First post! I was just wondering if anyone could help me with some pronunciation. I haven’t got very good ears for pronunciation and am often told I am mispronouncing things in my native language 
.
I’m pretty sure my Tsu’s and Su’s sound identical. I think it’s actually a problem with my Su’s being too sharp because my S’s in English are a little lispy.
How do you differentiate between the sounds and how do you go about producing those sounds?
1 Like
Forvo is generally a good source for native pronunciation examples. Here are つ and す.
Also, this is an incredible naive suggestion, but can’t you just try to say “t” followed by “su” for tsu?
4 Likes
Unlike す, つ is an affricate, a stop that turns into a fricative. In other words, you start with standard Japanese t sound, that then turns into an s (which is the same in both English and Japanese).
In Dogen’s video there is an exercise where you start with making the s-sound: ssssss. Then stop the airflow by touching the tip of your tongue against the back of your upper teeth. From there move back to the s. This may help you get a feel for it.
6 Likes
This is very helpful. Thank you
Hello again, Could you point me in the direction of Dogen’s video? I can’t seem to find it.
If you speak French, I always think of Tsu like saying “Tu” (means you in French). Hopefully it’s helpful to someone out there.
1 Like
It depends on what dialect of French you’re speaking. In Canadian French it’s definitely true but not in standard French.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.