Pronouncing じ, ご and ん

じ is said like the j in “jeans”, and ご is a hard g, as in “go” — never soft as in “gem”.

ん is a syllable of its own, as long as any other character. にほんじん has five: に-ほ-ん-じ-ん. Say “nihonjin” as three syllables and it sounds rushed — give ん its own beat, a short “nnn”. かんこく has four: か-ん-こ-く.

Listen to the words in the lesson and say them back. The beat on ん is what makes it sound Japanese.