What good is it when you can speak the Japanese language fluently but your pronunciation almost sounds off? awkward right?
Good pronunciation will always make you sound natural like the Japanese natives and even get you to command attention every time you try initiating a conversation. The secret about speaking natural Japanese lies in your ability to combine fluency, accent, and pronunciation. Hence, in order to improve on your fluency, you need to learn first and practice with each given opportunity, and to develop your accent, you need to work on your pronunciation also.
Advantages of good pronunciation
- Your being able to pronounce words just like the native Japanese speaker will definitely attract new friends to you.
- As a foreigner, good pronunciation influences the first impression people (especially other Japanese speakers) get about you.
- You can try as much as you want to hide your weaknesses in vocab and grammar but you can never hide bad pronunciation.
- It makes networking easy as you get to meet new friends, other Japanese learners and even potential employees.
- Studies show that being bilingual increases the grey matter in your brain. Hence, fluency in Japanese vocab, grammar as well as pronunciation can help you become smarter.
- As a traveler or tourist planning to visit Japan, you’ll definitely enjoy your stay and find it easy accessing people and places.
- As a job seeker, good pronunciation can cause your potential Japanese employees to look beyond your qualifications and offer you the job.
So, you see why you shouldn’t just learn the Japanese vocab and grammar, but also input conscious and positive efforts towards improving your Japanese intonation and pronunciation.
The best way to learn how to speak natural Japanese is by listening to natives speak with every given opportunity, but there are other ways also, which when combined with listening to natives will enhance your speaking skills and make you sound almost like a native. Hence, here are a few ways to learn to speak natural Japanese.
Have set goals in place.
Your goals are your motivation and so, putting up one to guide you through your learning process will help you go a long way. Every time you encounter the difficult nature of the Japanese language, your goals will help you stay in line.
There is a major difference between speaking the Japanese language fluently and speaking naturally. The fluent speaker knows the right words and grammar to use in the right situation while a natural speaker knows what a fluent speaker knows, in combination with knowing how to pronounce each word rightly as a native speaker would.
Note that It is almost impossible to learn to speak Japanese at a near-native level by just taking classes whether physical or online. So, you have to make conscious efforts to include other learning strategies that will help you achieve your natural Japanese-speaking goals.
Listen attentively
How possible is it to speak without listening first? Not possible! I think. Until you learn to hear beyond words and see past moving lips, you may never know what it means to listen. Listening goes beyond hearing people speak in real-life situations, it goes as far as watching your favorite movies, anime, as well as listening to podcasts. Although anime and some movie characters may pronounce words in the most dramatic way which is not advisable for you to learn, they can still help you improve your listening skills, but podcasts still remain the best resources for help your listening-learning process.
Don’t miss any chance to speak with natives
What better way is there to learn the right pronunciations of every Japanese vocab than to learn from someone who has lived in Japan and has spoken Japanese all their life?
Natives are your best plug to learning how to speak natural Japanese. If you live outside Japan, finding native speakers may be a difficult task for you but there’s no need to worry since there are several websites that allow meeting, connecting and pairing with native speakers who are looking to learn your language also.
Even if you find it hard immersing into Japanese right away, it’s ok, after all, none of us got it right the first time we tried. All you need to do is continue to listen as much as you can, speak and mimic whatever you can and practice for as long as you can and in no time, you will be on your way to achieving those set goals of yours.
Also, If you find yourself stuck in a situation where you are confused with words, asking a native for help isn’t a bad idea. And if you have friends, neighbors or colleagues who are Japanese natives, let them know you are open to corrections. This way, you’ll be creating an opportunity to learn from them by all means.
Shadow and mimick
This is your best chance at getting pronunciations right. Can you remember how you learned your first language as a child? How you mimicked almost everything you saw and heard, how you incorrectly pronounced words until you finally got them right? Well, that’s the trick in play here.
Every time you watch a Japanese movie or show, pay close attention to how words and phrases are used, how sentences are constructed, the intonations and pronunciations, and even their facial expressions when speaking.
Speaking like a native doesn’t stop at pronunciation and intonation. You have to shadow and mimic everything the natives say and do.
practice
You don’t just stop learning because you think you have reached and accomplished your set goals. Learning is a continuous process and practicing is part of learning. Just as the saying goes “practice makes perfect”, the more you practice speaking and getting your pronunciation right on a daily basis, the better your chances of speaking natural Japanese.
As a beginner, you don’t have to rush into speaking Japanese just yet! Learn the basic Japanese vocab and grammar, don’t forget Romani and kanji also. With time and consistent learning, you’d have laid the needed foundation to build your speaking skills.