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 |
academic-english-eap-course-planner
Plan English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses: pre-sessional, in-sessional, foundation, IELTS preparation and discipline-specific EAP, with syllabus strands (academic reading, lecture listening and note-taking, essay and report writing, paraphrase, summary and synthesis, referencing and plagiarism, seminars and presentations, academic vocabulary, critical thinking), a 10-week pre-sessional outline, exit assessment, IELTS-CEFR alignment and academic style (formality, hedging, cohesion, reporting verbs). Estimates study hours and weeks to close an IELTS gap from overall or per-skill scores (IELTS rounding, minimum per skill, priority skills, feasibility before a deadline), and checks learner texts for contractions, informal words with academic alternatives, unhedged claims, 'you', And/But/So starts, rhetorical questions and missing citations.
actfl-proficiency-curriculum-mapper
Map world language curricula to the ACTFL framework: proficiency levels (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, Distinguished with sublevels), functions, contexts, text types and accuracy, proficiency vs performance, the three modes of communication (interpretive, interpersonal, presentational), the 5 Cs World-Readiness Standards, backward-designed thematic units with Integrated Performance Assessments, typical programme targets and FSI time estimates. Looks up approximate ACTFL-CEFR-ILR equivalences with what each level can do, and checks a unit map for missing modes, rehearsed skits mislabelled as interpersonal, translation or word lists as interpretive tasks, and units without an integrated performance assessment.
adult-literacy-esl-lesson-builder
Build lessons for adult ESL learners who are developing literacy (LESLLA learners: pre-literate, non-literate, semi-literate, literate in a non-Roman script): learner profiles and sensitive initial assessment, principles (oral language first, known to new, systematic phonics with adult-relevant text, repetition, classroom skills, respect for experience), a lesson routine (oral warm-up, review, new grapheme, blending, segmenting, decodable text, writing, functional literacy, Language Experience Approach), a phonics sequence for adults, sight words, functional literacy targets (forms, signs, medicine labels) and portfolio assessment. Checks whether a reading text is decodable with the letter-sound patterns and sight words taught so far, catching untaught digraphs, listing non-decodable words with the untaught part, and suggesting the most useful next patterns.
authentic-material-lesson-adapter
Turn authentic material (news articles, podcasts, videos, songs, menus, timetables, adverts, social media posts, forms, infographics) into language lessons by grading the task rather than the text. Selects texts for interest, relevance, exploitability, coverage, cultural load and rights; finds the 4-6 words to pre-teach, words to gloss on the page and words learners can ignore, plus names and cultural references to explain, with reading time by level; and builds a lesson shape (lead-in, pre-teach, gist or scanning, graded detail task, language focus on chunks and register, response) with task ideas per material type and level from A1 to C1. Covers copyright, fair dealing and fair use, Creative Commons and attribution.
can-do-statement-writer
Write and review can-do statements for language courses, units, lessons and learner self-assessment, CEFR or NCSSFL-ACTFL style: action (observable verb) + text or situation + level-specific conditions, learner ('I can') and descriptor ('Can') versions, progressions of one activity from A1 to C1, and coverage of reception, production, interaction and mediation. Includes a verb bank by mode and level and condition and text-type banks. Lints statements for teacher-centred phrasing, knowledge instead of use (learn, know, understand the passive), missing context, two skills in one statement, vague quality words, grammar items as outcomes, overlong statements and missing modes in a set.
cefr-aligned-syllabus-builder
Build language course syllabuses aligned to the CEFR (A1-C2, plus levels, Companion Volume 2020): entry and exit levels, guided learning hours and course length (with an L1-distance adjustment), syllabus type (topic, functional-notional, task-based, skills-based, multi-strand), unit-by-unit can-do outcomes, grammar from a core inventory by level, vocabulary, functions, pronunciation, balance of reception, production, interaction and mediation, recycling and assessment points. Checks a syllabus for units without can-do statements, core grammar for the level not covered, items above the course level, skills missing from most units and units with no vocabulary or functions.