DATA-WORLD-BLOG

Do you usually listen to Japanese music?

The more you listen to Japanese,

the more you will notice patterns in Japanese pronunciation.

If you like a song, you can listen to it over and over, right?

To develop the habit of listening to Japanese,

try practicing listening to Japanese happily with your favorite songs.

This article describes the content of this course, which includes not only listening to Japanese, but also learning to transcribe Japanese and looking up unfamiliar kanji and meanings.

Features of songs recommended for studying Japanese :

• A slow tempo
• Easy-to-hear singing voice
• Lyrics containing kanji characters that could be understood by looking them up.

Want to listen to background music while reading this article?

Go ahead. ♡(*´·ω·)(·ω·`*)♡

Here we go!

The English pronunciation you usually speak has many strange sounds to us Japanese.

I am sure it is the same for you who are studying Japanese.

Now let's try an interesting experiment.

https://ondoku3.com/en/

This site will read aloud any text you type.

Although there are some parts where the intonation is a little robotic,

there is no problem in getting a feel for the pronunciation.

More accurate pronunciation can be learned by listening repeatedly to the songs you will practice later.

There are many videos that carefully explain Japanese pronunciation,

but I believe that learning through comparison with your everyday English is a more natural way to learn.

This is because if you constantly remind yourself to associate English with Japanese, you will be able to predict when you encounter a word you do not understand.

Can you pronounce the alphabet well?

I can't pronounce it well no matter how many times I practice.

So, let's hear the difference between the pronunciation of alphabets like English and that of alphabets like Japanese.

You should be able to understand the image of Japanese-like pronunciation.

Change the language at the top

English → 日本語

Enter the text you want to check

a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,t,u,v,w,x,y,z

👆このテキストをコピーして貼り付けてください。

Adjust speed

Set the speed slower, as it is easier to notice the difference if you pay attention to the way each letter of the alphabet is stretched.

Click on the ‘読み上げ’ button

(*^^*) What do you think? (*^^*)

If there is any English you are interested in, type it in!

(*^^*) What do you think? (*^^*)

If you are concerned about how robot-like the voice is pronounced,

change the language to English and check it out!

(*^^*) What do you think? (*^^*)

Interesting, isn't it?

This site is free if you don't download the audio read out loud, so use it a lot.

• What characteristics did you find?
• How did your mouth move when you said it out loud?
• How is your tongue positioned?

It might be interesting if you dare to pronounce the English you usually speak as if it were Japanese.

Now that you have found English and Japanese pronunciation interesting,

let's get started on learning Japanese with songs by Japanese artists.

In this case, I will use the song 「恋だろ」 of 松下洸平(まつした こうへい) to illustrate.

松下洸平 is also an actor in TV dramas.

I like his gentle atmosphere very much.

Search by

Artist Name song title 歌詞

Pay attention to the lyrics and choose songs.

Look up any unfamiliar kanji or words in the lyrics, and if they are all difficult words, you should avoid them.

Write the notes in the following order

1. Transcribe the lyrics verbatim：【そのまま】
2. Write the reading on the second line：【読み方】
3. Translate into English and write on the third line：【英語】

Leave the fourth line blank and make notes in four-line units.

but

If you can guess the meaning and reading without looking up the Japanese, you can skip the steps described below.

The purpose of this article is to familiarize your ears with Japanese music by listening to it over and over.

😊

Please customize it to your current level of mastery.

POINT：

Also, reproduce the part with one-byte spaces.

If you do not know the stroke order of the kanji,

you can check the following website.

https://kaku-navi.com/

If you don't know how to read a kanji, use 【Shirabe Jisho】, which I previously introduced in my Instagram, to check the reading.

You may be able to check the writing order by searching for 「ぼく」.

You can see the stroke order of the kanji in the video

This is easy to understand ＼(^o^)／

For you, the following three types of Kanji are expected to be mixed.

1. Kanji you already know
2. Kanji you figured out when you looked up in Step1
3. Kanji that you just can't figure out.

Note down all Kanji characters except 3 on the second line.

Make a note directly below the corresponding Kanji.

There is no problem if you make a mistake.

I may correct the reading with Step3.

My recommendation is to write with an erasable pen or mechanical pencil.

Listen to the song to see how it reads.

Check your answers to see if the second line you wrote down in Step2 is written correctly.

Words you didn't understand after looking them up can be clarified here.

You don't have to hear it all in one session.

Listen over and over again to hear the correct reading.

It is recommended that this also be written later with an erasable pen or mechanical pencil.

The reason is that the more you understand the meaning of the lyrics, the more nuanced they become.

The goal is to have a brief understanding of the content at the time of the first memo.

If you have any difficulty in translating, check with 【Deep L】, which was previously introduced in my Instagram.

Don't worry if the translation comes out a little strange.

Once you have finished translating all the lyrics,

you can revise your translation based on the context before and after.

Completing lyrics line by line has the following advantages

• You can hear many Japanese pronunciations by repeating
  • When you listen to the next line of lyrics, you already understand the lyrics of the previous line, so it's a good review.
• You can proceed at your own pace
  • You can research until you are satisfied and make a notebook with your notes in words that make sense to you.
• Learn pronunciation by listening to the song even before completing the notes.
  • Increasing the number of days you listen to Japanese pronunciation, even if only a little, will improve your listening skills.
• Create original song notes.
  • The experience of learning Japanese through your favorite songs is invaluable.
  • A notebook that takes time to make is a notebook that makes you feel more attached to it.
  • When you get attached to it, you will strangely want to read it over and over again!

Have fun and make song notes.

It might be interesting to add illustrations that you can imagine from the lyrics.

＼(^o^)／