German / Deutsche Version
First, be assured that Japanese pronunciation is not too difficult to master. Japanese words are made up of syllables, i.e. separate sounds, as represented by each kana. Some speakers from different languages may experience difficulty with the relative absence of stress and intonation. English speakers, for instance, tend to say 'KAnji' with a stress on a certain syllable of a word, whereas Japanese people say it more mono-tonally, giving equal stress and length to each syllable, like 'Ka/n/ji'. You may notice that you count two beats when you say 'KAnji' in the English way, whereas count three with 'Ka/n/ji' in the Japanese way. 1 1. Long vowels:  Long vowels, (written aa, ii, uu, ee, oo) take roughly twice as long to say as short vowels. Make the vowel sound last for two beats when you pronounce it rather than one. The sounds with long vowels are represented by a horizontal stroke in Katakana
	コーヒー	koohii	'coffee'
	ビール	biiru	'beer'
	スーパー	suupaa	'supermarket'
For long vowels represented in Hiragana, the basic rules are that (1) for the a, i, u, and e sounds, the vowel is written doubled.
	おかあさん	okaasan	'mother'
	おにいさん	oniisan	'brother'
	くうき	kuuki	'air'
	おねえさん	oneesan	'sister'
(2) For the o sound, the Hiragana う is added to represent the long vowel.
	おとうさん	otoosan	'father'
However, for the o sounds, there are some exceptions which are according to the archaic type of the word.
	おおい	ooi	'a lot'
	おおきい	ookii	'big'
	とお	too	'ten'
	とおる	tooru	'pass'
Moreover, the following words are pronounced with a long vowel of e, although they could also be pronounced ei occasionaly.
	とけい	tokee	'watch/clock'
	えいが	eega	'film'
	れい	ree	'example'
2. Small 'つ' sound :  These sounds, represented by a small つ, are not pronounced in fact, although they are counted as one syllable. You count one beat after you complete the first syllable, with your tongue prepared and formed for the following sound. In fact, もっと motto 'more' sounds as if you say it in the English manner, giving the stress on も and saying the whole word for two beats. In Japanese, however, you have to wait and count one beat before you start と, having your tongue formed for the と sound while you are waiting. Please notice that も/っ/と needs three beats rather than two.
	きって	kitte	'stamp'
	ざっし	zasshi	'magazine'
	キッチン	kicchin	'kitchen'
	カップ	kappu	'cup'
3. ん sound :  The general ん sound on its own is a nasal "n" as in 'tin'. However, before k and g say it as in the English 'bring'.
	ほん	hon	'book'
	てんき	tenki	'weather'
	かんごふ	kangofu	'nurse'
	パン	pan	'bread'
	アンコール	ankooru	'encore'
	マンガ	manga	'manga'
ん is written by 'm', as before b,p and m, the sound is more like 'm', as in 'ample'.
	しんぶん	shimbun	'newspaper'
	さんぽ	sampo	'walk'
	さんまん	samman	'thirty thousand'
	ハンバーガー	hambaagaa	'hamburger'
	キャンペーン	kyampeen	'campaign'
	マンモス	mammosu	'mommoth'
4. Disappearing vowels :  It is notable that the Japanese i and u sounds tend to disappear between any two of these sounds; k, s, t, p, or h (ie voiceless consonant) in a speech of normal speed, although it is not always the case in some regions of Japan such as the Kansai area. The disappearing of shi or su sounds is most likely to be noticed. For example, the following sounds are pronounced as if you are whispering (a bold letter is for disappeared sound):
	Hajimemashite	"nice to meet you"
	ashita	"tomorrow"
	hitori	"one person"
When an i or u sound with the voiceless sound appears at the end of an utterance, the vowel could be either fully sounded or whispered, depending on the speaker, the occasion, and the word in question.
	Ohayoogozaimasu	"good morning"
	Kore-wa kitte-desu.	"This is a stamp."
It occurs whether the two consonants come in the same word or in two sequential words.
	Hitotsu kudasai.	"give me one, please."