"SH" sound

   For English-native people, one of the most difficult Japanese consonances to learn is “SH.” SH in English appears words like “shot” “shell” “she” “shock” “shook,” and technically it is known as “voiceless postalveolar fricative.” Japanese SH sound on the other hand is known technically as “Voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative.” Because English does not have this Japanese SH sound, it is very hard for English-native people to produce this sound. For practical reason, English SH is often used to substitute Japanese SH, but one has to learn Japanese SH sound, if s/he wishes to speak Japanese really well.

   Although it is difficult to teach Japanese SH sound without the recording and video, here are two tips that I use when I have to teach Japanese SH really first in guest conducting or workshop situation. 

1) Japanese SH need no pursing of lips.

2) Japanese SH has more “high hiss” than English SH. This happens because the shape of the tongue for Japanese SH is like of “ee” vowel, on the other hand English SH is like of “oo” vowel.

   I noticed that fixing this SH and correct execution of double consonances are the key for good performance of songs in Japanese by English speakers. So, next time you sing Japanese song, please do spend a bit time to learn this new SH. This SH sound, especially with combination with “ee” vowel,” appears a lot in Japanese texts.