Pronunciation in a foreign language is critical because it affects a native speaker’s ability to understand you. It may also affect your confidence when speaking if you have to keep repeating yourself. You should be aware of the phonetics and the pronunciation of a language early on and continue to build on them during your language journey. Don’t overly stress about your pronunciation, though, you should balance it with your other studies. It’s ok to have an accent in a foreign language, in fact, many Japanese people really like foreign accents. Your goal should be to be easily understandable. I wouldn’t recommend going for a perfect native-like accent unless that’s something you are really interested in. In Japanese, it is relatively easy to have a good accent, but it is very difficult to have a native accent. A good accent also won’t come immediately. It takes time. When you first start studying Japanese, you won’t be able to hear many of the subtle differences in pronunciation, but as you become more familiar with the language, you will build an ear for these differences. If you are a beginner, just watch this first video, then return to the Japanese Language Pathway. If you are intermediate or above, read through the entire article.
This video is a great overview of Japanese pronunciation and common mistakes learners make. I recommend coming back to watch it a few times, so all the information sinks in.
If you’re ready for more details, this video series by Dogen delves into both pitch accent and pronunciation. It’s a pretty long series, so just watch one video a day and re-watch videos as necessary. To see all the videos, click the playlist button in the upper right corner of the video.
Jaccent
Jaccent is a pitch accent dictionary where you can quickly look up the pitch accent and pronunciation of words. If you are on Android, Takoboto also has this ability, and it can be turned on in the settings. Unfortunately, there aren’t many hard fast rules when it comes to pitch accent, so you’ll have to learn it word by word. Don’t let pitch accent stop you from speaking though. Japanese speakers will still be able to understand you even if your pitch is off. Overall pronunciation is much more important. Pitch accent is something that you should be aware of and pay attention to, but it should not be a major focus.
When you click on a word, it will display the pitch accent, definition, and explanation. To hear the word pronounced, press the green play button. Pay attention to the pitch accent as you hear the word pronounced, then try to mimic the pronunciation as best you can.
There is also a kanji tab where you can see a breakdown of the kanji that make up a word.
If you scroll down a little farther on a kanji, you can see a list of words that it appears in and their pitch accents.
Now that you have all this information, you just need to put it into practice. The best way to start doing that is through shadowing. As you shadow native speakers, keep in mind what you’ve learned about Japanese pronunciation. Remember to check your recordings of your own pronunciation for common mistakes and repeat any weak areas. Good pronunciation comes through repetition, and eventually, it will all flow automatically. I highly recommend starting by shadowing JSL Japanese Language Courses’s YouTube channel, especially if you would like to learn pitch accent. You can find out more about it in the shadowing article linked below.
If you are interested in a more in-depth phonetics course that covers all the details of Japanese phonetics, then check out Dogen’s phonetics course. This is not necessary for having a good accent in Japanese, but it will help you sound native-like more quickly. You should be at an intermediate level or higher before doing this course.
