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Notes on Pronunciation

Japanese words in these materials are written in the Hepburn system of romanization, which is the easiest system for native speakers of English to use.

Vowels are pronounced as follows:
a as in father
i as in machine
u as in put
e as in bet
o as in horse

Consonants are pronounced the same as in English, with the exception of r. Japanese r sounds like the r of British English "very"; that is halfway between American English r and d. One of the chief differences between Japanese r and American English d, however, is length: Japanese r is much shorter than English d.

A macron (long mark) over a vowel indicates a vowel that is longer than usual in duration. For example, the word "farewell" in Japanese is sayonara, but is sometimes pronounced sayonara.

Additional resources for learning about the Japanese language:

Japanese Language and Culture Network
http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/index.html

StarFestival
http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/index.html

Stanford’s Japan Window - Kid’s page on Japanese language
http://www.jwindow.net/OLD/KIDS/SCHOOL/LANG/

Japanese Pronunciation with audible plug-in
http://home.ntt.com/japan/japanese/pronun.html

Japanese Pronunciation
http://japanese.about.com/homework/japanese/blank.htm

Print & AV Resources: (available for loan from the PIER Resource Library):

OMIYAGE 1990 Revised Edition
Japanese language activities teach about the culture, history, and values of the Japanese
people. A book of games, songs, things to do & to make. Over 100 activities. Appropriate for
students in grades 6 through 12 . A 42-page workbook is also available.