{"id":179986,"date":"2021-08-13T08:45:55","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T12:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/english-pronunciation-for-chinese-speakers\/"},"modified":"2025-01-30T01:25:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T06:25:42","slug":"english-pronunciation-for-chinese-speakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/english-pronunciation-for-chinese-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Most Common Pronunciation Mistakes for Chinese Speakers and How to Fix Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

One thing that\u2019s strange about English is that words don\u2019t always sound like how they\u2019re spelled.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWednesday\u201d sounds like <\/span>Wenzdei<\/span><\/i>. \u201cPhoto\u201d is actually pronounced with an F, not a P.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This happens so often that it\u2019s more of a norm than an exception. For this reason, <\/span>English pronunciation can seem complicated sometimes<\/b>, especially since it\u2019s not like Chinese pronunciation at all.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Every English learner makes pronunciation mistakes along the way, and as a Chinese speaker, there are specific mistakes that you\u2019re more likely to make. Keep reading to find out about the <\/span>most common stumbling points for Chinese speakers when it comes to English pronunciation<\/b>! We\u2019ve also thrown in practical tips that you can try out right away to hone your spoken English.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Learning English for Chinese Speakers<\/b><\/h2>\n

You\u2019ve probably heard that Chinese is one of the hardest languages for English speakers to learn. Similarly, it also takes Chinese speakers at least a few years to speak English fluently. In fact, Chinese speakers often<\/span> pick up reading<\/span><\/a> and listening faster, and they might find pronunciation to be the most challenging part of learning English.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is mainly because English doesn\u2019t have a lot in common with Chinese languages. Even with pronunciation, <\/span>there are several sounds in English that Chinese doesn\u2019t have<\/b> (and vice-versa!). Although Chinese speakers can have varied native languages such as Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkien, they still make similar pronunciation mistakes. For example, you might be able to pronounce T and B fine in English, but maybe you won\u2019t be as comfortable with V at first (since it doesn\u2019t really appear in your native language!).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most Common Mistakes in English Pronunciation for Chinese Speakers<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

1. Breaking consonant blends<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Many Chinese speakers struggle with<\/span> consonant blends<\/span><\/a> such as SL, CL, TR, NT, and SM. Although consonant blends appear all the time in English words, these are rare in Chinese languages. While they\u2019re still adjusting to this, Chinese speakers might either say only one consonant (turning \u201cla<\/span>mp<\/span><\/span>\u201d into \u201clam\u201d) or add an extra vowel (\u201cmask\u201d becomes \u201cmas-kuh\u201d).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> First off, make sure that you can pronounce both of the consonants separately. Once you\u2019re confident with this, practice slowly transitioning from one consonant to the other to say the whole consonant blend. You can do this slowly while exaggerating your mouth movements. It\u2019s natural to have a delay at first \u2013 as you get used to the new sounds, you\u2019ll be able to speak faster.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words:<\/b> bread, click, smooth, truck, slow\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Dropping final consonants<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Some Chinese speakers drop the final consonant of a word, even if it\u2019s not part of a consonant blend.\u00a0 For example, they might say \u201cgla\u201d instead of \u201cglass\u201d and \u201cfa\u201d instead of \u201cfar.\u201d Final consonants can feel awkward to say at first because in Chinese languages, syllables normally end in vowels.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Alternatively, Chinese speakers might add a vowel instead, especially if the word ends in P, B, D, T, and K. This turns words like \u201ctap\u201d into \u201ctap-uh.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> Choose a word that you\u2019re having a hard time with and say only the last two letters \u2013 the vowel followed by the final consonant. For \u201ctap,\u201d you would focus on \u201cap.\u201d Notice if you\u2019re tempted to add \u201cuh\u201d at the end and try to freeze your mouth right at the P sound.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words:<\/b> trap, bathtub, pulled, what, black\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Hearing the dark L as U\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Chances are, you\u2019ve never had a problem with pronouncing L at the start of words (\u201clight\u201d and \u201clove\u201d). However, the L at the end of words or syllables can be trickier, such as in \u201cball\u201d and \u201ctell.\u201d These two L\u2019s are different sounds, and they\u2019re called the light L and the dark L in English.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chinese speakers aren\u2019t as used to hearing the dark L, which is found at the end of the words. They can interpret the dark L as a U or W so \u201cball\u201d gets pronounced as \u201cbau.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> Compare the mouth positioning for light L and dark L. With the dark L, the tip of your tongue isn\u2019t touching the ridge above your teeth. Your tongue\u2019s further back and positioned like a bowl, with the tip curving up. There\u2019s also a tightening in your throat, almost as if you\u2019re gulping.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words:<\/b> always, real, ball, school, girl\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Replacing V with W<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

The V sound barely pops up in Chinese languages. When it does, it\u2019s more of an<\/span> allophone<\/span><\/a> of W. This means that V and W are seen as versions of the same sound, so you can switch between the two in many Chinese languages. As a result, Chinese speakers might not be able to tell these apart in English at first.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chinese speakers can also slip into replacing V with W so that \u201cvery\u201d and \u201cvoice\u201d sound more like \u201cwery\u201d and \u201cwois.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> Get a mirror and look at your mouth as you try to pronounce the V sound. Your mouth shouldn\u2019t be rounded because that\u2019d be the U or W sound! Instead, your upper teeth should be touching your lower lip.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words:<\/b> value, very, vitamin, vane, vision\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Mispronouncing TH<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

You\u2019ll hear the TH sound in practically every other sentence because it\u2019s included the most common words in English \u2013 \u201cthe,\u201d \u201cthis,\u201d \u201cother,\u201d and more! The catch is that it\u2019s among the most difficult sounds not only for Chinese speakers but also most English learners in general. Since there\u2019s no TH sound in Chinese, some Chinese speakers replace it with S or Z instead.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> For the TH sound, you have to stick your tongue in between your teeth, almost as if you\u2019re about to bite it. Then keep it there and let out a puff of air \u2013 that\u2019s already the voiceless TH sound in \u201cthanks\u201d and \u201cteeth.\u201d To pronounce the voiced TH sound in \u201cthe\u201d and \u201cthis,\u201d make a sound instead so your vocal cords vibrate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words:<\/b> thank, mouth, that, father, thick\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Turning the short O into OU<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

English has more vowel sounds compared to Chinese languages, which is why Chinese speakers can mix up English vowels. The short O in English words such as \u201cnot\u201d and \u201cdog\u201d doesn\u2019t exist in Chinese languages. Because of this, Chinese speakers might pronounce it as A or make their mouth too rounded and say OU instead, turning \u201cnot\u201d into \u201cnat\u201d or \u201cnote.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> Your mouth should be gently rounded with the short O sound. It stays in that position as you pronounce the sound, unlike with OU where your mouth moves to form a tight circle as you go from O to U.<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words:<\/b> not vs. note, sock vs. soak, ton vs. tone, rod vs. rode, cot vs. coat\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Replacing I with EE<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

This is one of the subtle pronunciation points that many English learners \u2013 including Chinese speakers \u00ad\u2013 can miss out on. Chinese speakers might turn the I sound into EE. They can mistakenly say \u201cfeel\u201d instead of \u201cfill\u201d and \u201cheem\u201d instead of \u201chim.\u201d The EE sound is more drawn out than the I sound. In fact, these two sounds don\u2019t even use the same mouth positioning!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> You might be familiar with the expression \u201c<\/span>say cheese<\/span><\/a>,\u201d which is shouted out when people are about to get their pictures taken. If you make the EE sound in \u201ccheese,\u201d it looks like you\u2019re smiling because your mouth is stretched wide. On the other hand, you don\u2019t stretch your mouth that much with the I sound.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words:<\/b> sheep vs. ship, leap vs. lip, peel vs. pill, seek vs. sick, these vs. this\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

8. Saying NG instead of N<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Chinese speakers might replace N at the end of syllables with NG. For example, \u201csun\u201d and \u201cwindow\u201d end up sounding like \u201csung\u201d and \u201cwingdow.\u201d Chinese speakers tend to bring the tip of their tongue down when they try to pronounce N, which produces the NG sound. You\u2019ll notice this more in speakers from Northern China specifically.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> Try saying the NG sound as you normally would. Then bring your tongue up and forward so the tip\u2019s touching behind your front teeth. That\u2019s already the tongue position for the N sound! It might take effort at first to pronounce N rather than NG, but you\u2019ll get the hang of it eventually.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words:<\/b> candle, chicken, fan, sun, education\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

9. Stressing too many syllables<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Misplaced word stress is the most frequent pronunciation mistake among Chinese speakers, even at advanced levels. Chinese languages such as Mandarin and Cantonese place equal emphasis on each syllable, and words are distinguished by tone rather than stress. Since word stress isn\u2019t a strong feature of their language, Chinese speakers can be too careful with how they speak English, stressing every syllable equally.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip:<\/b> Word stress is extremely important because it affects how well other people can understand you. You can train your listening skills first by paying attention to the rise and fall in people\u2019s voices when they\u2019re speaking English. Once you can consistently identify where the stressed syllable is in words by ear, you can move on to imitating these and using proper stress in your own pronunciation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words:<\/b> in<\/span><\/span>dex, mis<\/span>take<\/span><\/span>, ba<\/span>na<\/span><\/span>na, <\/span>ce<\/span><\/span>lebrate, a<\/span>no<\/span><\/span>ther\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a010. Sounding choppy<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Chinese speakers might apply the intonation of their native language to English. Since Chinese languages have a very different rhythm from English, some Chinese speakers sound choppy when they switch to English, putting small gaps between every word and syllable instead of linking them. They can also unconsciously speak English with tones, which affects the clarity of their speech.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tip: <\/b>Even though there\u2019s a space between every word, English speakers sometimes connect words so these sound like only one word. For example, \u201cgive up\u201d sounds like \u201cgivup.\u201d Check out the rules for connected speech! One major rule is to connect two words if the first word ends with a consonant and the next word starts with a vowel.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Example Words: <\/b>thi<\/span>s a<\/span><\/span>pple, sh<\/span>e o<\/span><\/span>rdered, rea<\/span>l l<\/span><\/span>ife, difficul<\/span>t e<\/span><\/span>xam, h<\/span>e i<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n

Individual sounds form the foundation of English pronunciation<\/b>, so it\u2019s worthwhile to slow down and devote some time to these even though they might seem really basic! Once you master a specific sound, you\u2019ll definitely hear the improvement in your English speaking skills.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One thing that\u2019s strange about English is that words don\u2019t always sound like how they\u2019re spelled.\u00a0 \u201cWednesday\u201d sounds like Wenzdei. \u201cPhoto\u201d is actually pronounced with an F, not a P.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":739,"featured_media":249295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"description":"In this guide, we look at the most challenging aspects of English pronunciation for Chinese speakers, from pronouncing the V sound to having choppy intonation.","title":"10 Most Common Pronunciation Mistakes for Chinese Speakers and How to Fix Them - FluentU"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[685,704],"tags":[],"coauthors":[208],"class_list":["post-179986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-parrot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/739"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179986"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249296,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179986\/revisions\/249296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179986"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=179986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}