Japanese Pronunciation for Communication

Japanese Language Resources
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Found this online course…I’m not sure how useful it is, but it’s free so I thought I’d share:

It starts March 25, it’s self paced, and it’s free!

About this course

One of the most challenging aspects of learning Japanese is pronunciation.

Most non-native Japanese speakers, whether basic level or advanced, have experienced at least one situation when they were misunderstood or couldn’t share their true feelings because of incorrect pronunciation.

If you are a Japanese learner, anywhere around the world, this language course has been designed to help you improve your pronunciation, and give you confidence in spoken Japanese.

Join Professor Toda at WasedaX to practice your pronunciation, improve your communicative Japanese and become a confident Japanese speaker.

日本語にほんごを学まなぶうえで最もっとも苦労くろうすることのひとつが発音はつおんです。

日本語にほんごを外国語がいこくごとして話はなす人ひとの多おおくは、その習熟度しゅうじゅくどに関かかわらず、発音はつおんが正確せいかくでないばかりに、誤解ごかいを与あたえてしまった、あるいは真意しんいを伝つたえることが出来できなかった、という経験けいけんを一度いちどはしたことがあるのではないでしょうか。

本講座ほんこうざは、世界せかい中じゅうの日本語にほんご学習者がくしゅうしゃにとって、正ただしい発音はつおんで、自信じしんを持もって「伝つたわる日本語にほんご」を話はなせるようになるための手助てだすけとなるはずです。

戸田とだ先生せんせいと発音はつおん練習れんしゅうをし、伝つたわる日本語にほんごを身みに付つけ、自信じしんを持もって日本語にほんごを話はなせるようになりましょう。

What you’ll learn

Appropriate pronunciation, accent and intonation to improve your communicative Japanese
Different techniques to practice and improve Japanese pronunciation, including “shadowing”
About Japanese culture and society through pronunciation practice
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This looks really awesome. I’ll be sure to check it out more in depth and possibly sign up when I get the time. Thanks for sharing!

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From the topic, I thought this was a thread asking how to pronounce “communication”.

It’s れんらく :stuck_out_tongue:

(Or コミュニケーション, if you like.)

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I highly recommend it! Did it around a year and a half ago by recommendation of @Syphus. I ended up enrolling a week late and had to rush a bit in the beginning, but I’m really really glad I finished it!

Besides the main part of the course itself, the team and community were great, and the content about Japanese culture is also very nice (might be good for practicing 読解).

If this isn’t already featured on the resources thread, it should; the course is offered regularly throughout the year.

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Nice to hear that, glad I enrolled like 20 days ago^^

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Yea the course is good. The one thing that the self-paced one doesn’t have, I believe, is the personal feedback they gave the first time

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I did it last time they offered it as well. It’s SO good!! I thought it was going to be much easier than it was, but it was super worth it and honestly I might enroll again.

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nice, that’s pretty exciting. I enrolled for it this time, with the expectation that it wouldn’t be difficult, but now I’m really looking forward to it…

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Why would they write the furigana right after the kanji like that

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This is a dumb question, so forgive me - is there any reason to get the certificate for it? From what I’m seeing the free course is identical, and just doesn’t include the certificate. Unless I’m misunderstanding, and the fee actually provides you anything extra like instructor feedback. If the two are identical, I’m assuming the certificate isn’t especially valuable as far as resumes go.

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The course is the same (the exact same one, not just identical), the thing that you pay for is the certificate.

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Do you need to know some Japanese to participate? Or is it fine to be an absolute beginner to join?

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In general I would not recommend beginners worry about their accent. It’s better than you get to knowing some Japanese sooner rather than taking longer with a slightly better accent. Also, fixing an accent takes a long time.

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Well… I would totally advise beginners to at least try to work on pronunciation. The closer you get to the correct pronunciation, the more natural and easier stuff gets to you.

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Yes, I believe the same thing. I also thing pronunciation can help when searching for language partners to practice with. A language is living after all, it’s not a thing in a book or just words you memorise.

But my question is more whether this specific course is targeted at any level.

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The course is listed as introductory, and the only prerequisites mentioned are:

So if you feel comfortable with the prerequisites, I don’t see why you can’t at least give it a shot ^^ :sparkles:

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tumblr_inline_o3xljeAixR1tjufl6_500
@MissMisc I saw you add a sparkle! :sparkling_heart::sparkles: ~
Weclome~ we are now officially friends. Even if it’s one sided~ :two_hearts::sparkles::sparkles:

Thanks for the info! I missed that. I’ll recommend it to my friend in that case! I think it would be super useful for some other students that I know too!

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I’m not saying completely ignore pronunciation, but taking a class on accents? I don’t think that an accent is so important that you need to take a class at the beginner level. It would be much better to focus on grammar and vocabulary. So long as your pronunciation isn’t completely off the wall a Japanese person will likely be able to understand what your saying. That is to say, practice accents up to that level and you’ll be fine for the beginner level.

Again, so long as your accent is not off the wall, you’ll be fine to talk with a Japanese person. Not only that, but spending a ton of time on trying to figure that out would be better spent on reaching a level that you can speak with the Japanese person and experience Japanese text in the first place. Prioritizing is key to learning a language.

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Heheh :see_no_evil::sparkles::sparkling_heart::sparkles:

よろしくね！新しい友達 ^^ :heartbeat:

ayana hug unyuu
image

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Yeah, I was in love with the course after finishing it! I had a really good experience with it. Actually, joining it was the best decision I made in 2016, along with WK.

@SleepyOne
It probably won’t have any value in a CV, but you’ll be supporting both edx and the makers of the course. I often see people saying that’s also a motivator to study and finish the course.

@unyuu1
Depends on what you mean by an absolute beginner. If you’re still struggling with hiragana/katakana it’s definitely a no-no. When they say “basic level” you’re expected to have at least some grasp of basic grammar.

I don’t know how much they’ve changed the course since I finished it, but personally, I think even if you’re a beginner you’ll benefit from the tips regarding rhythm, accent and intonation. They’ll also give everything you need to start shadowing, which is certainly a very beneficial practice to every language student, beginner or not. However, the section about 話し言葉(colloquial language) requires some experience with, let’s say “not-so-beginner” grammar points (e.g. ～なければ、～なきゃ、～ておく). Learners somewhere between upper-basic and intermediate will probably make better use of this course.

Either way, I think you should at least give a try; it’s free and you can take the course how many times you want.

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