In the last lesson we went over まみむめも — a simple lesson without any real gotchas. The R consonant in this lesson is simple too, but there is a pronunciation issue to think about.
RA RI RU RE RO-らりるれろ
First let’s cover how to pronounce these characters. You can tap each character to hear native pronunciation.
This consonant has a catch. The R sounds like L.
Pronouncing らりるれろ
- ら (ra) – sounds like “la”
- り (ri) – sounds like “lee”
- る (ru) – sounds like “loo”
- れ (re) – sounds like “lay”
- ろ (ro) – sounds like “low”
Look Out For る-ろ and れ-ね
る(ru) and ろ (ro) are super easy to mix up. It took me a while to get these two correct regularly. It seems backwards that ろ (ro) doesn’t have the little loop at the bottom.
れ (re) and ね (ne) — from a previous lesson — are extremely similar too. Take care to make the difference straight in your mind through whatever technique you need. Personally I think of れ as a cursive R.
Recall Practice
Time to practice! Just like in all lessons, do this as many times as it takes for you to feel like you can confidently select the correct answer without guessing.
This recall brings back なにぬねの to combine with らりるれろ. Remember, be extra careful with れ and ね.
Good job! Continue practicing until you can confidently identify each character with ease. Click the buttons below to restart the practice (challenge yourself with inverted and challenge mode).
Once this practice feels easy to you it’s time to take a long break and then move on to the next lesson.