I know Matthew and I (and probably every other English language teacher to ever visit Japan) have tried to teach them how to place the tongue in the mouth to make the proper sound. It's not impossible - just very difficult.
Here in Canada in 2010, I'm trying to teach my nearly five-year-old son how to pronounce letters clearly. Even though I'm afforded the luxury of working with him daily, few English teachers get to do that with their students. It's not something that can be taught in just a few classes - it takes hours and hours of practice.
I believe in China, folks there use the letter "L", but lack the letter "R". Strange? Naw. It's just the way it is.
Back to Japan... okay... so now you know that there is no letter "L" in the Japanese alphabets (Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji)... so why is it that the Japanese manufacture so many cars using the letter "L"?
There's the: Lexus brands; Toyota's Allion, Corolla and Liteace; Mazda (aka Matsuda in Japan) Carol; Suzuki Club Cultus; Nissan Fairlady and Bluebird--and these old cars are just the ones I remember!
That's a lot of "L" to pay!
You might say that the Japanese are creating these names for the American market - and that the Japanese also love top buy things with English words on them. All true. Whether that's good or bad, I'm undecided.
However... I can tell you no one in Canada or America wants to drive anything called a Bluebird, Fairlady or Carol. No one. They are too feminine-sounding. And while automobiles are no longer the domain of the man, there's still a macho image surrounding cars. We want strong names - like the Mustang or Firebird! Bluebird? No way. Even if the Japanese could pronounce it properly and knew what a bluebird is, even they wouldn't buy it.
Unfortunately, the Japanese tend to buy things willy-nilly - as long as it has English-looking words on it, it must be cool.
Somewhere I just got hit by a Toyota - oh, what a feeling,
Andrew Joseph
Today's title is by Martha and the Vandellas - Listen to this sweet tune here MOTOWN.
PS: And for your amusement, there was a song by John Goldsmith called You're Not Safe In A Japanese Car. Obviously it was meant to hot back at Japanese economic expansionism into the U.S. I'll let you in on a little secret... it failed. In Canada, between my dad and I, we've owned a Mazada 323 (white), Nissan Stanza (also white), Toyota Camry (2), and a Mazda Tribute. I've also owned the Korean Hyundai Tiberon... and to show we don't always hate American cars... we've owned a '67 Ford Mustang, '73 Chrysler Scamp, a Saturn, and a Ford Escort... which broke down so often it lived up to its name, demanding money every time I rode it. No "L's", though.
PPS: The photo above shows my 1986 Mazda 323 and the 1987 Toyota Camry.
