Common Pronunciation Mistakes Japanese Students Make

A student's native language can have a big impact on the things they find easy or difficult when learning a new one. Although Japanese is quite different than English, many English words are used in Japan regularly every day. However, these borrowed words are spoken with a heavy accent that reflects the Japanese language system, and that accent can be hard for students to lose when they want to learn English properly.

This article will highlight some of the biggest challenges Japanese students have with pronunciation so you'll know what to listen for during your lessons. Fixing these problems will take time, so let your students know not to get discouraged — in many cases, they will need to unlearn habits they've had their entire lives. So it's OK if they are not experts after one class!

th

“Th” sounds often get changed to something closer to an "s," as that's the closest the Japanese language has to it. The important thing to show students is the placement of the tongue between the teeth when demonstrating the correct pronunciation.

Here are some useful words to practice with:

the

think

Thursday

birthday

either

seventh

eleventh

bath

You may notice that they have different levels of difficulty depending on where the sound appears in the word.

The extra “s”

Words like “suit” and “fruit” are used regularly in Japanese. However, because there is no hard "t" sound to end words in the language, students often change it to a "ts." That means "suit" becomes "suits" even if the speaker is only referring to one item. Keep your ears open for this kind of misuse and be sure to correct them if you hear it. You can simply ask them to confirm: "How many suits are you talking about?"

Extra vowels and syllables

In the Japanese system for pronouncing foreign words, all consonants are combined with a vowel sound. That means there are sounds like "sa," "so," and "su," but there is no "s" sound by itself. As a result, students tend to pronounce English words with these extra vowels added, making them longer than they should be — sometimes much longer!

Here are some examples of the difference between native English and the Japanese equivalent, along with the different number of syllables for each. 

cheese (1) vs. chizu (2)

trip (1) vs. toripu (3)

drive (1) vs. doraibu (3-4!)

salad (2) vs. salada (3)

TikTok (2) vs. tikkutokku (4)

Christmas (2) vs. kurisumasu (5!)

If you ask them to count the syllables of a particular word, they may be surprised at how few there actually are!

This is a good chance to do some repetition exercises; say the target word slowly but naturally and ask them to repeat after you, highlighting the number of syllables. It may take a few tries for them to get it right, but they will gradually become more aware of the gap between their accented pronunciation and the often shorter, correct one. 

L/R

This is definitely the most well-known problem native Japanese speakers have with English pronunciation. But it’s easy to understand why when you consider that the Japanese language simply combines these sounds into one. 

Remind your student that "L" sounds are pronounced with the tongue starting behind the upper front teeth. "R" words have a harder sound and require moving the lower jaw to pronounce correctly. 

Word pairs to practice with:

light vs. right

lip vs. rip

liver vs. river

lamp vs. ramp

lock vs. rock

B/V

Just like L and R, B and V are another pair of sounds that are combined in Japanese. Hearing students say common acronyms like "DVD" or "MVP" will help you understand the trouble they can have in separating these two sounds.

Pronouncing "B" correctly means you must curl your lips before pushing them out in a short, strong motion. On the other hand, "V" words require placing your upper teeth on your lower lip. "B" sounds are harder, while "V" sounds are softer and a bit longer.

Here are some good words for practicing these sounds:

very

visit

visa

vacation

volleyball  

travel

boy

baby

basketball

birthday

trouble

Pay attention to how they pronounce the sound when it appears in the middle or end of a word; again, students often have an easier time with certain sounds when they are in a different position. Consider sharing the video below, which is all about the difference between these two sounds.

-er/-ar/-ir

Compared to English, Japanese can be spoken naturally without needing to move your mouth much. In English, harder sounds expressed by "er," "ar" and "ir" require using your lower jaw to pronounce correctly. These sounds in Japanese are often changed to a softer and longer “aa.” So “elevator” sounds more like “elevataa,” “girlfriend” is “gaalfriend,” and the classic Arnold Schwarzenegger film becomes “Taaminataa.” 

To fix this, you’ll need to instruct them to use their lower jaw and close their mouth slightly, almost as if they are making an angry “grrr!” sound. Your demonstrations can be overly dramatic at first to help them clearly understand how native pronunciation differs from the Japanese style.

Words to practice these sounds with:

turn

beer

color

summer

computer

teacher

early

river

Harry Potter

The Avengers

Putting it all together

Because Japanese has so many foreign loan words, students may believe they have an advantage when learning English. Unfortunately, this is only partly true since the differences in pronunciation can be a big challenge for them to overcome.

However, it's not impossible! Before they can improve, they first need to recognize the problem areas so they can spend extra time working on them. Give them examples of correct pronunciation and encourage them to keep trying even if their progress seems slow at first. Practice makes perfect!