“Thank you very much.” The hostess at a tea establishment passed me the sample of a green tea she was about to prepare for me.

The rich umami aroma heightened anticipation for tasting the tea's liquor. “Thank you,” I replied and passed the sample back.

“Thank you very much,” she said again.

The staff prepared the green tea by steeping it at 35°C for four minutes. I’ve heard of ice steeping, which I’ve tried with little success. I usually steep my green tea at 160°F, but not at just above room temperature.

After she had prepared the tea, she passed it to me and repeated, “Thank you very much.”

Of course, I said thank you, too, because she had given me something.

After tasting the deep umami flavour of the tea, I asked her a question. She replied, “Thank you very much,” and answered my question.

When I passed her my empty cup, she said, “Thank you very much.”

The staff thanked me in almost every conversational exchange. To an English speaker’s ear, this sounds repetitive. However, to an English speaker’s Japanese language learning journey, it demonstrated how a pitch accent system sounds.

Stress Accent vs Pitch Accent Languages

Japanese and English differ in many ways: kanji vs. alphabet, syllabary vs. individual letters, verb at the end vs. after the subject, etc.

Japanese’s pitch accent system is another such difference that takes time to get used to, if not to understand how it works. Conceptually, it’s easy: Japanese has two pitches—lower and higher—that combine in one word to contribute to its meaning.

English, by contrast, is categorized as a stress accent language. This means we convey meaning not only through words, but also through stress in a sentence. Let’s play with a basic sentence: The strawberries you just gave me are delicious. What do the following variations of the sentence tell you?

• The STRAWBERRIES you just gave me are delicious.
• The strawberries YOU just gave me are delicious.
• The strawberries you JUST gave me are delicious.

We don’t change the pitch of any word to give it meaning. We stress part of the sentence instead.

Japanese has a pitch accent system. That means each word has a different pitch that contributes to its meaning. You may start a word at the lower pitch for the first sound and then transition to a higher one for the rest of the word.

A native speaker of a pitch accent system can impose that pitch onto a language that uses stress to convey meaning. This means that I heard “thank you very much” the same way each time. This listening experience clarified for me how a pitch accent language works.

Speaking Japanese: Learners’ Tips

Using the pitch accent system takes practice. I’m in my fourth year of studying Japanese, and although I can hear when someone doesn’t use the right pitch for a word, I have difficulties myself. Pitch accent is so important that you receive feedback on your pitch accent for speaking exercises.

These are the tips I’ve incorporated into my practice so far:

Sometimes you have to start at the end. One of the first rules of intonation you learn is to finish each question with a rising intonation. You may also notice in formal language (the first register you learn) that sentences often start a little higher and end a little lower. I do my best to follow these generalizations as much as I can.

Listen, listen, listen. Begin with your course materials. I listen to my course’s audio files on many mornings while getting ready. Copy their intonation as best you can for at least a few of the exercises. This is often called shadowing. You’ll find clear steps on how to systematically approach shadowing in your language learning here. You’ll also find podcasts, like Japanese with Shun or YuYu that offer PDF transcripts as part of a paid membership. These two frequently pair up, and they’re a ton of fun.

Watch Japanese language content. Over time, you’ll decipher sounds and words. Turning on Japanese subtitles can help. Listen to these phrases a few times and try to repeat them.

Patience Is Like a Cup of Tea

In the subdued atmosphere at the tea establishment, I had time to appreciate the different flavours of single-estate teas presented to me. Whether the umami of a freshly harvested green tea or the earthy flavours of a hojicha roasted immediately before serving, I noticed how temperature, harvest method, and processing method changed the flavour.

Studying a pitch accent language requires the same level of patience and attention to detail. Take your time, work step by step, and enjoy every moment. You’re learning a vastly different way to communicate, which is no simple task. Appreciate yourself for making the effort.

And thank you very much for reading.