We covered some very basic things like the syllables in the language and some pronunciation, and though it wasn't a big mental, stretch since I'd covered most of it myself, I did pick up some very informative tidbits:
- ん (n) is called the syllabic nasal. Makes sense, but it's cool to have a name for it.
- I learned the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants. This too makes sense, but I guess I hadn't really though much about it. 'k' is a voiceless consonant because its sound is made entirely without vocal chords. 'g' is the associated voiced consonant because it's the exact same sound as 'k' except you add vocal chords. Neat!
- ふ is usually written on charts as 'fu', but is actually pronounced more like 'hu'. Had no idea, but that's definitely a good thing to know.
There's a lot of nuance to pronunciation that I'll have to pick up on, but hearing Japanese more and practicing it should help with that. A lot of the sounds are somewhere between the English counterparts. ん(n), for example, from what I can tell is like an English 'n' sound but a little closer to 'm'. And 'r' is right in the middle of English 'r' and 'l'.
I got reading homework too! It's like I'm in school again or something!
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