Late-night English lesson

"Can you give me tips on how to learn English?"
"Can you give me any advice on how to improve my English pronunciation to a native speaker level?"
I get a lot of this kind of email, so why don't we have a one-point English lesson? It's late now but it would be nice if you could keep me companyUh~huh~?

You gotta do something about your Japanese first x

Okay! o

Alright guys, let's get it started~
Today I'll give you a one-point advice on English pronunciation~

Let me go straight into the topic. I say, when you speak those words that start with "y~," it would be nice to think of them something like "(g)y~." You close the back of your throat for a second, then pronounce gyu, gya, gye, gyo, gya, opening your throat! (sorry if this is a common thing to all people)
I thought you could find this kind of thing difficult, as you don't have a chance to speak using the back of your throat in pronunciation of Japanese.


When I was 13, doing recording in NY in summer vacation ---

Some boys my age were with me as vocals, and they were all made conscious of clear pronunciation very much, which might come from the trends of American vocal coaches. So when they sing something like "you~" strong, it really sounds like "nGyu~"(lol), I mean it. You'd even think "Huh? Is that a joke? Some kind of American joke? Uh~huh~?"
They were so cute, I remember.


This is just a tiny thing, but could make a difference I think.
Well, you don't have to take (g) really like nGyu~, but you could find the right touch if you do the practice with this extreme pronunciation thing in mind, I guess?
Or you couldn't? Uh~huh~?

:ding dong ding dong:

Oh, it's the time the last train leaves!

:slam: (the sound of my shutting the textbook)

Alright guys, don't forget to do your homework~
And don't cry too much at night or you'll cry your eyes out~