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Guide • Pronunciation

Long vowels matter: small pronunciation changes that get you understood

I once asked for a building and got a blank stare. I meant beer. The only difference was the vowel length.

Japanese uses vowel length to change meaning. Your ear and your mouth both need to learn it.

TL;DR: Listen for length, clap it, then say the word with the right timing.

What to do today: Practice two minimal pairs and use one in a full sentence.

Why length matters

In Japanese, short and long vowels are different sounds. Change the length and you change the word. That is why small pronunciation slips can cause confusion.

Listening training helps. When you can hear the difference, speaking becomes much easier. High variability practice also helps because you hear many voices and accents.

The tricky one: おう (usually a long O sound)

A common beginner trap is reading おう like two separate vowels (“o” then “u”). In most everyday words, おう is just a long “o” sound. It is one stretched vowel.

This is why kana can look misleading at first. どうぞ is written with two characters, but it is not two separate vowel hits. It is one long vowel plus the rest of the word.

You will see it a lot in polite Japanese and in basic words like “today” and “Tokyo”. If you can hear and say this length cleanly, your Japanese sounds clearer fast.

Today

Sounds like a long O at the end. Hold the last vowel slightly.

Here you go

Common in shops and restaurants. The first vowel is long.

That’s right

You will hear this constantly. The そう is a long O.

Tokyo

Written with とう and きょう. Both have the long O sound.

Quick test: clap the rhythm. For そう, you should feel two beats on the last vowel.

The 5 minute sound loop

  1. Pick two pairs. Short vs long vowels.
  2. Listen and clap. One clap for short, two for long.
  3. Say the pair. Record yourself once.
  4. Use one sentence. Real life or a Scenario drill.

Minimal pairs in real sentences

One beer, please.

Long vowel. Two beats on “bii”.

Where is the building?

Short vowel. One beat on “bi”.

I met my aunt.

Short vowel, just one “a”.

I met my grandmother.

Long vowel. Stretch the “aa” in the middle.

Audio: Beer vs building (long vowel practice)

Audio: Aunt vs grandmother (long vowel practice)

The takeaway

The goal is not sounding perfect. It is being understood on the first try. Vowel length is one of the highest leverage fixes.

  • Hear it. In the audio, listen for one beat vs two beats.
  • Mark it. Clap once for short, twice for long.
  • Say it. Record one take and compare.
  • Watch for おう. In most common words, it is a long O sound, not “o” plus “u”.
  • Use it. Put one sentence into a real order or a Scenario drill.

Related guides to practise with

Sources

If you want short audio to practice daily

TabiTalk gives you short lines you can repeat with audio before you speak in real life. You can try it on iOS or Android.