Long Vowels
長母音
先日テレビを見ていたら、漢字の読み仮名をタイプ入力する漢字ゲームにデーブ・スペクターさんが出ていました。彼の日本語力に興味があったので、楽しみにして見ていました。スペクターさんへの1問目は「妥協」。これなら簡単と思いきや、彼は読み仮名を「だきょ」と入力してしまいました。当然不正解なのですが、困ったことに本人はどこが間違っているのかが全く分かりません。しばらく「なんで？」と首を傾げていましたが、正解を目で見て初めて納得したようでした。
あのデーブ・スペクターさんさえ間違えた長母音。日本語学習者には相当手ごわいようです。しかも本人が気付いていないのが面倒なところ。私の夫も、昔は、知っている単語をパソコンで打ってもうまく変換できないことが多かったようです（今も少し・・・）。
「友だちと一緒（いっしょ）に旅行（りょこう）に行った」が、「友だちと一生（いっしょう）に良子（りょうこ）にいった」になってしまうなど、会話では自然に話せているようでも、書くとボロが出てしまうのです。母音だけの話ではありませんが、皆さんもこのような経験はありませんか。
長母音と短母音の発音があいまいだと、日本語も自然に聞こえません。逆に言うと、言葉を正しく覚えて長母音と短母音をマスターすれば自然な日本語に一歩近づけます。
「どうもありがとう」が「ドモアリガト」にならないように、「おはようございます」が「オハヨゴザイマス」にならないように、母音は正しく覚えましょう。
******************************
先日（せんじつ）：the other day
読み仮名（よみがな）：yomigana
入力する（にゅうりょくする）：to enter
興味（きょうみ）：interest
1問目（いちもんめ）：first question
妥協（だきょう）：compromise
～と思いきや（おもいきや）：contrary to expectation
当然（とうぜん）：naturally
不正解（ふせいかい）：not correct
困ったことに（こまったことに）：The trouble is that
本人（ほんにん）：said person
全く（まったく）：(not) at all
しばらく：for a while
首を傾げる（くびをかしげる）：to tilt one’s head to one side
納得する（なっとくする）：to fully understand
～さえ：even
長母音（ちょうぼいん）：long vowel
相当（そうとう）：quite a bit
手ごわい（てごわい）：hard to deal with
しかも：and that
面倒（めんどう）：bother
変換する（へんかんする）：to convert
昔（むかし）：long time ago
ボロが出る：weak point or failing becomes visible
経験（けいけん）：experience
あいまい：ambiguous
逆（ぎゃく）：reverse
一歩（いっぽ）：one step
Download audio here.
Alex Said,
July 7, 2006 @ 11:53 pm
英語で長母音と短母音がありませんから、私もその所が難しいと思います。本人の母語と関係ありますね。韓国人の難しいところは「てんてん」ですね。例えば、「不思議」は「ふじき」になる可能性があります。
別の話何ですけど、「読み仮名」と「ふりがな」、何が違いますか。
Travis Said,
July 14, 2006 @ 12:41 pm
Thanks for your hard work. This is a great resource!
Ben Said,
July 26, 2006 @ 11:19 am
この読み物を書いてくれてありがとうございます。長母音は特に難しいと思います。英語では長母音があるけどあまり聞こえないです。今からもっと頑張ります。
Edhuan Said,
July 29, 2006 @ 4:00 am
First of all, forgive me if this is the wrong place to put this question that I’m about to ask.
関係ないのですが、「わけ」という言葉があまりわからないから、よろしければ、教えて頂けませんか。使い方とか、いつ使ってもいいとか、そんなことが知りたいです。
よろしくおねがいします。
Thanks for making this excellent site. Keep it going!
JC Said,
August 11, 2006 @ 3:47 pm
This and its sister site, speedanki, are two of the best resources for intermediate learners that I have used. The content and presentation are ultra professional and they are clearly by professionals. Thank you and please continue both.
Following the fine discussion above on “long vowels,” could you please also write about “double consonants”–also known as the dreaded “chisai tsu”?
To guild the lillies, here are some minor suggestions:
1. For njuku, could you please add more space (e.g. 1.5 or double) between lines, especially for long passages of Japanese text? This would make the text (especially the Kanji) easier to read and annotate in a printout for those less than optimal train/commute study conditions.
2. For speedanki, could you please add keyboard commands, e.g., F1 key to flip, etc. This would make it easier for those of us who suffer from a sore right wrist and in danger of crippling the left wrist as well.
Again, thanks!
Filipe Serrano Said,
August 12, 2006 @ 3:31 am
Hello,
I work for the Brazilian newspaper “O Estado de S.Paulo”. I’m writing about learning languages with podcasts. I would like to make some questions to you about it. Would you mind answering me?
Also, I’m trying to find people who listen to podcasts like yours. Do you have any contact with your listeners? Maybe anyone from Brazil?
Best regards,
Filipe.
Ron Campbell Said,
September 16, 2006 @ 7:28 pm
Just discovered your site. Thank you for this work! Look forward to more recordings in the future…
My wife (who’s Japanese) and I would be willing to make some entries for the site if you’d like.
Thanks again
弾 Said,
September 27, 2006 @ 4:45 am
面白かった話だよ。この日記はいつもどおりにすばらしい。
I’m really surprised to hear that Dave Spector messed up on such a minor question. Is he really “Japan’s Best Known American,” or is it merely a title he gave himself? If he really is, then us gaijins need to work harder to master Japanese.
俺も長母音と短母音の違うところを勉強しなくちゃ。
Lynn Said,
October 6, 2006 @ 1:43 am
I came to know about Nihongo-Juku in Podcasts. It is very helpful to my learning of Japanese language. Thank you…and I hope Nihongo-Juku will be sustained for good.
PA Said,
October 15, 2006 @ 7:21 pm
I can’t believe I just found this site! It’s just perfect for my Japanese study – I’d pay to study on this site, no problemo
Is it still functioning?
Peter Said,
October 21, 2006 @ 8:54 pm
とても面白くて、いい勉強になるポッドキャストです。このポッドキャストを作った皆様に心から感謝しております。ところで、続きはあるでしょうか？できれば、是非とも続けていただきたいものです。
andycjw Said,
November 16, 2006 @ 12:33 am
this blog is very nice, why it is discontinued?
this last post was quite a while ago, it’s november now
more than 4 months there wasn’t any update here
hope the owner can see this and reply….
Mike Said,
November 30, 2006 @ 1:34 pm
I just wanted to compliment you on an excellent web site. I’ve been taking evening classes to learn Japanese for a few years now, but my listening skills aren’t nearly as good as my written skills. I came across your website and I’m very excited to have it as a new practice resource. In particular, I like the way that you’ve included the transcription of the dialogue along with a vocab list. This is a very effective way for me to reinforce my learning since I’m a visual learner. Thanks for your efforts and keep up the good work!
Mike
Gavin Said,
January 13, 2007 @ 4:11 pm
あははは。それ、ネップリーグだったでしょ！ぼくも見たのを今、思い出した！
なぜかぼくはそういった問題がないけど、確かに外国人の間には長母音を意識せずにいる方が多いようですね。ぼくは、理由はローマ字だというのは考えられると思う。
デーブさんのように、海外で日本語を手に入れる外国人はまずローマ字で日本語の言葉を覚えるのが当然です。日本の文、字の種類がありすぎて難しいと生徒も日本語の先生も思い込み、取りあえずローマ字で日本語を覚えてから漢字を勉強するのが良いでしょうと、ぼくはちょっと納得できない考え方をする。
一方、日本には英語をカタカナで覚えるのはまだまだ当り前なこととは言えるでしょう。これはまた同じような問題だと思う。英語は英語のままで頭に焼き付け、より身近なものにするべきだ。日本語も日本語のまま（平仮名、片仮名、漢字）一日めから覚えた方がいいでしょうか。
といっても、教育はそんな簡単に変えるものじゃないけどね。
- LiveJournalから来たギャビンでした。
Tsukushi Said,
January 22, 2007 @ 8:33 pm
The site has not been updated since Summer 06… why?
REI Said,
February 5, 2007 @ 5:31 pm
watakushi wa rei tomo shi masu. do zo yoroshiku
betonamu kara.
arigato gozaimasu
Mark Said,
February 6, 2007 @ 6:19 pm
このブログが大好きですよ。更新しませんか？
ジャレ男 Said,
March 4, 2007 @ 10:36 am
次回アップデートされるのをとても心待ちにしています！
nagai baku Said,
March 6, 2007 @ 9:17 am
this site is great, it’s very helpful – but who’s doing it and why stop?
best regards
Baku Nagai
Daryl Said,
April 12, 2007 @ 8:18 am
hi, I’ve been listening to past posts thinking, this is the perfect site for me and for my Japanese level.
Will you continue to post more? ::hoping::
kodafox Said,
April 17, 2007 @ 6:46 am
すごく分かります。長母音をちゃんと聞き取れるようになるまでは、何年間がかかっちゃいましたね。でもなんとか、できるようになってきたと思います。もちろん、まだ間違いもするけど。
ところで、今日、このサイトを発見したばかりです。すごく役に立ちますよ。中級レバルの人向きの日本語のサイトはかなり少ないからです。最近新しいブログをのせていないようですね。忙しいでしょうかね。とりあえず、今までのせたブログで楽しんで、勉強になってます。ありがとうございます。
ジェイク
Cheuk Fung Said,
June 10, 2007 @ 2:17 am
Dear Nihongo Juku,
I have visited your blog and feel that it is very useful for Japanese learners who wish to have access to learning materials outside their textbooks.
We are a group of students from Singapore. Many of us are leaning languages, and we are building an online portal where language learners can learn more about the language outside classrooms. We provide various resources to make language learning more interesting and efficient. We also give advices and tips on language learning as many students might be enthusiastic but have little idea of all the resources and methods available.
This is a voluntary project and all of us are volunteers who wish to make a different in language learning for ourselves and others. As you are also a language educator with a wonderful website/ blog, we would like introduce your website/ blog to our readers by publishing an extract from your website/ blog on our online portal. Credits will be duly given.
We hope that you can grant us the permission so that more students can benefit from your website/ blog. If you have the interest, we would also like to welcome you to work with us as a language consultant answering readers’ queries.
Thank you.
Yours truly,
Cheuk Fung
http://languagebuffet.blogspot.com
http://sashimibuffet.blogspot.com
languagebuffet@gmail.com
rick Said,
June 27, 2007 @ 6:57 pm
this site is so cool. are you stopped completely? will you resume updates in the future? i hope so!
クリス Said,
July 4, 2007 @ 12:25 pm
とてもいいブログですね。私みたいな日本語学習者にとても役に立てます。内容も面白いです。最新アップデートからほぼ１年経ったんですけどこのブログを続けたら嬉しいです。
Tom Hodgers Said,
July 23, 2007 @ 7:41 am
Hi Admin,
It has now been more than a year since your last blog entry.
Any chance of upcoming entries?
It would be a pity to loose such a great blogpage.
Tom
Baptiste Said,
August 4, 2007 @ 11:48 pm
Yeah, that’s right. The concept of this blog is awesome, and it’s really well done. Thank you so much, I will work during one year with these texts as I will go back in my country (France) for a last year until graduation, then come back to Japan.
but really, thank you !
Ro Said,
August 8, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
こんにちは、
私もこのサイトがとても好きでありがたいという感じです。
Mairo Said,
August 28, 2007 @ 12:35 pm
Hi Admin,
this blog is great, but there are no new posts!
Where are you admin, keep your blog, it is great for japanese language students!
ch Said,
September 18, 2007 @ 4:55 am
excellent blog!
it would be a shame if it were to be abandoned though.. i hope the admin continues blogging here again ^_^
antonxie Said,
October 12, 2007 @ 9:59 am
adminさんへ
青空文庫は結構面白いと思いますので。
その中の夏目礎石の作品を読んでもらったら有難いんです。
よろしくお願いします。
日本語学習者
Rhiannon Said,
October 25, 2007 @ 8:51 pm
yes- more please! i love your blogpage- i haven’t found anything else like it.
Thuy Said,
November 12, 2007 @ 7:02 am
Hi, I have downloaded all articles here and I want to say thank you.
That’s great help to me, and I believe many other 日本語学習者.
Please keep going
ほんとうに 感謝しました。
Thuy
ベトナムから
Ｊｉｍ Said,
November 21, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
最近ぜんぜんアップデートをされていなくて、本当に残念っすね。
ダニエル Said,
December 9, 2007 @ 10:59 pm
どうしてブログをやめたのですか。
これは最もいい日本語のPodcastなのに。。。
戻って下さい！
お願いします
Jamie MacG Said,
January 11, 2008 @ 6:10 pm
Yea man, I’m with Tom this website is great if possible you should do some more work for it !
Thanks -
Jamie.
Jared Palmer Said,
April 24, 2008 @ 12:44 pm
I agree, it’s been a very long time since the last update, and this website is absolutely wonderful. I’ve recommended it to all my friends for language practive; however, I’m worred that one day it’ll just dissapear. I hope you plan to continue this site again someday soon.
Daniel Said,
April 24, 2008 @ 9:11 pm
I agree, your site has such a wealth of useful exercises. I hope it at least stays archived online. Thanks!
Ron Wendt Said,
May 6, 2008 @ 10:37 am
I second that. I really appreciate all the work you’ve done. I hope we’ll see more some day.
Tim Johnson Said,
June 18, 2008 @ 9:48 am
Yet another year passes with no more blog entries.. I just found this page, and it’s been very helpful. A great learning method for studying on the lunch break.
If you get inspired again, we’ll be waiting
Andres Jimenez Said,
July 17, 2008 @ 1:46 am
I am coming off a forum recommendation, and sure this site is a gem!
The material in here is truly valuable for me, thank you for sharing it.
Please continue with the blog, honestly it is quality work.
Cheers,
Andres
Vili Said,
August 24, 2008 @ 6:06 am
Hi,
I’ve been using Speedanki for a couple of years now, and I think it’s a great little tool. I’m a bit concerned, though, that as the maintainers of the site no longer seem to be around, the site will simply disappear one day. Thus I decided to try to contact you like this. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to consider the following questions:
1) What are your future plans for Speedanki? Will it continue to exist? Will it be improved?
2) Would it be possible to get my data (what words I know) out of the system in some convenient format?
3) Would you be interested in handing over the maintenance of the site under some arrangement?
As I suspect this comment may not reach you, I hope you will forgive me for also trying to contact you through the Speedanki forum as well as the email address in your whois record.
Yours sincerely,
– Vili
Jack Said,
August 29, 2008 @ 12:18 am
Hi, just thought I should say Ive been reading this blog from time to time and find I get a lot out of it. Many thanks.
Corey Said,
January 25, 2009 @ 1:30 am
I agree, this site is great!
Niqui Said,
March 14, 2009 @ 2:37 am
WOW,
this blog is amazing!!!!!!!!!
Said,
August 21, 2009 @ 4:32 am
こんにちわ
四半年間ぐらい日本語勉強しています。
今まで日本語を感じることはすごく難しかったです。
凄い資源のこのポッドキャストありがとうございます。
もとポッドキャストお願いします
エリン