I’m currently learning with Duolingo and even though I can read, I’ve realized I never know which syllable should be accented.
A simple example: みず.
How can I tell if the accent goes on “mi” or “zu”? Is it like English? Like you need to hear the word to know where the accent goes? Or are there rules that let you know just by reading it?
There are, but like with anywhere, they can vary depending on location and dialect/accent. The best thing to do b is watch Japanese TV and movies - you’ll end up with a Tokyo intonation and accent, but it will be consistent, which is the important thing.
I’m actually learning Japanese because anime is the second type of content I consume the most, the first are American movies/series.
I’ve tried listening to Vindland but I’m too rookie to piece conversations together. Although I’m like the DiCaprio pointing at the screen meme whenever I hear something I know, which happens like once every 3 minutes.
Is there any anime/TV show you recommend that will teach me the most standard Japanese? Hopefully a mature anime like Shingeki, Death Note or Vindland. I’ll save it for when I at least finish the Duolingo course.
Anime for teenagers and adults generally uses more complex language. At least in my experience, this makes it very hard to get started. Kids shows, on the other hand, often use very simple forms, which makes it easier to get a grip on things. I try to see them as exercises, so I can get to the better shows that I want to be watching. Hopefully, someone else can prove me wrong. I, too, could use some recommendations that are not just kids’ anime.
Accented syllables are often very subtle and picking them up requires careful listening and sometimes a friend or teacher to correct you. In the case of みず, neither syllable is particularly accented, but inflection can change a lot based on the emotional state of the speaker.
It just takes practice. The rules for accents and inflection are not written, to my knowledge. I recommend watching a lot of Japanese TV.
Imbortant to note, the accent in japanese is not stressed like english or french, but pitched. So when you are listening for it in your duoligo, don’t listen for the syllable with attack, listen for places where the pitch goes up or down.
there are 4 patterns of pitch accent. A good explainer is Here, or on youtube from Dogen
みず is あたまだか, where the first mora is high, then the second one (and all the others would be) is low. You can hear the fall on the ず, where it geos from the starting pitch to a lower one
