Chinese language backgrounds

27 common pronunciation problems

FIX PROBLEM ENGLISH SOUND - COMMON ERROR - PRACTICE MATERIALS
Relax the mouth and keep sound short. /ɪ/ "sit" /i:/ "seat" Minimal Pairs /ɪ/ or / i: / practice

Move tongue to a lower front position. /æ/ "man" /e/ "men" Minimal Pairs /e/ or /æ/ practice

Keep tongue front & low and jaws apart. /æ/ "ran" /ʌ/ "run" Minimal Pairs /æ/ or /ʌ/ practice

Keep tongue front & low and jaws apart. /æ/ "cat" /ɑ:/ "cart" Minimal Pairs /æ/ or /ɑ:/ practice

Tongue low central. Lips relaxed. /ʌ/ "cup"

Minimal Pairs /æ/ or /ʌ/ practice
Minimal Pairs /ʌ/ or /ɜ:/ practice

Tongue more central. Lips relaxed. /ʌ/ "cup" /æ/ "cap" Minimal Pairs /æ/ or /ʌ/ practice

Keep mouth round and sound short. /ɒ/ "not" /ɔ:/ "nought" Minimal Pairs /ɒ/ or /ɔ:/ practice

Keep mouth round and tongue back. /ɒ/ "God" /ʊ/ "good"
Back of tongue high. Lips tightly rounded. Long. /u:/ "fool" /ʊ/ "full" Minimal Pairs /ʊ/ or / u: / practice

Voiced. Vibration. Trap air with lips. /b/ "bill" /p/ "pill"
Voiced. Friction with top teeth & bottom lip. /v/ "van" /f/ "fan" Minimal Pairs /f/ or /v/ practice

Voiced. Friction with top teeth & bottom lip. /v/ "vet" /w/ "wet" Minimal Pairs /w/ or /v/ practice

Voiceless. Friction. Tongue between teeth. /θ/ "thin" /t/ "tin" Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /t/ practice

Voiceless. Friction. Tongue between teeth. /θ/ "thin" /s/ "sin" Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /s/ practice

Voiced. Friction. Tongue between teeth. /ð/ "clothe" /z/ "close" /z/
Voiced. Friction. Tongue between teeth. /ð/ "they" /d/ "day" Minimal Pairs /ð/ or /d/ practice

Quickly push air from throat out of mouth. /h/ "hot"
"ch" in "loch"
Tip of tongue behind top teeth. /d/ "made" /t/ "mate" Minimal Pairs /t/ or /d/ practice

Voiced: tip of tongue behind top teeth. Friction. /z/ "rise" /s/ "rice" Minimal Pairs /s/ or /z/ practice

Back of tongue to back roof. Nasal. /ŋk/ "think" /ŋ/ "thing" Minimal Pairs /ŋ/ or /ŋk/ practice

Tongue touches alveolar ridge. Nasal. /n/ "spoon" /ɫ/ "spool"
Tongue touches hard palate. /l/ "light" (clear) /r/ "right"
Sides of tongue to back teeth. Tip points up. /r/ "right" /l/ "light"
Contact. Brief "schwa" after release. /ɫ/ "tall" (dark l)


Voiceless. Friction. Front of tongue to palate. /ʃ/ "push"


Unvoiced: Tip to alveolar. Front to palate. /ʧ/ "cherry"


Voiced: Tip to alveolar. Front to palate. /ʤ/ "wage"



EXTERNAL LINKS:

  1. Non-native pronunciations of English: Cantonese (Chinese) L1
  2. What makes English consonant clusters difficult for Cantonese speaking ESL Learners?
  3. Chinglish


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