Knowledge. You gain an understanding of how the sound system works. This allows you to tackle new challenges and make informed decisions on how to improve.

Listening skills. You learn to hear and imitate every sound pattern with accuracy and ease. This results in your pronunciation improving quickly. 

Motivation. As your speech sounds more and more natural, motivation increases. This keeps you focused on further improvement, meaning your goals come within reach faster.

Module 1: Moras and Stress

Before we get into the fun stuff, it's essential to have an understanding of the rhythm and pacing of Japanese speech and how it's similar - or dissimilar - to other languages.

Module 2: Consonants and Vowels

You probably already know that Japanese has different consonants and vowels than English. We'll break them all down thoroughly, so that you never need to ask about them again!

Module 3: Pronunciation Changes

Have you ever wondered why sounds are sometimes not pronounced as they're written? (Wasn't Japanese supposed to be a "what you see is how you pronounce it" language?) We'll explain all that here! 

Midpoint Review

Now that we've been through the foundation of Japanese sounds and rhythm, it's time to apply everything we've learned so far so that we can ready to dive head-first into pitch accent.

Module 4: Introduction to Pitch Accent

Now for the fun part! Pitch accent is an essential component to a good Japanese accent. In this module, you'll learn the essentials of what exactly pitch accent is. 

Module 5: Word-Level Pitch Accent

Before we get into the bigger phrases, you'll learn about the rules and patterns of word-level pitch-accent. It is essential to understand pitch accent at the word-level so that we can build on it in the next module.

Module 6: Sentence-Level Pitch Accent

Now that you know the pitch-accent patterns for words, you'll learn how to put it all together. We cover how pitch accent works in phrases, sentences, and questions. Want to know how emotion plays a role? We learn that too!

Quizzes & Challenges

What's the point in learning something if you don't have a place to monitor your progress and celebrate your wins? The 20+ quizzes and challenges are designed to help you increase your awareness of where and how you can focus your time and energy for the biggest improvements!

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE ME TO IMPROVE?

That actually depends on how much time and energy you're able to dedicate to learning and practicing the sounds, and how clear you are about your personal goals and deadlines. It takes effort and dedication to become fluent in a language and sound like a native speaker, but if you give it some effort, you'll see improvements in as little as a week! 

I'm here to support you through the learning process, so join the office hours, ask questions, and do the challenges! 

MAYBE YOU'RE WORRIED...

I don't have enough time

Even just 5-10 minutes per day can make a big change over time. Don't stress - take it one day, one week at a time. You can do it!

I'm worried I won't improve

Just like with anything else, you'll improve with time. The great thing about improving your accent is that it's never too late!

It's a bit expensive

The content and support you will receive is thorough and worth the investment, but if you're concerned, there is a payment option available!

CAN'T I JUST IMPROVE MY ACCENT ON MY OWN?

You can, but to improve your accent, you need to know what to listen for and what to improve on, on top of the why's and how's of language and anatomy. And although there are tendencies, different people have different strengths and weaknesses. If you don't train yourself to hear and know what your strengths and weaknesses are, it's very difficult to improve on them. We all know how difficult it is to find useful resources that do more than just outline the basics of how pronunciation and pitch accent works in Japanese. Simply reading about it or watching a few videos, unfortunately, won't improve your speaking.

This course is designed to focus on giving you the tools you need to hear and reproduce the sounds of native-like Japanese!