Anonymous asked: Hey there. I must say, I would've really enjoyed your blog...if you'd actually try to use a pronunciation guide that makes sense. The first post I saw from you was the post of the Japanese word "tsundoku." I've been studying Japanese for over 1/2 a year now, and excuse me, but your pronunciation isn't even close. All I'd have to rant about that single word's pronunciation wouldn't even fit in this small askbox, but could you please, try to make your pronunciations correct?

I absolutely agree with you. I realize that there are a number of things wrong with my pronunciation guide. In this case, it’s that I haven’t found a way to denote a U sound like oo (tsundoku) instead of uh (umbrella) or yoo (union). It also has problems with A sounds—I have ay (able) and ahh (apple) but not aah (anonymous) or ah (always).

Vowels are tricky, because as an English speaker (and not Japanese), it’s hard for me to differentiate consciously between similar vowel sounds. Plus, I’ve only got so many characters on my keyboard, and Tumblr only accepts so many kinds of formatting. Making a pronunciation guide that “makes sense” to everyone is tough. I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you, but know that I do try my best, and be assured that I am constantly trying to improve the guide.

But I hope that you see that six months of studying anything does not necessarily make you an expert, and that even being an expert does not necessarily mean you need to be angry about someone else’s mistakes. I accept your criticism (as humbly as possible!) but I wish you didn’t feel like you had to “rant” about anything that appears on my blog, or that one post ruined it for you. I hope you’ll find time to look at some of my other hundreds of posts and make your judgment with a wider sample to inform your decision.