pronunciation of 拗音


I have difficulty to pronounce (あ段, お段) 拗音, e.g., きゃ, きょ, ひゃ, ひょ correctly.

My Japanese language teacher is a native Japanese. What she taught me is the
same that I can find on the Internet. For instance, きゃ mix き and や together
and speak them together.

I practice a lot, but I still can't get it right. Such instruction is very
unhelpful.

I asked a friend who knows linguistics and could speak my mother tongue
(Cantonese). He said that my mother tongue did not have the vowels (ia) and
(io). Therefore, it is challenging for me to pronounce it correctly.

I also found some resources on the Internet, like listening to the Japanese
people to speak, and then somehow, I will pronounce them correctly. Such
advice is also unhelpful.

I used to have difficulty with ぞ and じょ. I overcome it by following an
instruction on a book, which is to move my tongue to the correct position.

Is there any similar method to practice speaking (あ段, お段) 拗音? If not, what can
I do?




For the 拗音 starting with //k-//, and for speakers familiar with English, think
of the name of the letter **Q**. This is the same kind of 拗音, and is quite
close to the pronunciation of the Japanese kana combination きゅ. So for the
other vowel values, think about using the same mouth shapes as **Q** to start,
and just change the ending vowel.

For the 拗音 starting with //h-//, I'd suggest thinking about the sounds for
や・ゆ・よ, in particular the shape of you mouth when you say them. Keep that
shape, and just add the //h-// on the front.

Hope this helps!

