Title: And, who's going to help me with my Japanese?:-)
Name: Karine_C
Date: 2003/4/24(Thu) 03:33
CommentID: 2831
Message:
I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. I had been very busy and… quite disorganized. And still have no time to think and write in Japanese. You see, writing in English again;-(
日本人の英語ってネイティブの人からすると、どうように聞こえるのですか？
Whoa. This is really a broad question…
Let's see…I have the impression that when my friends from Japan speak English, they (not all of them, of course) tend to give full stress to every word. (We, speakers of American English do so when we are angry or adamant.) You know, if you stress every word and syllable equally, you may sound abrupt or impatient with no intentions. When I first met my boyfriend (he's Japanese) years ago, he looked always angry to me. But he wasn't really.:-)
th、rとlの区別ができないってのはわかっているのですが、他にもここがおかしいってのをぜひ教えていただきたいです
Here are some things that I notice…
1) American English has ugly sounds which you hesitate to make...such as A as in 'apple', ER as in 'girl', etc. Forget that you're Japanese and open up and pronounce those sounds clearly, then you will sound like an American.
2) -s endings on simple present tense verbs, plural nouns, and possessive nouns. I don't usually hear my Japanese friends pronounce them correctly especially when the words end with 't'.
Examples:
limit/limits, fit/fits, ticket/tickets, host/hosts,….
3) Countable nouns and uncountable nouns. Uncountable nouns NEVER end in –s. We don't say 'two informations,' but we say 'two pieces of information.' 'E-mail' is also uncountable. It's not 'e-mails,' but 'e-mail messages.'
4) This is not the problem of pronunciation, but… I often notice Japanese (and Korean) friends mistakenly say things like 'his husband (not that 'he' is gay:-))' or 'my mother lost his weight,' etc.
5) Vowel /^/ and /a/. I sometimes notice they replace /^/ (as in 'shut') with /a/ (as in 'shot').
Okay, I wrote all these down, but, please DO NOT be anxious about making errors or sounding like a speaker of your native language!
I sometimes have trouble understanding the people's pronunciations here in South Side, Windy City (I'm originally from the Pacific West). Pronunciations may vary in each dialect. Some people here pronounce 'wallet' with the sound of vowel /a/ as in 'father'. I pronounce it like Japanese Katakana『ウォレッ』. I have a lot of friends who came from Texas, and they often say 'anyways'. It annoys me a lot.;-) Well, anyway,:-)
イントネーションもおかしいんですよね、日本語英語を勉強しすぎちゃって、なかなか前に進めません。
If you worry about your intonations, you may as well practice focusing on it. I don't know if you want to do things like these, but, in case you do, here are my suggestions;
::Imitate American English speakers you admire. Their gestures, facial expressions, as well as their pronunciation patterns. Changing pronunciation (especially stress and rhythm) may involve changes in breathing, facial expression, and body movement. You may feel less Japanese, but overcome the resistance.
::Record yourself, monitor for pitch movement on the focus words.
::Poetry reading may help understanding the rhythm of English. (I love poetry!:-))
::Seek the support. Tell trusted friends (speakers of American English) that you want to improve your pronunciation, how you want them to assist you. Tell them you want to know when they don't understand you. Tell them if you want to be corrected.
::If you practice, practice EVERY DAY. Even 5 minutes a day each day will make the progress.
Good luck!
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