LingoDrop
Japanese · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "春" in Japanese?
ha-ru, two short beats — a soft h, one tap, and flat lips on the u.
haru
Two beats, matched in length, with an unaccented contour that rises and stays up. Neither beat is the word's centre, and there's nothing lengthened — the whole thing is over quickly.
Listen: 春
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
春に花が咲きます。
Haru ni hana ga sakimasu.
In spring the flowers bloom.
Listen: 春に花が咲きます。
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春に花が咲きます has 咲きます, where the ki between two voiceless sounds tends to devoice, and 花 (ha-na) with the same gentle h as 春. So the sentence gives you two soft h's and a whispered vowel in about eight beats.
Where English speakers slip
"HAH-roo" stretches and stresses the first beat, curls the r, and rounds the u. Soften the h, tap once, and spread the lips. In a two-mora word each of those errors takes up half the available sound, so the cumulative effect is severe.