{"id":"lang-japanese-pronunciation-guide","audience":"office","category":"language-learning","technique":"format","track":"study","title":"Get a plain-English pronunciation guide for Japanese phrases","free":false,"task":"You're visiting your company's Osaka office and want to say 5 phrases from your list. Get exactly 5 numbered lines formatted \"1. phrase - say: syl-la-bles - means: English\", in your list's order, under 100 words, plain text. Ms. Tanaka in Osaka told you two things: Japanese syllables are said evenly, so use no capital letters for stress, and the final u in \"masu\" is nearly silent. Respell the long \"ou\" as \"oh\" and the ending \"masu\" as \"mass\".","materialLabel":"Your phrase list (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"JAPANESE FOR THE OSAKA TRIP (Tom Becker, Logistics)\n\nPhrases I want (in this order):\n1. ohayou gozaimasu (good morning, polite)\n2. hajimemashite (nice to meet you)\n3. yoroshiku onegaishimasu (please treat me well / I look forward to working with you)\n4. arigatou gozaimasu (thank you, polite)\n5. sumimasen (excuse me / sorry)\n\nNotes:\n- My coworker wrote \"a-ri-GA-tou\" on a sticky note for me\n- I don't need Japanese characters, just romaji\n- meeting the Osaka team on Monday at 9\n- not sure about bowing yet, I'll ask Ms. Tanaka","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":5},{"type":"maxWords","max":100},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Getting English-style stress","why":"Most AI pronunciation guides put one syllable in capitals, which teaches a stress Japanese doesn't use.","fix":"Add: \"No capitals for stress. Japanese syllables are even.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Not giving the respelling","why":"The AI picks its own spelling for long vowels and endings, like 'to-o' or 'mah-soo', which you'll read wrong.","fix":"Add: \"Write the long ou as 'oh' and masu as 'mass'.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"No line shape","why":"The AI writes paragraphs with tips on culture, bowing and characters.","fix":"Show it: \"1. sumimasen - say: soo-mee-mah-sen - means: excuse me\"","checks":["numberedItems","r0"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total and it often lands 20% over.","fix":"Cap each line: \"each line under 18 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Forgetting where it's going","why":"AI adds bold and headings that show up as stray symbols in a note card.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, no bold, no headings.\"","checks":["plainText"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Bans caps for stress","patterns":["capital","caps","stress","even"]},{"label":"Mentions the silent u","patterns":["silent","mass","final u"]},{"label":"Shows the line shape","patterns":["say:","means:"]},{"label":"Says how many lines","patterns":["\\b(5|five)\\b.{0,25}(line|phrase)","exactly \\d+","numbered"]},{"label":"Sets a length limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)","under \\d+"]}],"hint":"Pronunciation guides from AI follow English habits. Show the line shape, and tell it what's different about Japanese: no stress and the quiet final u.","rubricLabels":["Each line uses the exact labels 'say:' and 'means:' (a hyphenated respelling after 'say:', the English after 'means:'), in the list's order","No respelling uses capital letters to show a stressed syllable (for example no 'GA' or 'MA' in caps)","Long 'ou' sounds are respelled as 'oh' (for example 'toh', not 'to-o' or 'tou'), and 'masu' endings are respelled as 'mass'"]}