こんにちは、
I relatively recently started studying Japanese (can read and write kanas, recognize some kanji and start making very, very simple phrases.)
My question is: When it comes to foreign words, like Alice アリス or Lebanon レバノン, would you still pronounce it with an L, or you’d pronounce it like you’d pronounce kanas normally?
I’m sorry if it’s a silly question, I tried looking it up and didn’t see discussion about it, I’m self-studying for the moment, and my current approach it is pronouncing like kanas, but I wonder if it’s weird. 🤔
ありがとうございます。
3 comments
It’s better to pronounce them as they are written in katakana using the R sound. If you say “milk” you might not be understood, if you say “mi-ru-ku”, you’ll definitely be understood.
I like to think that way. Neither L or R exist in Japanese. Their L/R is a different sound that rolls your thong in the opposite direction. So it doesn’t matter if it is a L or R. Neither is correct, but both are ok to use in rōmaji.
For example: In my mother tongue, we don’t say Ramen, we say and speel it as Lamen. The L sounds a little bit better than the R in most cases, but it really depends on the following sound. When you have a strong R sound in Japan, they will immediately think you are American.
I will pronounce as written so Japanese people will understand what I’m saying. Katakanaのまま