JAPANESE PRONUNCIATION
| A E I O U |
“ah” “eh” “ee” “oh” “oo” |
[ as the A in after ] [ as the E in met ] [ as the I in marine ] [ as the O in oh! ] [ as the U in rude ] |
NUMBERS and COUNTING
1. ichi
2. ni (nee)
3. san (sahn)
4. shi (shee) or (yon)
5. go (goh)
6. roku (low-koo)
7. shichi (shee-ch(ee) or (nana)
8. hachi (hah-chee)
9. ku (koo)
10. ju (joo)
| JAPANESE PHRASES | ||
| arigato gozaimasu | (Ah-lee-gah-toh goh-zah-ee-mahss) | Thank you |
| arigato gozaimashita | (Ah-lee-gah-toh gohh-zah-ee-mah-shee-tah) | Thank you very much for what you have done. |
| onegai shimasu | (Oh-ne-guy-ee shee-mahss) | I request your favor. Spoken when one wishes to practice with another student. for example: Would you please practice with me? |
| hajime | (Hah-jee-me) | Start |
| yame | (Yah-meh) | Stop |
| Rei | (L/R-a-y) | Bow. Gesture of respect / gratitude. |
SOME VOWELS
“ai“, like as used in “iaido”. “ai” is not pronounced just like “I” or “eye”, but rather like “ah-ee” with neither part elongated. So “iaido, would be “ee-i-do” or aikido would be “ah-ee-key-do”.
“ei“, like as used in “seishin”. Pronuncitation of “ei” is not set in stone. But “seishin would be “say-shin”.