[AndrewG]

Originally Posted by sneakyjapan

thanks, thats precisely what I said, I just broke it down for English speakers since they abbreviate their guitar as a Tak and not Taka...also married to a Japanese woman and am in Japan and have asked my students this question. I know about ta-ti- tu- te- to...ka- ki- ku- ke- ko...ma-mi- mu- me- mo...na-ni-nu-ne-no, and if more English speakers knew this they`d stop massacreing Nikon, karate and karaoke. Same goes for Japanese people who speak English...I keep making the same corrections year after year...shouldn`t complain since it keeps me employed and perhaps now that the gov`t has finally caught on that junior high is too late to start teaching a second language, maybe the kids learning English in elementary school will acquire better habits by the time they reach university...and I speak from experience since I grew up in a bilingual household and spoke both French and English before I started school, as did my bother and sisters...so I speak to my brother in laws kids in English every week, and they have learned quite a bit so hopefully they`ll have a good foundation for when they start English in school.

Yep, 'Nuy-kon' really annoys me!