I spent six months finishing 'Eigo Mimi'
A reference book that anyone learning English has likely heard of.
Eigo Mimi: If You Can Pronounce It, You Can Listen to It (Author: Kiyoshi Matsuzawa)
The first edition was published in 2004, and it is currently in its third revised edition.
I bought it because teaching materials that have been used for a long time are more reliable than word-of-mouth reviews.
The goal of this book is to improve English listening skills.
However, it is not a textbook where you listen to audio from a CD and answer questions.
As the title suggests, it improves listening skills by practicing pronunciation.
Many Japanese people, including myself, have learned English through school education, but I suspect not many have studied pronunciation thoroughly (compared to vocabulary and grammar).
You might wonder if being able to pronounce words actually leads to being able to listen to them.
Take a look at the following example.
right /raɪt/
light /laɪt/
If someone who hasn't studied pronunciation hears these, both words will likely sound like 'raito'.
Differences in the sounds of words arise depending on the position of the tongue when pronouncing them.
By practicing pronunciation, you can visualize the mouth movements (tongue position and how the mouth opens) from the sounds, allowing for accurate listening.
'Did I develop an English ear as a result of doing this book?'
I will write this down.
* Please note that this is purely based on my personal experience, so there are no score comparisons.
Conclusion
'Eigo Mimi' definitely works.
However, this does not mean you will achieve a native-level English ear.
When listening to English, you will be able to visualize the movement of the mouth.
It is just that you can hear the English; it does not mean you can perfectly understand the content.
Your vocabulary is insufficient. The speed of the conversation is fast. In such cases, even with an English ear, you will likely not be able to hear it accurately.
For that, you need to increase your vocabulary through reading and vocabulary books. It is necessary to practice pronunciation for fast-paced conversations.
People who want to start learning English from now on
People who have started learning aimlessly and are feeling lost
People who want to improve their listening ability
I thought that all English learners should pick up this book and give it a try.
Below, I will write about why pronunciation is important, the differences between Japanese and English pronunciation, and the stumbling blocks of this book.
Why pronunciation is important
The scope of learning is narrow
Compared to vocabulary and grammar, the scope of learning pronunciation is extremely narrow.
However, by studying it, you can demonstrate great power not only in listening but also in speaking.
I don't put that much effort into reading or writing, but when I read or write sentences, I am often conscious of the sounds of the words, so I think pronunciation is useful.
If you consider that you can acquire the basic skills of English within a narrow learning range, you should be able to understand why pronunciation is important.
There are also videos on YouTube that explain the importance of pronunciation, so please refer to them.
Differences between Japanese and English pronunciation
Up to this point, I have written about why pronunciation is important, but I would like to briefly explain what exactly is different.
The number of consonants and vowels
Japanese consists of the vowels 'a', 'i', 'u', 'e', 'o' and other consonants.
On the other hand, English is composed of 15 vowels and nearly 20 consonants.
There are four types of English sounds that correspond to the Japanese 'a': 'æ', 'ʌ', 'ɑ', and 'ǝ'.
As I wrote a little at the beginning, you can tell the difference in sounds by the position of the tongue and how the mouth is opened.
The English consonant 's' is close to the 'shi' sound you make when you say 'shoo' to chase away a cat.
Please do not think they are the same pronunciation, because 'shi' is 'si' and not 's'. English consonants do not contain vowel sounds.
Sound length
In Japanese, hyphens are sometimes used to extend words.
Like 'pi-su' (peace) or 'a-su' (earth). They are expressed using the 'ー' symbol.
English does not have that.
Sounds are extended by using long vowels, as in 'peace' and 'earth'.
etc
Everything related to English pronunciation, such as 'connected sounds' and 'disappearing sounds', is written in this book.
If many Japanese people realize that pronouncing 'sea' as 'shi' is incorrect, I think they will understand the importance of pronunciation once again.
Stumbling points
Parrot's Row
The term 'Parrot's Row' appears at the end of this book.
The name 'Parrot's Row' comes from the fact that parrots listen to a sound source and then pronounce the sounds they have learned.
I forgot the exact number, but it seems that after hearing the same sound nearly 300 times, a parrot can perfectly mimic and speak it.
The idea is to have humans do the same thing.
1. Listen to the sound source without looking at anything
2. Listen while looking at the manuscript with phonetic symbols
3. Pronounce along while looking at the manuscript
Do this with 'songs', '2-3 minute speeches', and '10-15 minute speeches'.
"Songs": 100 times for 1, 100 times for 2, 100 times for 3
"2-3 minute speeches": 30 times for 1, 30 times for 2, 30 times for 3, 30 times for 1
"10-15 minute speeches": 30 times for 1, 30 times for 2, 30 times for 3, 30 times for 1
You decide the topics yourself.
Since you will be listening to them repeatedly, it is best to choose themes in fields that interest you.
The themes I chose are as follows:
"Song": Feeling Good (Michael Bublé)
It is also used as Shohei Ohtani's walk-up song.
"2-3 minute speech": The Power of Reading
A 7-year-old boy gives a speech on the importance of reading books.
"10-15 minute speech": Steve Jobs' speech
This is his famous commencement speech at Stanford University.
Because you practice pronunciation a lot before reaching the final chapter, you can feel your growth as you become able to understand the English in the speeches.
However, when it comes to imitating them, my mouth just cannot keep up.
The speed at which native speakers talk is quite fast.
Recommended audio sources
The following audio sources are spoken by native speakers, but since they are published as English learning materials, I would like you to use them as references.
The speed is relatively slow, and they are not only easy to imitate but also often have interesting content.
・Plain English
An English podcast is released every Tuesday on a specific theme, and every Thursday on English expressions.
・Everyday English Academy
Mike and Lisa discuss a certain theme every day.
How to make lyric cards
For the lyric cards used in Parrot's Row, I used the YouTube transcription feature, copied the text, and had Gemini add the phonetic symbols.
Since the transcription isn't perfect, listening for and finding mistakes is also good practice.
In conclusion
Not only will you build a foundation for your English skills, but you will also clearly understand the differences between English and Japanese that you never knew before, and why English doesn't sound right to you.
Reading this book was literally an eye-opening experience for me.
It's a book that teaches you the fun of English, which they don't teach you in school.
I would be happy if this could serve as a reference for you.
That is all.