# Common English Pronunciation Difficulties by First Language

Typical, well-documented tendencies (see Swan and Smith, *Learner English*, 2nd ed., and Jenkins' Lingua Franca
Core). Individuals vary: listen to the learner before assuming. Priority: **high** = often affects
intelligibility (Lingua Franca Core features: most consonants, vowel length, consonant clusters at the start of
words, nuclear stress); **medium** = noticeable; **low** = accent feature, rarely a problem.

`scripts/l1_issues.py` reads this table. Keep the column order.

| L1 | Feature | Priority | Tendency | Example | Teaching tip |
|----|---------|----------|----------|---------|--------------|
| Spanish | vowels | high | Merges /ɪ/ and /iː/, /æ/ /ʌ/ /ɑː/, /ʊ/ and /uː/ (5-vowel system) | ship/sheep, cat/cut | Minimal pairs; mouth shape and length |
| Spanish | initial s-clusters | high | Adds /e/ before s + consonant | espain, estudent | Start with a hiss: sssspain; link from previous word |
| Spanish | b/v | medium | No /b/-/v/ distinction | very/berry | Teeth on lip for /v/; mirror work |
| Spanish | final consonants | medium | Drops or weakens final consonants and -ed | wor(k), walk(ed) | Back-chaining; -ed sorting /t/ /d/ /ɪd/ |
| Spanish | th | low | /θ/ -> /t/ or /s/; /ð/ -> /d/ | think -> tink | Tongue between teeth; often acceptable |
| Spanish | stress and rhythm | medium | Syllable-timed rhythm; few weak forms | full vowels in "to", "for" | Clap stress; teach schwa and weak forms |
| Portuguese | vowels | high | /ɪ/-/iː/ and /æ/-/e/ confusion; nasalised vowels | live/leave, bad/bed | Minimal pairs |
| Portuguese | final consonants | medium | Adds /i/ after final consonants | bookie for book, Facebooky | Hold the final consonant without release |
| Portuguese | h | medium | Initial /h/ dropped or pronounced as /r/-like sound (Brazil) | hello -> ello / rello | Breathy h: feel air on hand |
| Portuguese | th | low | /θ/ -> /f/ or /t/ | think -> fink | Tongue position |
| French | h | medium | /h/ dropped or added | 'appy, h-apple | Breath on hand |
| French | th | low | /θ/ -> /s/ or /z/ | think -> sink | Tongue between teeth |
| French | vowels | high | /ɪ/-/iː/ merged | it/eat | Minimal pairs |
| French | word stress | high | Stress on the final syllable | comPUTer -> compuTER | Stress patterns with clapping; dictionary marks |
| German | final devoicing | medium | Final voiced consonants devoiced | bad -> bat, dog -> dock | Lengthen the vowel before voiced finals |
| German | w/v | medium | /w/ -> /v/ | wine -> vine | Round lips for /w/ |
| German | th | low | /θ/ -> /s/, /ð/ -> /z/ | think -> sink | Tongue position |
| German | æ/e | medium | /æ/ and /e/ merged | bad/bed | Open jaw for /æ/ |
| Italian | final consonants | medium | Adds a vowel after final consonants | big-a | Hold final consonant |
| Italian | vowels | high | /ɪ/-/iː/, /æ/-/ʌ/ confusion | hit/heat | Minimal pairs |
| Italian | h | medium | /h/ dropped | 'ouse | Breath on hand |
| Arabic | p/b | high | /p/ pronounced as /b/ | park -> bark, pen -> ben | Paper strip test: /p/ makes it move |
| Arabic | v/f | medium | /v/ -> /f/ | very -> fery | Voice: hand on throat |
| Arabic | vowels | high | /ɪ/-/e/ and /ɒ/-/ʊ/ confusion | bit/bet | Minimal pairs |
| Arabic | consonant clusters | high | Inserts vowels in clusters | street -> istreet, children -> childiren | Back-chaining |
| Arabic | rhotic r | low | Trilled or tapped r | | Usually intelligible |
| Mandarin | final consonants | high | Drops or adds a vowel after final consonants (few in Mandarin) | good -> goo / gooda | Hold finals; linking to next word |
| Mandarin | l/n and l/r | high | /l/-/n/ confusion (regional); /r/-/l/ | night/light, right/light | Nose airflow for /n/; tongue tip for /l/ |
| Mandarin | th | medium | /θ/ -> /s/ or /f/; /ð/ -> /d/ or /z/ | think -> sink | Tongue position |
| Mandarin | v/w | medium | /v/ -> /w/ | very -> wery | Teeth on lip |
| Mandarin | stress and rhythm | high | Equal stress on syllables; tones on words | | Stress-timed rhythm, weak forms, nuclear stress |
| Cantonese | final consonants | high | Unreleased or dropped final stops | lap -> la | Release finals in drills |
| Cantonese | n/l | high | /n/ and /l/ interchangeable | night/light | Nose airflow |
| Cantonese | consonant clusters | high | Simplifies clusters | street -> seet | Back-chaining |
| Japanese | l/r | high | /l/-/r/ not distinguished | light/right, glass/grass | Tongue tip contact for /l/; no contact for /r/ |
| Japanese | vowel insertion | high | Adds vowels after consonants (CV syllables) | strike -> sutoraiku | Count syllables; clusters |
| Japanese | v/b | medium | /v/ -> /b/ | very -> berry | Teeth on lip |
| Japanese | th | medium | /θ/ -> /s/ | think -> sink | Tongue position |
| Japanese | stress | high | Pitch accent; stress not marked by length | | Stress with longer, louder vowels |
| Korean | p/f and b/v | high | /f/ -> /p/, /v/ -> /b/ | coffee -> copy, very -> berry | Teeth on lip |
| Korean | l/r | high | /l/-/r/ confusion | rice/lice | Tongue contact |
| Korean | z/dʒ | medium | /z/ -> /dʒ/ | zoo -> joo | Continuous buzz for /z/ |
| Korean | final consonants | medium | Adds /ɯ/ after final consonants | | Hold finals |
| Vietnamese | final consonants | high | Drops or unreleases final consonants and -s/-ed | five -> fi, cats -> cat | Final consonant drills; plurals |
| Vietnamese | consonant clusters | high | Simplifies clusters | street -> seet | Back-chaining |
| Vietnamese | stress and rhythm | high | Tone language; equal syllable weight | | Stress and weak forms |
| Thai | final consonants | high | Final /s/, /l/, /v/ changed or dropped | bus -> but, school -> schoon | Final consonant drills |
| Thai | clusters | high | Simplifies clusters | | Back-chaining |
| Russian | vowels | high | /ɪ/-/iː/, /æ/-/e/ confusion; vowel reduction differs | ship/sheep, bad/bed | Minimal pairs |
| Russian | w/v | medium | /w/ -> /v/ | west -> vest | Round lips |
| Russian | h | medium | /h/ -> /x/ (harsh) | | Softer breath |
| Russian | final devoicing | medium | Final voiced consonants devoiced | bag -> back | Vowel length cue |
| Polish | vowels | high | /ɪ/-/iː/ and /æ/-/e/ | | Minimal pairs |
| Polish | final devoicing | medium | bad -> bat | | Vowel length cue |
| Polish | th, w | medium | th -> /f/ /t/ /s/; w -> /v/ | | Tongue and lip position |
| Turkish | w/v | medium | /w/ and /v/ confused | wine/vine | Lip rounding vs teeth on lip |
| Turkish | initial clusters | high | Inserts vowels | school -> ischool | Back-chaining |
| Turkish | vowels | medium | /æ/-/e/ | | Minimal pairs |
| Hindi/Urdu | v/w | medium | /v/ and /w/ merged | vest/west | Lip shapes |
| Hindi/Urdu | retroflex t/d | low | Retroflex /t/ /d/ | | Usually intelligible |
| Hindi/Urdu | initial s-clusters | medium | Adds /ɪ/ before s-clusters (Urdu, some Hindi speakers) | school -> ischool | Hissing start |
| Hindi/Urdu | stress | medium | Stress on different syllables | | Dictionary stress patterns |
| Persian | initial clusters | high | Adds /e/ before s-clusters | street -> estreet | Hissing start |
| Persian | w/v | medium | /w/ -> /v/ | | Lip rounding |
| Indonesian | final consonants | medium | Unreleased finals; -s and -ed dropped | | Final consonant drills |
| Indonesian | th, f/p | medium | th -> /t/ /d/; /f/ -> /p/ in some speakers | | Tongue and lip position |