Just Say Noh. But Also Say Kyogen: Crash Course Theater #11
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Date: 2022-04-04
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Comments and reviews: 10
Satopi3104
i appreciate this video, I really do. but my ears bled. I am not going into things like emphasis, accents, tonality, pure vowels vs dipthongs - those are hard, we get it. But please, it's kyogen and yugen both with hard -g-s. It's heh-ee-keh, not ha-iii-kay. Choosing between a -j- sound a -g- sound or an -eh- sound vs an -ah- sound are not one of those -i am trying but i can't do it- moments - it's a -i'm too lazy to research pronunciation- moment. And while I sympathize with trying but failing, I cannot sympathize with not even trying.
but again, thank you for this succinct introduction into a topic that probably is not in high demand (though the comment to view number ratio on this video surprises me - i guess you have a small but engaged audience for this video.
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i appreciate this video, I really do. but my ears bled. I am not going into things like emphasis, accents, tonality, pure vowels vs dipthongs - those are hard, we get it. But please, it's kyogen and yugen both with hard -g-s. It's heh-ee-keh, not ha-iii-kay. Choosing between a -j- sound a -g- sound or an -eh- sound vs an -ah- sound are not one of those -i am trying but i can't do it- moments - it's a -i'm too lazy to research pronunciation- moment. And while I sympathize with trying but failing, I cannot sympathize with not even trying.
but again, thank you for this succinct introduction into a topic that probably is not in high demand (though the comment to view number ratio on this video surprises me - i guess you have a small but engaged audience for this video.
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Steve
I normally enjoy watching these videos and find them very well-done, but I found this one disappointing. For all the effort that went into the production of the episode, there seemed to be minimal attention paid to pronouncing Japanese words correctly. It made it painful for me to watch. I would encourage the producers and the presenter to at least make somewhat of an effort to pronounce foreign words correctly. This wasn't even close.
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I normally enjoy watching these videos and find them very well-done, but I found this one disappointing. For all the effort that went into the production of the episode, there seemed to be minimal attention paid to pronouncing Japanese words correctly. It made it painful for me to watch. I would encourage the producers and the presenter to at least make somewhat of an effort to pronounce foreign words correctly. This wasn't even close.
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Yoo
The people complaining about his pronunciation of the words should really shut up about it. It's not his first language just like it's not millions of Asians in the US who have been in the US for years first language and still can't pronounce simple 3 letter words correctly or speak in complete, correct sentences. You know what he means just like I understand what the Asians are saying. Get off your high horses already. -
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The people complaining about his pronunciation of the words should really shut up about it. It's not his first language just like it's not millions of Asians in the US who have been in the US for years first language and still can't pronounce simple 3 letter words correctly or speak in complete, correct sentences. You know what he means just like I understand what the Asians are saying. Get off your high horses already. -
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Darryl
I would like to add my voice to the litany of irate protests over the pronunciation (or, less charitably, butchery) of Japanese in this article. If you're going to go to the trouble of researching this, you might as well also spend some time learning how the terms and names you reference are properly pronounced.
The impression I'm left with is of a very limited respect for Japanese theatre and culture.
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I would like to add my voice to the litany of irate protests over the pronunciation (or, less charitably, butchery) of Japanese in this article. If you're going to go to the trouble of researching this, you might as well also spend some time learning how the terms and names you reference are properly pronounced.
The impression I'm left with is of a very limited respect for Japanese theatre and culture.
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Clare
Nicely done. But, while I don't like harping on the issue, it was VERY hard to focus on the material due to the horrid pronunciation - very distracting. Japanese is such a simple language in terms of pronunciation too. I would have to watch this a few times to actually pick up all the great content, just because of all the mispronunciations. Saroo gukoo? Oh well, more my problem than his, I suppose.
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Nicely done. But, while I don't like harping on the issue, it was VERY hard to focus on the material due to the horrid pronunciation - very distracting. Japanese is such a simple language in terms of pronunciation too. I would have to watch this a few times to actually pick up all the great content, just because of all the mispronunciations. Saroo gukoo? Oh well, more my problem than his, I suppose.
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MABlacksmith
I just took a Non-Western Theatre course which touched on Noh. The professor was so ignorant about Japanese culture they labeled Shintoism as having no gods or theology, couldn't pronouncement Kyogen correctly, and pronounced Zeami as -Zee-me-. All I've had to do is watched anime and I knew more about Japan than her. So, in the face of that, this guy isn't the worst.
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I just took a Non-Western Theatre course which touched on Noh. The professor was so ignorant about Japanese culture they labeled Shintoism as having no gods or theology, couldn't pronouncement Kyogen correctly, and pronounced Zeami as -Zee-me-. All I've had to do is watched anime and I knew more about Japan than her. So, in the face of that, this guy isn't the worst.
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Joseph
Happy you covered this topic! :)
A tip on Romanized Japanese pronunciation: every letter is pronounced separately, so all Gs are hard, and each vowel has only one pronunciation ever (a=-ah-, i=-ee-, u=-oo-, e=-eh-, o=-oh-. Ex: -Heike- (Heh-ee-keh) sounds like -hay-keh- and, for you video game fans, -gaiden- (ga-ee-deh-n) sounds like -guy-den-.
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Happy you covered this topic! :)
A tip on Romanized Japanese pronunciation: every letter is pronounced separately, so all Gs are hard, and each vowel has only one pronunciation ever (a=-ah-, i=-ee-, u=-oo-, e=-eh-, o=-oh-. Ex: -Heike- (Heh-ee-keh) sounds like -hay-keh- and, for you video game fans, -gaiden- (ga-ee-deh-n) sounds like -guy-den-.
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Robert
I just performed as shite in Atsumori, translated by my theatre professor Matt Dubroff. It has changed my entire perception of theatre and performance. I cannot stress how incredible and underrated Noh is. I got to learn from Akira Matsui, who is a living treasure of Japan. He could move me to tears with a stomp and a point. It's insane.
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I just performed as shite in Atsumori, translated by my theatre professor Matt Dubroff. It has changed my entire perception of theatre and performance. I cannot stress how incredible and underrated Noh is. I got to learn from Akira Matsui, who is a living treasure of Japan. He could move me to tears with a stomp and a point. It's insane.
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tokyo2la
I was going to complement your pronunciation just until I heard kyogen. It might be worth filming this again. You can get away with some other mistakes but you shouldn't mispronounce a genre name. A pity. Otherwise, it is very well produced and thorough. Where was the staff to catch this big mistake?
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I was going to complement your pronunciation just until I heard kyogen. It might be worth filming this again. You can get away with some other mistakes but you shouldn't mispronounce a genre name. A pity. Otherwise, it is very well produced and thorough. Where was the staff to catch this big mistake?
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MaikoZafiro
Great video, very informative, and, guess what, linguistics and Japanese-language university student here, and I was not butthurt over your pronunciation. Great job all around! :D
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Great video, very informative, and, guess what, linguistics and Japanese-language university student here, and I was not butthurt over your pronunciation. Great job all around! :D
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