Development of a supporting system on smart phones with which anybody can learn Japanese pronunciation easily anytime and anywhere

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26580097
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Japanese language education
• Research Institution: Prefectural University of Kumamoto
• Principal Investigator: Baba Ryoji 熊本県立大学, 文学部, 教授 (30218672)
• Research Collaborator: OYAMA Hiromi Apple Japan (00590126)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 日本語支援 / スマートフォンでの発音練習 / 拍とモジュール / 進化型データベース / 日本語音声のリズムの本質 / m-learning / 学習者によりそう独習システム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The first impression of foreign people's Japanese depends on their pronunciation. We think that Tokushu-haku, devocalization of vowels and duration of the phrase's last syllable must be articulated carefully to realize the well performed Japanese language. When Tokushu-haku is pronounced not enough long, the Japanese wears some foreign accents. If you can devocalize the vowels correctly, your Japanese sounds more clearly. And if the last syllable of a phrase is pronounced longer than it should be, the phrase sounds informal and casual.
We have developed the application "Yunion" that works on smartphone and with which anyone can learn Japanese pronunciation anytime and anywhere. Listening to the model speech and recording your repetition, your mark and some advice will return to the monitor of your smartphone. Training repeatedly like singing karaoke, you can get enough long Tokushu-haku and clear Japanese pronunciation.

Free Research Field

日本語教育