Nihongo Overlapping helps you with speaking practice using a method called overlapping.

• Overlapping is a way to practice pronunciation. Practice speaking along with the model voice, while looking at the script.
• With this site, you can see the prosody (intensity and intonation) visualized on the screen. Watch this as you practice speaking along with the model voice, as if you were singing karaoke.
• You can upload voice files that you want to practice with and create your very own overlapping tasks.
• After you practice, you can check your results by listening to, or watching the waveform of your own voice.
• Available in Japanese and English.

How to...

These contents are provided by The Center for Distance Learning of Japanese and Japanese Issues at the University of Tsukuba.

On this site, you can listen to, watch, and imitate model voices to acquire natural intensity and intonation of spoken Japanese.
Set the model voice you want to practice to create a task that suits you.

This site is for you, if
・you want feedback on your pronunciation, but don't have a teacher or a friend to practice with (or you feel embarrassed), or
・you want to check your pronunciation not only by listening to a recording, but also by seeing it with your own eyes.

Click Continue on the top page. Create a task.
You can choose whether to use the contents in Japanese or English.

How to create an overlapping task

１．Give your task a title.
２．Click where it says Upload material (+ Select material type), and choose whether you want to upload an audio or video file.
You can do this even if you don't already have an audio file. We will show you sites where you can create audio files, at the end of this article.

３．Click as instructed, to upload an audio file.
４．Enter the text of your model speech in the Transcript field.

５．Click Add material to finish creating the task.

※　If you want to add another task, click Add overlapping practice and repeat steps 1-5.
６．Click Preview task to start practicing overlapping.

【Tips for creating tasks】
When practicing long dialogues like speeches, it's a good idea to cut the audio file into shorter parts and practice a little at a time.
The shorter the file, the easier it is to concentrate, which makes it easier to look at the results after practicing.

Practice using overlapping

Now let's practice using the overlapping method.

Click Play model to listen to the model voice and practice by overlapping.
When you are doing this, pay attention to the changes in intensity and intonation.
Click Start recording to record your voice.

After recording, you can check your pronunciation by comparing your voice with the model voice on the screen that looks like this.
①The green waveform is your voice. You can visually check to see how close your sonority (pitch and strength) and F0 (inflection) are to the model voice.
②Listen to your own voice and the model voice to make sure!

You can also see your Task score at the upper left of the screen.
Your score will show you how close your pronunciation is to the model voice.
Start by aiming for 80!

Sites where you can create audio files

You can use sites like the following to create model voice files.
・「TTSMP3」(see article)
・Prosody Tutor Suzuki-kun (Part of the OJAD - Online Japanese Accent Dictionary) (see article)