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How to Pronounce the Japanese R

I've been asking a lot of questions and not really helping, so I thought I could help with something that a surprising number of people have trouble with; pronunciation of the Japanese R. This will be a beginner's tutorial for those who struggle with it.

Honestly, it's not that hard. I don't think there's any reason why people can't learn to do this, unless you have a legitimate reason pertaining to a medical condition of the mouth. However! Under no circumstances am I insulting those who haven't been able to do it. You CAN do it. You just need a little practice and a little more understanding of the Japanese R.

If you've listened to any Japanese music (which I'm assuming you have, because you're here!) you'll notice that the R sounds like a quick flick of the tongue. You can almost say that it is half-rolled. To achieve this sound when preceding a vowel, all you need to learn is proper tongue placement.

In English, there's no equivalent to this sound. The Japanese version of R is basically what we'd get if our R and L got married and had a baby.

When you say the letter R in English, where does your tongue go? It curls back a bit. When you say the letter L, it's placed just behind your teeth. For the Japanese R, all you need to do is place your tongue somewhere in between these places (English R and L).

Trace over the top of your mouth, and you'll notice that as you near your teeth, the roof of your mouth curves downward in sort of an arch. Note where it stops -- your tongue should fall right here and there should be about a fingertip of space between your tongue and your front teeth.

Now that your tongue is properly placed, just flick it forward and insert a vowel right after. If you did this right, you should hear the Japanese R. Practice saying, "ra, ri, ru, re, ro", until you feel comfortable with how it sounds.

If it ended up not coming out right, go back and try this: say, "la" and "ra" as you normally would. Keep saying these WHILE you move in between these two spots, until you have successfully pronounced the Japanese R sound!

I hope this helps and was easy to understand! :3

EDIT:

Here's a helpful tip from Aster Selene:
If all else fails - because there are some people who simply can't, despite trying very hard - just stick with the l. It's not the same, and it's still wrong, and should only be a last resort, but it's usable.

And another hint passed on from Yesi-chan:
The double Ts in the word "matter" sounds much like the Japanese R.
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