,re,ro sounds I thought of it as similar to the English L but instead of having your tongue flat on the pallet, my tongue has the tip just barely touching the pallet just behind my teeth with air able to get through.

バーバラさん、 Thank you for your post! I tried to follow your instructions with my own mouth/tongue, and it worked! I am sure many Japanese learners will find it useful. ありがとう！ さやか