‘Koronavairusu’ or ‘Koronauirusu?’ Japan Learns English
Excessive focus on “proper” pronunciation skews English learning
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By: Xiaochen Su
With much of Japan gripped with the fear of contracting the Covid-19 virus, which has stricken at least 639 and killed 16, the crisis has triggered an odd only-in-Japan controversy, pertaining to the word “virus.”
To a non-Japanese unfamiliar with the language, the difference between two transliterations of a foreign loanword may seem tri…
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