Time for another set of hiragana. There are a total of 46 hiragana characters so there'll be one more lesson after this one and you'll be done with hiragana. Don't worry, we are yet to cover the Katakana set. Remember to research how these are pronounced and listen to them been spoken by a native not forgetting that stroke order is very important.
M Group ( ま み む め も )
Be careful not to confuse め (me) with ぬ (nu). ぬ (nu) has that small loop on the end of it.
| Sounds | Romaji | Kana |
|---|---|---|
| Mama Mad Man |
ma | ま |
| Me Mii Mean |
mi | み |
| Moo Moon Music |
mu | む |
| Men Melt Met |
me | め |
| Moan Moe Mould |
mo | も |
R Group ( ら り る れ ろ )
We shall now prepare for the "R" group. It's important to check the pronunciation for this set as it's a little trickier to sound. It is not pronounced like the English "R". It's more like between "D" and "L", the movements are quite similar too.
Place your tongue as you would when saying the letter "L" (the back of the tongue on the roof of your mouth towards the back). Now, place your tongue as you would when saying the letter "D" (the top of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth and the tip on the top front teeth).
With that, try to place your tongue in between these two placements. You'll find the tip of your tongue touching the roof of the mouth not too far back as "L" and not tapping the top front teeth. Just perfectly in the middle. When you try to pronounce "L" or "D" or "R" like this you'll find it should all sound the same.
| Sounds | Romaji | Kana |
|---|---|---|
| Laugh Dad Large |
ra | ら |
| Lee Deep Leaf |
ri | り |
| Loop Do Loo |
ru | る |
| Let Deputy Lens |
re | れ |
| Low Doe Envelope |
ro | ろ |
Additional Notes
There is no "R" sound in Japanese. What is written as "R" is actually sounded between "R" and "L" (or "D" and "L"). This is why so many Japanese speakers have difficulty with "R" and "L" in English. You'll find that sometimes "R" may sound like "D" but it may also sound like "L". Example: Remon = Lemon
Continue to practice writing the words we've learned so far or with other words anywhere you can. We'll be switching over from romaji very soon so it's very important to start getting use to them. Romaji is not reliable and won't help when reading Japanese especially long complex sentences with kanji.
Don't take the pronunciation examples too literal here. Try to listen to how a real native speaker pronounces them. There are plenty of examples on YouTube and even listening to real Japanese people speak on TV or podcasts.
Useful Resources
Remember, Japanese Pronunciation is very different to English. Try to check other sites such as YouTube to hear these characters being spoken by real life Japanese people. You can also use grid paper to print and practice writing on.
