Japanese · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "学校" in Japanese?

Q: How do you pronounce 学校 in Japanese?

学校 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɡak.koː/. It means “school.” ga-k-ko-o, four beats — a beat of silence in the middle and a long o at the end.

ga-k-ko-o, four beats — a beat of silence in the middle and a long o at the end.

学校 /ɡak.koː/

gakkou

Four slots for what English reads as two syllables, and both extra beats come from things English doesn't measure: a silent hold and a lengthened vowel. Delivered properly the word is roughly twice as long as an English speaker's first attempt.

Listen: 学校

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Sound it out

ga A firm g, then a bright short a. Word-initially this consonant stays a plain g rather than the nasalised version some speakers use mid-word.

k (small っ) The geminate: raise the back of the tongue to the soft palate at the end of the a and hold it there, cutting off all sound, for a complete beat. Silence with the mouth in position.

kou The release, into an o that then runs for two full counts. The u in the romaji is a length mark, not a vowel.

Hear it in a sentence

自転車で学校に行きます。

Jitensha de gakkou ni ikimasu.

I go to school by bike.

Listen: 自転車で学校に行きます。

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自転車で学校に行きます has 自転車 (ji-te-n-sha), four morae with a nasal beat in the middle. So the sentence stacks a moraic nasal, a geminate silence and a long vowel within a few words — three separate beats that carry no vowel sound at all between them.

Where English speakers slip

"ga-KOH" in two beats is the standard collapse: the silence skipped and the long vowel shortened. Hold the k closure until a listener hears a gap, then sustain the o for two counts. English speakers also aspirate both k's; keep the release quiet so the word doesn't sound percussive.