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RE: Just Another Gaijin Studying Japanese - Lesson One
They way our instructor described the 'r' sound (which isn't exactly an 'r' sound) was as a combination of 'r' and 'l'..kind like an 'r' with a short roll...but not exactly.
The R-line sound is ludicrously difficult to describe with no sound cues. It's like trying to combine 'r', 'l', and 'd' all at the same time. But that's not enough...then you add in the Y-line for 'rya' 'ryu' and 'ryo', and you want to bang your head against a wall. In English, those combinations all come out as two-syllable sounds (like 're-ah', 're-you', and 're-yo').
In Japanese? Screw you, gaijin, those are all one syllable apiece, and you better get the r-sound, the y-sound, and the vowel sound all in that same syllable or you'll sound like a hick. LOL! :)