Why the major difference in English between Japanese/Chinese?

[saibot]

Originally Posted by Yanagisawa

You should learn more about Japanese pronunciation. It is simple but very different from English.

Of course it is different from English, but nevertheless, it is much easier for an English-speaker to pronounce Japanese words and phrases reasonably well than Chinese words and phrases. And the Japanese sound system is simpler than Chinese (or English).

This does not mean that a English-speaker saying Japanese words will sound like a Japanese native, of course.

[Yanagisawa]

Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed

I agree, English and Japanese do not have similar pronunciation at all. The only European language I can think of that has very similar sounds to Japanese is Spanish. There's probably a few more, but I only know Spanish because it's my native language.

Agreed. I have no idea about Portuguese though.

Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed

I don't think you mean tone, but these are called stress markers. The meaning changes on where you put the stress on a syllable.

It is tone. The reason why I used the term pitch, is only because Japanese is not a tone language.

Stress in English means how much strength (and how long time) you put on a specific syllable. This is totally different from Japanese.

Yakitori's pronunciation in Japanese is flat. You should pronounce it just like level tone in Chinese.

However, it is pronounced as Yaki'toori in English. The o is pronounced louder and longer than the others.

Originally Posted by theunbrainwashed

My friends gave me a litmus test to see how my Japanese pronunciation is with 料理、and I was told I said it like a Japanese person. Guess it helps these sounds exist in Spanish but not in English. At the same time, Japanese pronounce Spanish sounds far better than English native speakers

Way to go!

Ryouri or 料理 is pronounced as 'ryouri, o has the highest in pitch and i has the lowest. Something similar with falling tone in Chinese.

[botticelli]

Originally Posted by saibot

Of course it is different from English, but nevertheless, it is much easier for an English-speaker to pronounce Japanese words and phrases reasonably well than Chinese words and phrases. And the Japanese sound system is simpler than Chinese (or English).

This does not mean that a English-speaker saying Japanese words will sound like a Japanese native, of course.

that's what I meant.

Of course Japanese and English don't share exactly the same pronunciation system, but it is much closer than between Chinese and English.

The Japanese pronunciation system is rather simple in general. 5 vowels - a e u e o and follows the very simple c-v-c-v pattern. An "a" is always an a is Japanese. While in Chinese, an "a" looks like an "a" but changes its pronunciation depending on where it is. Not to mention all the consonants that don't exist in English.

The tones in Chinese alone are frustrating enough for foreigners. I can teach an American a simple sentence in Chinese with 5 or 6 words, and after a week he may still not be able to pronounce the tones correctly. And unlike in Japanese where a bit accent doesn't make a big difference, the wrong tone will throw people off, who might not understand what you are saying.

[botticelli]

Originally Posted by Yanagisawa

However, it is pronounced as Yaki'toori in English. The o is pronounced louder and longer than the others.

Ryouri or 料理 is pronounced as 'ryouri, o has the highest in pitch and i has the lowest. Something similar with falling tone in Chinese.

if you put it that way, even English has tones. 'Present and pre'sent are different.

There are some tonal difference in Japanese. I agree. For example, most foreigners say "Tokyo" (Tōkyō") wrongly. But does Japanese have the second (rising) and third tone (rise and fall) in Chinese? The first (high and flat) and the fourth (falling) are really not that special as many languages actually show those.

[Yanagisawa]

Originally Posted by botticelli

if you put it that way, even English has tones. 'Present and pre'sent are different.

Stress or accent systems between Japanese and English are different as I described somewhere.

Originally Posted by botticelli

There are some tonal difference in Japanese. I agree. For example, most foreigners say "Tokyo" (Tōkyō") wrongly. But does Japanese have the second (rising) and third tone (rise and fall) in Chinese? The first (high and flat) and the fourth (falling) are really not that special as many languages actually show those.

When did I say Japanese was a tone language? I did said it was not. I want to say "Don't put a hat on me" in Chinese here

However, ha'ta and 'hata are different.

ha'ta, where ha is lower in tone and ta is higher and which is similar with rising tone in Chinese, means a flag.

'hata means a kind of fish or a surname.