Why do Japanese mix up "L" and "R"?

Herro America. Congratulations Donald Trump winning ze e(r)ections. Oh my God Jun you can't talk like that it's so racist. It's so racist. So apparently that's the stereotype how Asian people pronounce L and R sound in English But like Japanese people don't really speak like that Although we do have problems telling the difference between L and R sounds, right? Japanese has "ra ri ru re ro" as sounds which are Romanized as R's. Which is why we say ramen in English. R-A-M-E-N. But it's not actually an R. It's like halfway between an R and an L. And kind of like a D in there a little bit sometimes too. Yeah, like when we pronounce "ra re ru re ro," the tip of your tongue touches the back of your higher teeth. So higher teeth and lower teeth--your tongue touches here. So I think it's the same as L sound? Yeah. So it's pronounced more like an L but it kind of sounds closer to an R for us. So that's why when Japanese people hear the English L and R, it's hard for them to differentiate between the two because their sounds are like right in the middle. So if there's a word that Japanese people don't know, and they can tell that there's either an R or L there, then they're usually guessing whichever one they think it might be. (Because we can't tell) Which could be wrong. So, if a Japanese person is speaking English, then their R can turn into an L or their L can turn into an R. It can go either way. It's not that horrible stereotypical "Herro" accent. And Japanese people don't even do that really strong R anyway. "Herro." No, no we don't. Right? That would be like "Hello, herro." So even though Jun's English is REALLY good --he basically sounds like a native English speaker-- he still has issues with the R and L sometimes. Even though sometimes I know he knows what the word is, he says the wrong one. Like you said "diffelence" the other day. Like three days ago. I don't remember, but maybe I have. "DiffeLence." And we have a lot of cases like this. Do you know where we're going? Red Robster. Today, we're just going to test me telling the difference between L and R sounds. I'm going to read Jun's words in English and he's going to repeat them and try to guess whether they're R or L s I'm gonna fail. Ok Jun. Hai? (Yes.) If you don't get all of these correct, Hai. (Yes) I will divorce you. What? This is America - we speak english here. But we are in Japan?! [ Lovely ] Lovely. L... and L. Lovely. Squirrel. Um... Squirrel... so R and L? Squirrel? Leery. What? Leery. Ree-ly. Leery. Ree- Okay. Ree-ly. K. It's-- What does that mean? And what is it? It's you're wary of something. You're cautious about something. Okay. Leery. Piña Colada. Piña... I like piña coladas. Can you stop singing and just say the word again please. Piña colada. Piña colada. I like piña coladas. Is it L? Yeah. Okay. Drearily. Durilyly. Durilyly. Drill? Like drill? And adverb -ly? Drearily. Wait. Sounds R. How many R's does this word have. I can't tell you. This is a listening comprehension test. Drearily. Durilyly. Yes, it's perfect. Drearily. It's an R-R-L. There are three. R-R-L. What does that mean? It means drill a -ly. Good job. It means nothing. What does that mean? Rivalry. It sounds like the toshokan "library." Right. I can tell that it's different but I cannot tell how they are different. Its like the same word. Library. Rivalry. Okay. I think the first one is not L, it's R. Rivalry. No, it's not rivalry. Say it again? Rivalry. Rivalry. How many syllables does it have? I can't tell. It's the same number of syllables as library. 3? I mean 2? Rivalry? Yeah. It's 3 syllables. Good job. Allele. A-Areele It's either "Areel" or "Allele" I can't tell the difference. Allele. Allele? Areel, no. Allele. Two L's. Alright. I got a tongue twister for you. Red lorry, yellow lorry. Is it the flower? No it's like a truck. I think it's a British word for truck. Truck? Lorry. Sorry it's...hard. Alright, I just made one. Larry loyally likes Lori, and rarely revels in rivalry. Can you speak Japanese please? I don't even know if I can do this by ear. I have a sentence right here I can read. Did I say it right? First? No. Good job Jun. A+ *Crap crap crap* Oh my God. Jun you're being so racist right now. There, um, there are actually Japanese words that are really hard for us to pronounce too. We'll have to have another show down later. And then you can make fun of me for not being able to pronounce absolutely anything in katakana. I'm not making fun of you, but is it hard for you to pronounce? It's extremely--It's impossible. I can't do it. So hard. Also if you guys want more information about Japan, there are some subjects that are better suited to written format, rather than videos. So, I've started writing articles on Odigo. I'll link them down there in the description. If you want to read any of them. Right now I have one comparing the different methods of transportation in Japan. So what's cheapest, what's fastest, what's most comfortable, etc. If you wanna know, it's just written there. You don't have to listen to me talk. Just read it. Sounds right. Okay. Thank you guys for watching! We'll see you later! Bye! Oh yeah I guess we have to get divorced now. Shame. Bye. Move your mouth like this. Your lip goes up. You can't lift your lips? Make your mouth wider. No. Not a smile. No. Why can't you not--

Channel: Rachel and Jun

Views: 3,296,753

Rating: 4.9456058 out of 5

Keywords: Japan, Japanese, language, mix up, l and r, why, why do japanese mix up l and r, why can't, japanese people, say, challenge, game, yt:cc=on, rachel, jun, rachel and jun, 日本, 外国, 英語, 英会話, 発音, スピーキング, リスニング, レイチェル, ジュン, アメリカ, 日本人, 勉強, 学習

Id: F4MsJHn-lRA

Length: 7min 50sec (470 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 17 2017