Although Japanese is considered one of the more difficult languages to learn, simple phrases are easy to read and pronounce. Japanese does not have the complex tonal variations of many Asian languages, such as Chinese, and the words are arranged in easy syllables. Japanese people are often scared to speak English with a foreigner, but will warm up after hearing a few Japanese phrases.

Pronunciation

Japanese has five vowel sounds:

• a as the 'a' in 'father'
• i as the 'ee' in 'knee'
• u as the 'oo' in 'look'
• e as the 'e' in 'pet'
• o as the 'o' in 'horse'

The vowel sounds do not change, but can be combined or lengthened, eg:

• ai as the 'y' in 'my'
• uu as the 'oo' in 'food'

The consonants are:

k, g, s, t, ch, n, h, b, p, m, r¹, y

These consonants are always attached to a vowel and cannot stand alone, with two exceptions:

1. 'n' can be used on its own, eg sumimasen
2. The syllable 'su' is often shortened to 's' in common speech. desu is therefore pronounced dess and desu ka becomes desska

Japanese words are not stressed, as English words are. In order to keep the phrases understandable, try to pronounce them according to the syllables, eg sa-yo-na-ra, kon-ni-chi-wa.

Everyday Phrases

Introduction

Questions

Emergency

Numbers