About Pronuntiation
Hi. I'm Japanese man. It is difficult for us to distinguish pronuntiation of right and light so we tried it when we are a student but I think good people are few. Thus we predict the word which said by talking partner from the conversation content. Why do you think that Japanese are not good at distinguishing them? We speak Japanese with Hiragana. Hiragana is to Japanese what Alphabet is to English. We pronounce both right and light as ra-i-to according to the Hiragana so that's why we are not good. I want to distinguish right from light.
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About Pronunciation
Hi. I'm a Japanese man. I believe that it is difficult for us Japanese to articulate the words right and light. Perhaps, we tried to learn to do so back when we were students, but I think few people became good at it. Thus, from a conversation’s content, we usually guessed as to which word which was meant by our partner. Why do you think that Japanese are not good at distinguishing them? I think the reason why that we speak those words similarly is because that is what is indicated by hiragana. It is to Japanese what the alphabet is in English. Therefore, according to hiragana, we pronounce both right and light as a-i-to, so that's why we are not good at making those words sound differently. Someday, I hope to be able to clearly pronounce the word right from light.*/**
Hi Okashira. Good job! Whatever changes I’ve made were merely done to allow your text to sound more natural to my native ears. I hope that this helps you. J.
*From my comment earlier, I can understand why you cannot say the words, but perhaps I am misunderstanding since from your text above, but it seems that you cannot hear the difference between them as well? If your conversation partner is pronouncing them correctly, then you should not have to guess what he said. I can only imagine then, that you meant English conversations with other Japanese speakers?
**Practice, practice, practice!(and, it is not only those words, specifically, but the “r” and “l” sounds, in general. My friend had trouble saying “Really?” We heard it as “Leally?” Again, lots of repetition to train your mouth and tongue muscles.
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Thank you Jonathon Owens!
I didn't know that the R consonant in English does not have the tongue touch the roof of the mouth "at all". It sounds like hard for me, but I will try it.
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Hi Okashira! As Jonathon suggests, it is (simply!) a matter of training your tongue and other mouth muscles to move correctly to form the correct sounds. Training comes from repetition, so slowly say each word hundreds of times a day, preferably, in front of someone who can hear the difference and correct you. My best friend in college was also a Japanese native, so he, too, much to our amusement, had issues with those words and sounds. He has since become a U.S. Citizen and speaks English, including those sounds, as clearly as anyone. Best of luck! J.
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The R consonant in English does not have the tongue touch the roof of the mouth at all. For L, which is similar to the Japanese are you let the tongue touch the top of your mouth and instead of pulling it off a lot faster for the Japanese R, make it a hard sound. This is my best explanation from my position.
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