Japanese pronunciation words

[pandaGIRL]

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone has any helpful websites ,videos, or book to pronounce the basic karate words used in dojos, and get some history behind them.

Thank you

[Wastelander]

I'm not aware of any pronunciation guides for karate, specifically, but you can find lists of terminology pretty easily, and then use Google Translate or Jisho.org to look up the words and listen to how the words are pronounced there.

[sensei8]

What about Babble?? Their TV commercials appear a solid choice for those who want to learn many languages, including Japanese.

The pronunciation of the words in Japanese aren’t cut dry. A Japanese word can mean so many other things depending on how said word is spoken…with the emphasis of how said word is spoken changes the words meant.

[Chuck]

On 1/12/2025 at 11:32 AM, pandaGIRL said:

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone has any helpful websites ,videos, or book to pronounce the basic karate words used in dojos, and get some history behind them.

Thank you

check out this karate terms and Kanji manual, the basic vowel sounds for A, I , U, E, O and Kana are presented very well:  

https://seitouryukarate.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/GoJu-Ryu-Karate-Terms-and-Kanji.pdf

It goes over Goju Ryu terms, but many karate style use the same terms.

Edited Wednesday at 11:51 PM by Chuck

[pandaGIRL]

20 hours ago, Chuck said:

check out this karate terms and Kanji manual, the basic vowel sounds for A, I , U, E, O and Kana are presented very well:  

https://seitouryukarate.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/GoJu-Ryu-Karate-Terms-and-Kanji.pdf

It goes over Goju Ryu terms, but many karate style use the same terms.

Thank you so much! that's very helpful. 

[Chuck]

2 hours ago, pandaGIRL said:

Thank you so much! that's very helpful. 

You're welcome!!!

BTW, the pronunciation guide of the manual on pages 3 to 6 is how I was taught when I took Japanese in college 37 years ago (wow that is so long ago, LOL!!!)

Edited Thursday at 11:20 PM by Chuck