I can tell apart these sounds when watching streams, animes and podcasts but after taking a listening test at my school’s Japanese class, I couldn’t tell them apart at all. Pretty much everyone in the class had the same problem which is why I’m wondering if it was because of the speaker’s accent or I need to work on my listening more.
4 comments
I cannot recall ever having trouble with “u” and “i”.
Maybe it would be good if you gave some more concrete examples.
It really depends on how fast the speaker is talking, the quality of the audio, etc. For example, I was listening to N5 audios yesterday and came across this one https://japanesetest4you.com/japanese-language-proficiency-test-jlpt-n5-listening-exercise-14/ look at question 3 and the first time I listened to it I heard くつはどこでいっていますか but since this didn’t make sense at all, I thought about it and it probably says くつはどこでうっていますか
So I’m not sure if you refer to situations like these but yeah, it happens to me sometimes. I guess it’s a matter of getting used to it.
English pronunciation can be challenging at times, whereas Japanese pronunciation tends to be more straightforward and easier to understand.
I believe that individuals whose first language is English should refrain from claiming that the vowels in any other language sound the same. 😂
Sometimes vowel sounds may change or be altered, but that is usually due to regional dialects, speaking quickly, or slight accents. This phenomenon occurs in any language.
えい sound in English is often written EE. 🤷 I dunno how it makes sense. My guess is just your accent. My suggestion is that it’s simply your accent. By continuously practicing the sounds, you will eventually become accustomed to it. Additionally, watching YouTube videos to observe the movements of the mouth and tongue can greatly assist you.
Another example is the R sound, which, for me, is much closer to an L. The positioning of the tongue has to be different from that of the R sound, rolling down in the opposite direction without trembling. It can feel very awkward at first, but you will become accustomed to it.