Japanese Accent Generator

Type English and hear it read by a Japanese voice. The voice applies Japanese sound rules to your words, which is what a Japanese accent is: not an imitation, the real phonology at work. Play the audio in the browser or save it as an MP3.

What makes English sound Japanese

  • Even, mora-timed rhythm: Japanese gives each beat equal length, flattening the punchy stress of American English into a steady pulse.
  • One liquid sound: Japanese has a single flap where English splits l and r, so “really” and “lorry” pull toward the same middle sound.
  • Vowels between consonants: Japanese syllables end in vowels, so clusters get padding and final consonants grow a tail: “strike” heads toward su-to-rai-ku.
  • Th becomes s or z: “think” moves toward “sink,” “this” toward “zis.”
  • V becomes b: “video” arrives as bideo, since Japanese has no v.

Katakana English is why the accent sticks

English words enter Japanese pre-adapted through the katakana writing system, and speakers learn those adapted forms years before studying English itself. McDonald's lives in Japanese as Ma-ku-do-na-ru-do; that pattern, learned young, is the template the mouth reaches for. Understanding this makes the accent legible: it is not random error, it is a second, fully rule-governed pronunciation of English.

Test sentences that expose the accent

  • “Really loud lorries rolled by” lives entirely in the l and r territory.
  • “That's the truth” stacks the th sounds.
  • “Strong spring streets” forces three clusters in a row.
  • “Very good video” runs the v to b shift twice.
  • “First class fast food” ends words on consonants that want vowels.

Who reaches for it

Voice actors and animators checking a character's delivery. English teachers in Japan demonstrating interference patterns to students, and Japanese learners hearing their own habits from the outside. Game and video producers roughing in placeholder lines. Type your actual script rather than samples; the accent teaches most on the sentences you need.

For Japanese itself rather than accented English, the Japanese text to speech tool reads Japanese text aloud, and the English to Japanese translator converts your text first.