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The language problem is due to how they teach English pronunciation. They teach English pronunciation using katakana, which are a Japanese syllabari, using their pronunciation. They lack several sounds in Japanese that we use in English, for instance: /f/, /v/, theta, the vocal theta, /r/, /l/ and any diphthongs that we use in English. We also lack some of the sounds that the Japanese use in their language, such as tsu, ra, ri, ru, re, or, fu, and all of the vowel portions of the syllables. So, we have an accent when we speak Japanese, too.
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I love how you gave a balanced view of the pluses and gaps of both English and Japanese
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Different languages are different. There are a lot of sounds that make up languages, but one language never uses them all, AFAIK. For me to learn one foreign language, I had to walk around the school saying the sounds that weren’t in my language. It took hours and hours to get them right. It also took a lot of feedback. Since I do not really have an ear for the tune of a language, I still have troubles, no matter how good my pronunciation is. You know you are having language problems when someone whose language you are speaking looks at you like you are speaking blather and doesn’t understand at all.
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