How to say "Osu!" properly

Most Westerners pronounce "Osu!" somewhat incorrectly. "Osu!" is a word that uses all of the most difficult pronunciation features of the Japanese language. When you say it, to the Japanese ear, they probably hear you say "usu," which means "mill-stone."

Oosssss! This is how most Westerners say it, as if it rhymes with "book" and ends with a hiss. The word does not actually rhyme with book. There is an "oo" sound in the Japanese language that could be used to reproduce that sound, but it is not used here. The Japanese only have five vowels: “a” that rhymes with clock, “I” that rhymes with beep, “u” that rhymes with book, “e” that rhymes with set, and “o” that rhymes with boat.
Ossu! Japanese also has long consonants. That means that you can make a “k” into a ”kk,” and the meaning of the word changes. The “s” in "Osu!" may be stretched out a little, but not a lot as in “sssss,” which makes a hissing noise.
Oosu! The Japanese have the ability to stretch out a vowel. This means that they speak the vowel sound for two beats instead of one, thus "osu" can be said as, "o-osu." This is difficult for English speakers to learn because our idea of long vowels is that they change pronunciation. Japanese long vowels are just spoken longer. Since English has no "beat" the way Japanese does, it takes some practice to learn this. Some Japanese say, "oosu," which still does not rhyme with book, but is a stretched out “o” noise, almost a diphthong as with the English “o.”

Japanese does not have a diphthong “o.” A diphthong is a vowel sound that is actually comprised of two sounds put together in an extended and changing sound. To Japanese, the English “o,” as in “most,” sounds like “m-oh-u-st.” In English, we stretch out the length of the sound and slowly close our lips from the “o” shape to the “u” shape as we say the word. Japanese do not close their lips as they pronounce “o,” so they only say the first half of the English “o.” If you use the diphthong, Japanese are not confused by the pronunciation; they hear you accidentally pronounce it correctly.

The “u” at the end of the “Osu!” is silent, so you do not have to pronounce it, even though the Japanese actually do always pronounce it. However, they only pronounce it for a quarter beat.

Oh-ss! This is the correct pronunciation. To properly pronounce the “o” in “Osu!”, you have to imitate Japanese. Instead of "Ooosss!", say, "Oh-ss." It rhymes with boat, coast, toast, or most.

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