Why I Pronounce it This Way

Or why I will never correct yours

Hello. Last we chatted I was helping people out with a craft wing tutorial... Now I'm going to talk a little bit about my pronunciation - specifically when it comes to words in other languages because let's be real... If I'm mispronouncing an English word, I have more problems than I thought.

So in this case we're going to start with Japanese... But before that I'll give a little background.

I took four years of the language in highschool, which means almost none of it has stuck with me through the years. However, one of the few things that has (on top of proper stroke orders and really random phrases) is the proper pronunciation of the words. Sensei was VERY insistent we pronounced them correctly (she's a Japanese citizen, it's no surprise) so its just one of those things that don't go away.

Japanese itself is very simple when it comes to pronunciation. Every vowel is pronounced the same way in every situation, unlike in English where long and short vowels are a thing. Also, every constonant is attached to a vowel (except for in the case of tsu and n, as far as lone and combined constonants) which means that the syllables for pronunciation are simple. Its sa-ku-ra, not sa-kur-a; as an example.

Now with this embedded on my head, that means that I will ALWAYS pronounce a Japanese word correctly - except for the few words that have been Americanized (karaoke and karate come to mind).  I usually preface in conversation that I will pronounce Japanese words correctly (except for those few), but the most important part of this is that I will not correct YOUR pronounciation unless you want it.  The correct pronunciation is habitual for me.  I learned it that way, it's gonna be used that way.

There's two ways I can go with this knowledge. I can either let peoples mispronounciations slide, or I can correct every single one of them. I always do the former. I actually intentionally point out that I will say them correctly, but I won't correct who I'm talking to. Why? Because it makes me look like a pompous ass and I need to be choosy about what I want to be pompous about.

Which brings me to what provoked this entire particular experience. If I'm not correcting you, you should not be correcting me. If I say "o-ta-ku", for the love of all that is holy do NOT tell me its "o-tak-u" and especially don't tell me it's that because this is 'MURICA and that's how it's said in 'MURICA.

It makes you look like a pompous asshole.

Which, I guess if that's what you're going for, that's cool... But don't expect me to give you the same courtesies I was before.