“R and L” for Japanese people

For Japanese people, it is challenging to pronounce R and L properly because we don’t have these sounds in the Japanese language.

Japanese has only the /ɾ/ sound, but not /r/ or /l/

When we Japanese want to speak something with R or L in English, these sounds will be one of the below sounds.

ら /ɾa/

り /ɾi/

る /ɾu/

れ /ɾe/

ろ /ɾo/

The /ɾ/ sound is between /l/ and /r/. We Japanese don’t roll the tongue when pronouncing the “ra” sound. So, it sounds like “camela,” when the Japanese say camera.

Road and Load are the same for Japanese people

For the Japanese, R and L are very difficult to distinguish and speak. If you visit Japan and have difficulty communicating or understanding Japanese-English speakers, it could be due to the R and L sounds. Therefore, I would be grateful for your generosity. Below is the list of words, including R and L sounds, which are the same sounds for the Japanese people.

R	L	Japanese sounds
Road	Load	/ɾoːdo/
Rice	Lice	/ɾaisu/
Right	Light	/ɾaito/
Red	Led	/ɾeddo/
Arrive	Alive	/aɾaibu/
Correct	Collect	/koɾekuto/

Also, it is challenging to say “th” sound. If you are interested in more Japanese pronunciation, please refer to the below link.

“S and TH” sounds for Japanese People