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 Japanese Language Lessons Basics

Here are the basics for the Japanese language. This section will provide to you the basic pronunciation of the sounds of Japanese. 

-Basic Vowel Sounds
A (said as in 'Father')
I  (said as in 'Eat')
U (said as in 'Food')
E (said as in 'Met') 
O (said as in 'Oatmeal')

-Basic Sounds
Ka (said as in 'Cock-a doodle doo')
Ki  (said as in 'Key')
Ku (said as in 'Cuckoo Bird')
Ke (said as in 'Kerosene')
Ko (said as in 'Coin') 

Sa (said as in 'Sob')
Shi (said as in 'She')
Su (said as in 'Soon')
Se (said as in 'Say')
So (said as in 'Sew')

Ta (said as in 'Ta-da!')
Chi (said as in 'Cheese')¹
Tsu (said as in 'Tsunami')²
Te (said as in 'Ten')
To (said as in 'Toe')

Na (said as in 'Knot')
Ni (said as in 'Knee')
Nu (said as in 'New')
Ne (said as in 'Net')
No (said as in 'No') - Simple enough|

Ha (said as in 'Haha!') 
Hi (said as in 'He') 
Fu (said as in 'Food')³
He (said as in 'Hey')
Ho (said as in 'Ho') 

Ma (said as in 'Mama')
Mi (said as in 'Me')
Mu (said as in 'Move')
Me (said as in 'Message')
Mo (said as in 'Mow') 

Ya (said as in 'Ya know?') 
Yu (said as in 'You') 
Yo (said as in 'Yo-yo')

Ra (said as in 'Rob') 
Ri (said as in 'Read') 
Ru (said as in 'Rubies')
Re (said as in 'Reindeer') 
Ro (said as in 'Row') 

Wa (said as in 'Wasp') 
(W)O (said as in 'Oh!') 
N (said as in 'Inn')

¹- 'Chi' has been changed from 'Ti', because there is no words that start with 'Ti'. When used from the other format, the words are spelled with the 'Ti' in the beginning. Such as, 'Chigaimasu' is spelled as 'Tigaimasu'.

²- Again, 'Tsu' has been changed from 'Tu', because of the words in Japanese. When used in the other format the words are spelled with 'Tu'. Such as 'Tsumaranai' to 'Tumaranai'.

³- 'Fu' has been chaged from 'Hu', because of the words in Japanese. When used in the other format, the words are spelled with 'Hu'. Such as 'Furui' to 'Hurui'. 

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