On Thursday, I made a commitment to learn Japanese in an effort at a more immersive Yu Darvish Fanhood™ experience. I found a guide online and told myself I’d come back the next time Yu made a start.
He starts tonight.
So, I’ve begun. And today’s lesson was vowel sounds.
The Japanese language, I’m told (by The Internet™), has only five vowel sounds. And three of them are similar to ours: the “a” that sounds like “ah,” the “e” that sounds like “free,” the “e” that sounds like “let.” But two are more distinct, sounding (to my ears) like an “o” from “pool” crossed with “uh” and an “o” from “dome” crossed with “uh.”
They have symbols, too, in hiragana (one of three Japanese writing systems), but I haven’t learned how to type hiragana yet so I can’t share those with you.
Anyway, wanted everyone to know I’m making progress. The next lesson is consonants. Stay tuned.
