Pronunciation Challenge

みなさん、こんにちは！

あっという間（ま）に2月ですね。

2月は節分（せつぶん）がありました。

節分のその後を、こちらにあげたので、ぜひ見（み）てみてください。

https://www.speakjapanesenaturally.com/forum/weekly-update/after-setsubun

Now setsubun ended, it's time for a new challenge!

This time, I challenge you to pronounce a difficult word: アレルギー!! 😄

How to Participate:

Choose either the beginner, intermediate, advanced, or proficient level, record it, and upload it on the Forum as a reply to the announcement. Please read through the points and practice with a guide audio file and a PDF for pitch accent and intonation.

The deadline is Saturday, February 22nd, at 11:00 PM. JST.

Feedback: I will provide feedback via video on Friday, February 28th on the Forum.

Sentences to Read: Here are the sentences you’ll read. Please choose one, record, and upload it. I added points for you to be careful with, but if there are any other points you want me to check, please let me know.

【Beginner　初級（しょきゅう）】

たべもののアレルギーはありますか？

（Do you have any food allergies?）

Points:

・The pitch accent of たべもの. People often say も with a high pitch, but it should be low.

・The pronunciation and pitch accent of アレルギー. The レ and ル each have one mora. Also, it's not an Atamadaka word.

＊The katakana word アレルギー comes from German. So it sounds quite different from English.

【Intermediate　中級（ちゅうきゅう）】

①　わたしは（　　　　　　）にアレルギーがあるので、（　　　　）はたべられません。

②　わたしはたべもののアレルギーはないので、なんでもたべられます。

（①I'm allergic to 〜, so I can't eat it. 　②I don't have any food allergies, so I can eat anything.）

＊If you have any food allergies, please choose 1 and say the food you can't eat. If you don't have any allergies, please choose 2.

Points:

・The pitch accent of たべもの. People often say も with a high pitch, but it should be low.

・The pronunciation and pitch accent of アレルギー. The レ and ル each have one mora. Also, it's not an Atamadaka word.

・The pronunciation and pitch accent of たべられません／たべられます. When you say れ after ら in たべられます／ません, you only move your tongue without moving your jaw.

＊The katakana word アレルギー comes from German, so it sounds quite different from English.

【Advanced　上級（じょうきゅう）】

花粉が原因のアレルギーを花粉症といいます。日本人の50％が花粉症だといわれています。2月から4月がピークです。

（かふんがげんいんのアレルギーをかふんしょうといいます。にほんじんのごじゅっパーセントがかふんしょうだといわれています。にがつからしがつがピークです）

（An allergy caused by pollen is called kafunshō (hay fever). It is said that 50% of Japanese people have hay fever. The peak season is from February to April.）

＊A lot of Japanese people have seasonal allergies. So it's a good conversation topic!

Points:

・The pitch accent of かふんしょう. Don't drop the pitch.

・The pronunciation and pitch accent of アレルギー. The レ and ル each have one mor. And it's not Atamadaka.

・The pronunciation and pitch accent of ごじゅっパーセント. Its pitch drops on ン.

＊You can pronounce げんいん as げいいん.

＊The katakana word アレルギー comes from German, so it sounds quite different from English.

【Proficient】

読みたいもの、言いたいことを３〜５文で録音してください。

自分のよく使う表現を練習してもいいかもしれません。

Please record in 3 to 5 sentences what you want to read or say. It might be a good idea to practice expressions you commonly use.

みなさんのチャレンジ、お待（ま）ちしてます！！

I can't wait to hear your recordings!

Fumi