in japan, they do the ra-meh-n (three syllables and with japanese flap r)
how do you pronounce "shaman"
Figures. Foreigners, psh.
Figures. Foreigners' date=' psh.[/quote']
Figures. American superiority complex, psh.
^_~
well, im not tryin ta be rude to da merican culture, but maybe japan might now how to pronounce ramen?
I thought the Japaneese didn't have an "R" in their alphabet, or the "R" sound. I've heard lots of people from Japan pronounce rice as lice.
Isn't that the chinese?
It is Chinese, and it's actually the other way around.
Stereotypically, people who speak Chinese as a primary language have difficult using the consonant "l". Therefore, "airplane" becomes "airprane", "little" becomes "rittle", etc.
Granted, I'm speaking out of the left side of my ***, and basing this "knowledge" on the influence of comedic entertainment (IE- Family Guy). Therefore, if I'm incorrect and offensive, take your homocidal impulses up with Seth MacFarlane. If I'm correct... all your credit are belong to me.
All your base are belong to Family Guy.
I thought the Japaneese didn't have an "R" in their alphabet' date=' or the "R" sound. I've heard lots of people from Japan pronounce rice as lice.[/quote']
They don't have an r or l in their alphabet. Or any other letter for that matter...because..they do not have an alphabet, much less the roman one.
They do have a syllabary though.
The following hiragana/katakana characters are transcribed commonly into English like this:
ら=ra
れ=re
ラ=ra
レ=re
If I wanted to transcribe "celerity" into Japanese, it would look like this:
サレイティ
Sareiti
(sa-reh-ee-tee)
Note that each full character stands for a full syllable, not a sound. Every syllable gets the same stress and length. This is what gives the Japanese speakers a "machine-gun" feel.
Of course, they also use Chinese characters.
There is a common misconception that the Japanese flap "r" is a mix between the American English "r" (v. retroflex approx) and "l" (v. alveolar approx.)..leaning towards the "l". This isn't true.
A better comparison would be with the American English and Japanese -intervocalic- flap. Basically the same sound as the flap ending in the American pronunciation of "city".
A good way to see if somebody is a native speaker of Japanese is to have them say the word "rarely"...if it sounds like "really", you'll know they are a Japanese speaker.
Chinese:
The Chinese (mandarin) "r" is very very very different from any English sound. To me, it sounds like "zhr".
The main problem with native Chinese speakers adjusting to English isn't in the pronunciation so much, as in the intonation. If you've ever walked into a Chinese restaurant and had this happen, "HELLO! WAIT ONE MOMENT NOW! JUST ONE MOMENT!" followed by screams/seemingly death threats in some strange language into the kitchen when you actually order....you'll know what I'm talking about.
They don't really mean to yell at you, they just don't understand the English stressing and intonation (coming from a tonal background)...
Speaking of stigmaticisms...this is one reason that the Chinese have a lower standing in the US than the Japanese (among many other reasons)...this "lack of control" is very low on acceptable scale of English speakers compared to the Japanese "funking up their r's".
If you ever hear someone saying "herrow" (hello), you can give a quick tip by telling them to make sure their tongue touches the roof of their mouth when they say an L. R's don't do that.
Ahh...I love phonology...
How about native spanish speakers 
. A favorite of mine.
Hi. Welcome in yack in the box. Would you like a yumbo yack?
Please tell me there's not an ACTUAL restaurant called "Jack in the Box," where they serve "Jumbo Jacks."
There is.
Shay-man
How do you pronounce Belegriel? I say Bell-le-grill. 
Bell-egg-ree-ill?
And yes, there's a Jack-In-the-Box. It's not very tasty.
I thought it was Be-ll-eg-gr-ee-i-ll.
Bell-egg-ree-ill?
And yes, there's a Jack-In-the-Box. It's not very tasty.
My spin on things. I don't care if they're wrong.
Shay-man
Drow (As in "throw" and not Drow as in "plough" even though I think it's the latter)
Bel-lé-gree-yel
Tur-kee
Dey
Last time I remember, Jack in the Box had pretty good food. Anybody ever been to Betos? It might be just a Utah thing, but they're really good. Mmm...Tejano burrito...
Not in my America, son.
Last time I remember' date=' Jack in the Box had pretty good food. Anybody ever been to Betos? It might be just a Utah thing, but they're really good. Mmm...Tejano burrito...[/quote']
Jack in the box has awesome food.