Does Rakuten make a standard practice of having a different house pronunciation of their brand in English, or did someone writing this email not get the memo?pic.twitter.com/OsRd4bpLoA
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Isn't the "u" basically silent
I feel like having a very short u wouldn’t be obviously incorrect but there is definitely a full ku there in e.g. their TV commercials.
As an ex-employee who has heard original Japanese, English, and god forbid German pronunciation of the brand, it is closer to Lák-ten, where ù is basically not pronounced. @Dogen is to correct me.
So, I’d say ebates’s spelling is closer than yours
And the German pronunciation is like yours — Ra-Kú-ten. Cause it sounds similar to Raketen (rocketry).
I've always pronounced it ra-coo-ten
and make sure you pronounce ら properly (because I sure as hell can't).
I think the problem is that most people drag out Ra or Coo too long with Ra-coo-ten. I would go with RAH-coo-ten, but from what I've heard, RACK-uh-ten seems to work well. Unless you have time for some back and forth and explaining the speed and emphasis syllable by syllable.
If their internal organization is anything like their online marketplace then Rakuten is a pretty big mess, so your thesis about not getting the memo may be on point.
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