n Guide You’ll Ever N

1. Introduction to Japanese Pronunciation

2. Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid
3. Vowel Sounds
4. Consonant Sounds
5. How to Improve Japanese Pronunciation
6. Hard Words to Pronounce & How to Overcome
7. Why is Correct Pronunciation in Japanese Important?
8. Secrets to Learning the Correct Japanese Pronunciation
9. How Japanesepod101 Can Help You Learn More Japanese
10. How to Download Your Free Japanese eBook
11. Related Lessons

1. Introduction to Japanese Pronunciation

Top

It’s essential to know the Japanese writing systemin order to learn

Japanese pronunciation efficiently and effectively. Once you master
Hiragana / Katakana, you can pronounce anything in Japanese, as they’re
the cornerstone of pronunciation in the Japanese language.

1- What is the Japanese Language Writing System?

The Japanese writing system is a combination of three different

characters: Hiragana (ひらがな), Katakana (カタカナ), and Kanji (漢
字). Kanji is Chinese characters and both Hiragana and Katakana are a
syllabic grapheme. For learning Japanese pronunciation, Hiragana is the
most important and thus we focus on Hiragana here. Later, we’ll also go
more into comparing Japanese pronunciation to English.
Hiragana

Hiragana is the most basic Japanese writing system, the core Japanese
alphabet. Japanese children and foreign Japanese learners start learning
Japanese from here in order to read and write Japanese. 

Hiragana consists of 46 basic characters which can represent all of the

sounds in spoken Japanese, with a few variations which are closely
related to some basic Hiragana and its sounds. 

How to Read Hiragana

Unlike in the English alphabet, eachHiragana character represents

one mora, the shortest syllable, and each character is read for the same
length of time and spoken with the same strength. The characters
represent the exact same sounds (please see the chart above) and all the
Japanese sounds can be expressed by a single hiragana, or a combination
of two hiragana letters. 

All Hiragana end with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u).In this respect, Japanese
pronunciation is far simpler than English pronunciation. Take the English
alphabet “i,” for example. “I” itself is pronounced /aɪ/, but when it’s used
in words such as “alive” and “ink,” the pronunciation of “i” changes. 

On the contrary, the sound and pronunciation of Hiragana is the same, no

matter what order the characters are in, or what combination of
characters are in a word.

So once you master Hiragana, you’ll be able to pronounce all the

Japanese words perfectly!

The first step to learn Japanese is to master Hiragana. When you can
properly pronounce each Japanese words, your conversation skill will
greatly improve.
2- How Many *Sounds* are there in Japanese?

As mentioned above, the basic sounds are represented by forty-six

Hiragana characters.

However, there are fifty-eight other variations of sounds listed below. All
are based on forty-six basic Hiragana.

1. Sound Variations

These are related to some of the basic Hiragana sounds. These characters
are considered to be variations of the basic Hiragana, thus they don’t
appear in the main syllabary.

For example:

When you look at the vertical “k” line in the Hiragana Chart above, there
are “か (Ka), き (Ki), く(Ku), け (Ke), こ (Ko).” When adding “dakuten 濁
点” or two small lines to the upper right of each of the ka-line characters,
the hard “k” sound changes into a softer “g” sound:

か (ka) → が (ga)
き (ki)→ ぎ (gi)
く (ku) → ぐ (gu)
け (ke) → げ (ge)
こ (ko) → ご (go)

Similarly, the lines of “s,” “t,” and “h” change into “z,” “d,” and “b”
with dakuten as shown below.

When you add “handakuten 半濁点” or a small circle to the upper right of

each of the h-line characters, the sound of “h” changes into the “p”
sound: 

は (Ha) → ぱ (Pa)
ひ (Hi) → ぴ (Pi)

ふ (Fu) → ぷ (Pu)

へ (He) → ぺ (Pe)

ほ (Ho) → ぽ (Po)

  あ段 い段 う段 え段 お段

がガ ぎギ ぐグ げゲ ごゴ
が行 ga gi gu ge go

ざザ じジ ずズ ぜゼ ぞゾ
ざ行 za ji zu ze zo

だダ ぢヂ づヅ でデ どド
だ行 da ji zu de do

ばバ びビ ぶブ べベ ぼボ
ば行 ba bi bu be bo

ぱパ ぴピ ぷプ ぺペ ぽポ
ぱ行 pa pi pu pe po

The number of sounds in Japanese pronunciation is not as many as those

of English, so learning Japanese pronunciation is not so difficult if you
know English.

2. Small Ya-Line Combinations

The three ya-line (や [Ya], ゆ [Yu], よ [Yo]) sounds can be combined with
any of the sounds that end in い (i) (except for “い [i] ” itself from the “a-
line”) to create another variation of sounds. In such cases, the ya-line
sounds are represented by smaller characters of や (ya), ゆ (yu), よ (yo)
instead of the regular-sized characters.

For example:

“き (Ki)” + “small ゃ (ya)” becomes “きゃ (kya).” When “ki” and “small ya”
combine, the “i” sound disappears and it changes into the “kya” sound.
The k-line becomes きゃ (kya), きゅ (kyu), and きょ (kyo).

Similarly, it applies to other sounds as shown below.

  や段 ゆ段 よ段

きゃ キャ きゅ キュ きょ キョ
か行 kya kyu kyo

しゃ シャ しゅ シュ しょ ショ
さ行 sha shu sho

ちゃ チャ ちゅ チュ ちょ チョ
た行 cha chu cho

にゃ ニャ にゅ ニュ にょ ニョ
な行 nya nyu nyo

ひゃ ヒャ ひゅ ヒュ ひょ ヒョ
は行 hya hyu hyo

みゃ ミャ みゅ ミュ みょ ミョ
ま行 mya myu myo

りゃ リャ りゅ リュ りょ リョ
ら行 rya ryu ryo
 ぎゃ ギャ ぎゅ ギュ ぎょ ギョ
が行 gya gyu gyo

じゃ ジャ じゅ ジュ じょ ジョ
ざ行 ja ju jo

ぢゃ ヂャ ぢゅ ヂュ ぢょ ヂョ
だ行 ja ju jo

びゃ ビャ びゅ ビュ びょ ビョ
ば行 bya byu byo

ぴゃ ピャ ぴゅ ピュ ぴょ ピョ
ぱ行 pya pyu pyo

Listening to the native’s pronunciation is very effective for learning.

Please check out our YouTube channel of JapanesePod101.

2. Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid

Top

Beginners in the Japanese language often make similar pronunciation

mistakes. Japanese people may not understand you when you pronounce
words incorrectly. 

Here are the top five common mistakes in Japanese pronunciation. 

Do you recognize any? Let’s get it fixed!

1- Shortening Double Vowels

While Japanese vowel sounds pronunciation are typically easy to grasp,

this is one of the most common mistakes made by foreign learners. There
are many Japanese words which have double vowels and a lot of
beginners shorten long vowels. By shortening the double vowels, a word
can have a different meaning despite sounding similar.

For example:

Tsūki (つうき：通気) — Ventilation / Air inflation

Tsuki (つき：月) — Moon

Hāku (はあく：把握) — Grasp / Comprehend / Understand

Haku (はく：吐く) — Vomit / Puke

When you omit the sound of “u” in Tsuuki, it becomes a different word
(Tsuki) with a different meaning. There are many words that sound
almost alike in Japanese like these, but be careful not to shorten vowels! 

2- Not Pronouncing Vowels after Consonants,

Especially for “Imported” Words

There are tons of “imported” words, or 外来語 (Gairaigo), in Japanese

which are originally from foreign words, especially English. Although the
sounds of these words are similar to the original ones, they became
“Japanese” words and are pronounced in the Japanese way. If you
pronounce them like they sound in English, most Japanese people
unfortunately won’t understand you! 

For example, check out this Japanese pronunciation list:

 hamu (ハム) — ham
 konpyūtā (コンピューター) — computer
 resutoran (レストラン) — restaurant
 koppu (コップ) — cup
 aisukurīmu (アイスクリーム) — icecream
  terebi (テレビ) — TV
 basukettobōru (バスケットボール) — basketball
 kurejitto kādo (クレジットカード) — credit card

In order to pronounce them correctly in Japanese, check how they’re

spelled and listen carefully to how Japanese people pronounce them. Keep
in mind that each Japanese sound is always “consonants + vowels,”
except for ん (n).

3- Pronouncing Syllables too Strongly

If you’re a native English speaker, it’s natural to stress syllables in a

word. But it’s not the case in Japanese! Each syllable has the same length
and strength in Japanese, and a word sounds flat without stressed parts.

For example:

 The word “hamburger” is /ˈhæmˌbɜː(r)ɡə(r)/

 In English, “ha” is stressed and pronounced strongly.

 In Japanese, however, it’s pronounced “han-bā-gā,” with equal
stress on all syllables.

 Japanese 3-Hiragana-name, such as Mariko, Naomi, Kaori, Takashi,

Tomoki, Yutaka., etc.

 When native English speakers call Japanese 3-Hiragana-name, they

tend to stress the latter syllables too strongly. 
 In case of “Mariko,” ri is often stressed too strongly: “mah-REEEE-
koh,” although it’s just “Ma-ri-ko” in Japanese, without stressing
any particular syllable. 

4- Japanese “R” is not English “R”

This might be very difficult and confusing for native English speakers (or
native alphabet users). 

In Japanese, the “R” sound in ら (ra), り (ri), る (ru), れ (re), ろ (ro), which
compose the r-line in the Hiragana Chart, is not exactly the same as the
English “R” sound. It actually sounds like something between the “R” and
the “L” sound.

As the Japanese language doesn’t use Roman Alphabet, it’s hard to

express “ら、り、る、れ、ろ” precisely in alphabet. However, alphabet “R”
is commonly used to express “ら、り、る、れ、ろ” sounds nowadays,
although it doesn’t represent the sound accurately.

Here are some tips for pronouncing “R” in ら (ra), り (ri), る (ru), れ (re),
ろ (ro) in Japanese:

1) DO NOT ROLL your tongue for “R!” 

Native English speakers tend to “roll” their tongue strongly when they
pronounce “R” = “aarrrrr,” so that it sounds like it’s coming from deep in
your throat. However, don’t roll your tongue with the Japanese “R”
sound. 

2) Pronounce “L” instead of “R.”

It sounds more similar to native Japanese pronunciation when you replace

“R” with “L” in words.

Examples:

 Ringo (りんご) — Apple → “Lingo”

 Roku (ろく・6) — Six → “Loku”
 Rainen (らいねん・来年) — Next year → “Lainen”
 Rikai (りかい・理解) — Comprehension → “Likai”
5- Pronouncing the Little っ (Tsu) Incorrectly

This is probably one of the most difficult words to pronounce in Japanese

for foreigners.

The small っ (tsu) , or 促音 (Sokuon), represents that the following

consonant is a double consonant (except when the following consonant is
“ch”). It denotes the gemination of the initial consonant of the kana that
follows it.

Examples:

 Matte (まって・待って) — Wait → the sokuon represented by the

doubled t consonant.
 Kippu (きっぷ・切符) — Ticket → the sokuon represented by the
doubled p consonant.
 Gakkō (がっこう・学校) — School → the sokuon represented by the
doubled k consonant.
 Shippai (しっぱい・失敗) — Failure → the sokuon represented by the
doubled p consonant.

Many beginners don’t pronounce the small っ (tsu), or the sokuon with the

doubled consonant, correctly 

and tend to omit one consonant of the pair. For example, まって (matte)
→ まて (mate). This can change the meaning of a word, or cause it to not
make sense.

Make sure you know the spelling of these words and how Japanese people
pronounce them. 

Knowing the correct spelling and how to read them helps you understand
how to pronounce properly.
3. Vowel Sounds
Top

1- Only 5 Japanese Vowels

Japanese pronunciation is far simpler than English pronunciation! 

Japanese has only five vowels and these are terse vowels, pronounced
clearly and sharply. Each letter almost always represents one single vowel
sound. This makes Japanese vowel sounds pronunciation pretty simple to
learn.

While English also has five vowels, they’re each pronounced differently
when used in different combinations with other letters, bringing the total
number of different vowel sounds up to around 20. In this respect,
English vowel sounds cover all the Japanese vowel sounds.

Compared to English, Japanese vowels have only five basic sounds and
they won’t change. Thus, they’re easy to learn!

あ い う え お

a i u e o

These five vowels are the first five “letters” of the syllabary (look at “a-
line” in the Hiragana Chart in section 1). These are the most basic
Hiragana and sounds of all.

 あ (a) represents the sound of “a” in “father.”

 い (i) represents the sound of “ee” in “feet.”
  う(u) represents the sound of “oo” in “food.” (”u” is pronounced
with no forward movement of the lips.)
 え (e) represents the sound of “e” in “pet” (a short “e”).
 お (o) represents the sound of “o” in “on.”

Both in speaking and writing, each of these sounds is used on its own, or
in combination with consonant sounds to produce other Hiragana or
“letter.” 

For example:

Look at the k-line in the Hiragana Chart. 

The first consonant sound is a “k” sound, and by combining it with any of
the five vowel sounds, it creates the k-line Hiragana and its sounds as
follows.

か き く け こ

ka ki ku ke ko

(k + (k + (k + (k + (k +
a) i) u) e) o)

In the case of double vowels, such as 空気 (kūki)meaning “air,” the two

vowels comprise two syllables, and they’re exactly twice as long as one
vowel with equal stress. You may find that listening to the
pronunciation yourself will help you grasp this better.

4. Consonant Sounds
Top
1- 14 Japanese Consonants 

There are 14 consonants in Japanese:

 /k/
 /s/
 /t/
 /n/
 /h/
 /m/
 /y/
 /r/
 /w/
 /g/
 /z/
 /d/
 /b/
 /p/ 

If you’re a native English speaker, all of these 14 consonants should be

familiar sounds as English has more consonants ( /p/ , /ʃ/, /b/, /t/, /h/,
/d/, /ʧ/, /k/, /ʤ/, /g/, /m/, /f/, /n/, /v/, /ŋ/, /θ/, /l/, /ð/, /r/, /s/, /j/,
/z/, /w/) including these 14 Japanese consonant sounds.

When you look at the Hiragana Chart in the first section, you’ll see that
consonant sounds have the same combination pattern with the five
vowels “a, i, u, e, o” as explained above. 

Following the k-line, the s-line represents: さ (sa),し (shi), す (su), せ (se),
そ (so). 

For the second sound, it’s written and pronounced shi instead of si.

 さ し す せ そ

sa si su se so

The pattern continues after the k-line, followed

by sa, ta, na, ha, ma, ya, ra, and wa.

2- Japanese Syllables are Open

Unlike in English, all the Japanese syllables are open. This means that all
syllables end with a vowel. 

(A syllable ending with a consonant is a closed syllable. For example,

“bag,” “that,” “complain,” and “meal” are closed, and “era,” “tomato,”
“no,” and “data” are open.) 

The Japanese consonants always end with any of the five vowels, as you
can see in the Hiragana Chart. 

The only exception to this rule is ん (n).

Examples:

 mikan (みかん) — orange
 jikan (じかん・時間) — time
 hon (ほん・本) — book
 kantan (かんたん・簡単) — easy

5. How to Improve Japanese

Pronunciation
Top
1- Master the 5 Japanese Vowels

Vowels are very important in Japanese pronunciation! Here’s some advice

for Japanese pronunciation practice with vowels. 

As mentioned above, all the Japanese syllables, except for ん (n), end

with any of the five vowels: あ (a), い (i), う (u), え (e), お (o). Japanese
pronunciation and sound is always the combination of “consonants +
vowel.”

In addition, a lot of mistakes in Japanese pronunciation are associated

with vowels (see “Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid” in section 2). 

Therefore, pronouncing vowels correctly is the first step in improving

Japanese pronunciation! 

Make sure you check the spelling of a word and how it’s pronounced
before you try to say it. 

In order to master Japanese vowels, please visit Perfect Pronunciation of

the 5 Japanese Vowels to watch our video and actually listen to the five
vowel sounds.

2- Listen and Speak Repeatedly! 

There’s no easy road to learning. No matter what you study and learn,
continuous and repetitive practice is always the best way to improve.
When it comes to improving pronunciation, saying the words and phrases
you’re learning out loud is essential. 

 In order to learn the right way, make sure you read (learn

spelling), write, and listen before you actually say words out loud.
 Repeat these actions as much as possible. For listening, you can use
Japanese learning materials such as CDs, audiobooks, our
website, YouTube, and so on.

 When you listen to Japanese words and phrases, pay attention to

the ups and downs, or intonation, of the language carefully, and
also to the tricky sounds you have difficulty pronouncing. 

 When you speak Japanese, try to record your pronunciation. It’s a

helpful way to detect your own pronunciation errors by recording
yourself and comparing how you pronounce with a native speaker’s
voice. 

3- Practice Conversation with Native Japanese

Speakers

Speak Japanese as much as you can, ideally with native Japanese

speakers. Try your best to listen to them; listen carefully to how they
pronounce words and how their intonation of words and phrases go up
and down when they speak. Also try to repeat and imitate them.

If you have native Japanese friends, talk with them in Japanese and ask
them for help in correcting your Japanese pronunciation. When you make
mistakes during conversations, Japanese people won’t usually correct
your pronunciation unless you ask them to do so. So simply ask your
Japanese friends for help to correct your mistakes and to practice. They’ll
be happy to help you.

If you don’t have any Japanese friends you can ask, there are many other
options for talking to Japanese people. You can find Japanese friends
through various websites and applications for making international
friends, and language exchange services. Some websites/applications
offer their services for free, but even if it costs to register for services,
there are many online services that cost much less than actual language
classes.

It’s always much more fun when you have friends to practice with! 

4- Use Anything You Can Find to Shadow and Mimic

Thanks to modern technology and the internet, there are various free
resources you can find easily. Whether it’s music, a TV program, a movie,
or an audio book, use it repeatedly to practice Japanese pronunciation. 

The fastest way to start speaking like Japanese people is to mimic

everything that native Japanese do. Copy and imitate Japanese
pronunciation and intonation from whatever is available!

For example:

 Read and listen to lyrics carefully first, and then sing along to your
favorite Japanese songs in Japanese.

 Repeat lines from movies or TV shows and say entire phrases out
loud to practice the rhythm of Japanese pronunciation and
intonation.

 Watch YouTube, TED Talks, and so on, in Japanese with the

Japanese subtitles. Do this repeatedly, and shadow a native
Japanese speaker to practice your pronunciation.

 Listen to audiobooks, and shadow and mimic a Japanese speaker in

order to sound and look identical to them.

Watching videos makes it easier to learn how to pronounce Japanese

correctly with both visual and sound effective support. 
6. Hard Words to Pronounce & How to
Overcome
Top

When it comes to some Japanese words, pronunciation can be a struggle.

Some Japanese sounds are difficult for foreign people to pronounce. 

As mentioned above in “Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid,” the r-line ら (ra), り

(ri), る (ru), れ (re), ろ (ro), is one of the most difficult Japanese sounds
for foreigners to pronounce correctly.

In addition to the r-line, the short compound syllables of the “small ya-
line” combinations are also very hard to pronounce. Even Japanese people
bite their tongues sometimes when it comes to saying words which
contain the short compound syllables, such as:

 りゃ (rya), りゅ (ryu), りょ (ryo)

 きゃ (kya), きゅ (kyu), きょ (kyo)
 にゃ (nya), にゅ (nyu), にょ (nyo)
 ぴゃ (pya), ぴゅ (pyu), ぴょ (pyo)

Here’s a list of difficult words to pronounce. Please feel free to listen to

each word’s pronunciation as well. Each syllable is indicated and divided
with “-” below.

1. Te-n-i-n (てんいん・店員) — staff/clerk

This word isn’t English “ten” and “in.” Try to say each syllable clearly.

1. Shu-tsu-ryo-ku (しゅつりょく・出力) — output power

You could tangle your tongue when you say this word. Speak slowly and
pronounce each syllable clearly. 
 1. Ryo-u-ri (りょうり・料理) — cuisine

The “o” has a long sound and “u” isn’t really pronounced. 

1. Chū-sha-jō (ちゅうしゃじょう・駐車場) — parking lot

The “u” and “o” in bold have a long sound and the following “u” is
pronounced slightly.

1. Ryo-kō (りょこう・旅行) — traveling

The “o” in bold has a long sound and the “u” isn’t really pronounced. 

1. Be-n-ri (べんり・便利) — convenient

It’s easier to say “li” instead of “ri” to pronounce this word. Please
remember that the Japanese “R” sound isn’t the same as the English “R”
sound, and you don’t roll your tongue. Japanese “R” is a sound
somewhere between “R” and “L.”

1. Shi-n-rya-ku (しんりゃく・侵略) — invasion 

 In order to pronounce this correctly, speak slowly and pronounce each
syllable clearly.

7. Why is Correct Pronunciation in

Japanese Important?
Top

Proper pronunciation is important, very important. Some say it’s even

more important than getting the grammar perfectly correct! Why would
this be?

1) Good Understanding 
If communicating with native speakers matters to you when learning
Japanese, you need to be understood when you talk, and you need to be
able to understand the native speakers. After all, without understanding,
the purpose of language is null and void! In order to be understood, you
need to be able to speak the language in a way that is familiar to native
speakers, or at least recognizable by them. 

When learning to speak a new language, you will learn that the more you
progress the more intricate it becomes! For instance, almost every
language has vocabulary that may look the same in writing, but because
the words are pronounced differently, they have very different meanings.
This means that you may say a word in Japanese, and because of a slight
change in pronunciation, the meaning of the word changes completely.
Understandably, this can make for pretty embarrassing situations! At
worst, your mispronounced Japanese will sound garbled to a native
speaker. 

Knowing the nuances of how a word or letter is pronounced will also help
you to understand spoken Japanese better.

No worries if this feels hard; you’re learning, and with our help at
JapanesePod101, you will not have a problem with mispronunciation if
you follow our advice and examples carefully.

2) Good Communication 

Not pronouncing Japanese or any other language correctly can lead to a

lot of frustration because you’re unable to express what you mean, and
you will not be understood correctly. Even if you have total knowledge of
Japanese grammar, and can write it like a native, not knowing how to
speak it properly will only make for very frustrating communication all
around.

3) A Good Impression 
Even if you’re only a beginner, it is possible to speak any language
correctly. This way, you are bound to make a good impression on native
speakers, and when you’re more fluent, you will be likely to garner a lot
more respect than a fumbling newbie speaker who doesn’t care much for
correct pronunciation. 

People often have a lot of patience for someone who learns to speak a
new language, but native speakers are more likely to address you and
engage with you in conversation if you work hard on your accent. This is
simply because you’ll be able to understand one another! So, proficiency
in pronunciation can mean the difference between having none or plenty
of Japanese speaking friends. It will also serve you well in the workplace,
and make you popular with your Japanese speaking managers and
employers or employees.

Learning to speak Japanese properly is also a sign of respect for not only
the language, but also the native speakers and their customs. 

8. Secrets to Learning the Correct

Japanese Pronunciation
Top

1) Use voice recording tools to perfect your

pronunciation

JapanesePod101 has plenty of resources to help you with your Japanese

pronunciation, so be sure to make thorough use of our recordings with
native Japanese speakers. These are available not only to demonstrate to
you how you should pronounce Japanese vocabulary, but also sentences
and dialogues. Watch and listen to these over and over again to train your
ear, and watch the teacher’s mouth as she speaks in the video lessons.
Then, copy the speech as best you can. Later, you can record yourself to
hear if you sound like a native speaker and compare yourself with native
speakers. Great for self-motivation.

2) Practice in front of the mirror.

And see that you’re copying the correct lip and mouth movements.

3) Use our JapanesePod101 dictionary!

Use the Japanese dictionary provided by JapanesePod101 to look up

words and listen to the audio pronunciation. This will go a long way
towards giving you an idea of how to pronounce a word or letter correctly.

4) Train your ear to the language!

Make an effort to listen often to Japanese music and recorded books, and
watch plenty of Japanese movies and/or TV shows in Japanese. This will
train your ear to the language, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you
pick up the accent. Remember, this is the way we learned to speak when
we were young - mostly by listening to the adults talking, and repeating
what they say!

5) Practice, practice, practice… 

Repetition of the same thing may be boring, but in learning a new

language, you’re creating new pathways in your brain. For these to
remain and become habitual, you will need to repeat the correct
pronunciation often.

6) Make friends with a native Japanese speaker.

Don’t be shy to address them in Japanese! Ask them to correct you when
you make a pronunciation mistake - this is a wonderful way to practice
and learn the language first-hand, and also to make new friends.
7) Practice your pronunciation with your Japanese
teacher!

If you’re a serious student and don’t know where to meet native Japanese
speakers, consider investing in JapanesePod101’s Premium PLUS plan.
This means you will have your own native Japanese teacher available to
practice your pronunciation with, and much more! Send recordings of
yourself speaking Japanese and get feedback from your Japanese teacher.