Counting Lesson

LESSON: COUNTING
Please practice the following:

  1. Ichi means one. (一)
  • The “i” sounds like “ea” in “each” and the “chee” is like “cheek.”
    • When spoken quickly, the “ee” part is not or barely pronounced and the whole word sounds like “each.”
  1. Ni means two.　(二)
    • It sounds like “knee.”
  2. San means three.　(三)
    • It sounds like “sahn.”
  3. Shi means four.　(四)
    • It sounds just like “she.”
    • It can alternately be pronounced “yon” (sounds like “yohn”, not like “yawn”).
  4. Go means five.　(五)
    • English speakers have a tendency to say the word “go” as if it were spelled “gohw”. When you say “go” in Japanese, you need to leave your mouth rounded when you’re done to prevent slipping towards a “w” sound.
  1. Roku means six.　(六)
    • The R is pronounced like a cross between R and L, so when you say it it should sound similar to “loh-koo.” But an English R is pronounced at the center of the tongue, and an English L is pronounced about a quarter of an inch from the tip of the tongue, but the Japanese R is pronounced using only the very tip of the tongue.
  2. Shichi means seven.　(七)
    • Sounds like “she-chee”, with a hint of tch on the “chee.”
    • It can also be pronounced “nana” (the As are pronounced “ah”).
  3. Hachi means eight.　(八)
    • It sounds like “ha!” then “tchee.”
  4. Kyuu means nine.　(九)
    • It sounds like the letter “q.” Similarly to “go,” English speakers tend to pronounce it as “kyoow” – make sure to keep your mouth rounded on the “oo” sound and don’t slip towards “w”.
  5. Juu means ten.  (十)
  • It’s pronounced “joo”, with a teensy-tiny bit of zh on the j.

Once you have this under your obi (belt) you should be fine to help Sensei count in class.