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ESL forum >
Ask for help > "th" (and other) sound difficulties
"th" (and other) sound difficulties
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stonefarm
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"th" (and other) sound difficulties
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I am a native English speaking speech pathologist and would like to know what sound substitutions and errors esl speakers make when saying the "th" sound.
I would also be very interested to know what other sounds are difficult for esl speaker and the errors that they make - I �d like to make some worksheets specifically targeting these errors.
Thankyou for your help. |
13 Apr 2011
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Diana Parracho
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Hello stonefarm! Well my students work very hard on their accent but even in the little ones there are some sounds that they find difficult to produce, especially when they are reading sentences or a text.
�th �
- most of the times my students simply replace the sound with a �t �, i.e they say "one, two, tree"
- other times they replace it with an �s � sound, so they count "one, two, sree"
- not very often but still it happens, they borrow the �th � sound from words such as "there" and read it as a �d �: "one, two, dree".
(that �s all the replacements I can think of)
Reading the initial �h � properly
- most of my students have a lot of trouble trying to read the initial �h � right, and they eventually mix that sound with words that dont have it. For example they often read "Hi, I �m Michael and I am a hero" like this "I, Hi am Michael and Hi am a ero". Can you understand it?
�library �
I don �t know why, but this is a very difficult word for they to pronunce correctly, they stutter and say a lot of �r �s before getting it more or less right.
Contractions
these are hard to read, especially when a text has a lot of them: I �d, they �re, etc.
That �s all I can think of right now...I �ll tell you if I remember something else!
xxoo
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13 Apr 2011
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kinho
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Brazilians have almost the same difficulty as Diana�s students: they change the " th" sound by "t" , "d" or even worse, "f". Hope it can help you! Anyway, if you need more information, u can contact me... Hugs! |
13 Apr 2011
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MapleLeaf
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I had problems with articulation and speed. Since I speak both languages Ukranian and Russian, my English is very fast and not that word stressed and articulated. So when I speak, the natives ask me to slow down :) and concentrate on syllables. Oh, that �s funny when the same word is being pronounced and not quite understood. But sometimes, it�s almost impossible to slow down. It �s like your nature.
Some words can be practiced like mole, ghost :) with that exaggerated /ou/, mow, goal, code.
Problem might be with /w/ vs /v/ as in very well. or �west � and �vest �.
Stonefarm, Good Luck! :) |
13 Apr 2011
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moravc
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the biggest problem - voiced and voiceless th sound (there are many examples in my Th- project you have)
soft English /R/ pronounced like hard rumbling German R (river = /RiveR/)
 sound (apple, and...)
-ng = /-nk/ , (g = /k/)
w = /v/ (quite common mistake !)
-d- = /-t-/ , -d = /-t/ (bed = /bet/ or /bat/) (sometimes t = /d/)
distinguishing � - ʌ - e - ə
ɒ - ɔː - o
/th/ soud in "this" is often pronounced as /diss/ or /dsis/, th in three -> /free/ or occassionally /tree/ or sometimes /sree/, think - /sink/, thin - /fin/ - /tin/ or even /sin/, some students do not distinguish, hear the difference between thin x thing x think
ng -> nk - gerunds -ing are often pronounced like -ink -> singing = /sinkink/, Sting -> /stink/, -g -> /-k/
a -> /e/ (like E in Emma) - apple pronounced like /epl/ (instead of "aepl"), BAD pronounced like /bed/ or /bet/ -(extremely common mistake!)
the last letter -d -> /-t/
there are problems with letter C, students do not remember when to pronounce c as /k/ and /s/ (cat x cell)
extremely common: strong "r" sound, similar to German r sound (word - /vORd/)
w sound pronounced like v sound - whale -> /veil/
no problems with h- at the beginning of the words- house, hungry, how, Helen... is perfect :-)
If you need a list of mistakes or minimal pairs, send me a list of vocabulary you want to use and I will send you the mispronounced transcriptions...
(wing x vink, strong x stRonk, mad x met, wanted x wantt...)
PS: R is pronounced like /L/ by very small kids (2-3-4-year-olds), if the problem persists they are sent to the speech specialist...
PS 2: It would be great to have a pronounciation worksheet with short and simple stories or new tongue twisters with "difficult" words / sounds...
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13 Apr 2011
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juliag
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As well as the "th" problem others have mentionned - often pronounced as "d" or "s," Japanese students also have huge problems with the difference bewteen "l" and "r." So "red" becomes "led" and vice versa. |
13 Apr 2011
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ellakass
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Our pupils have problems with th (voiced and voiceless) and the same as Diana Parracho is writing:with h-sound.Here it is the influence of Hebrew. Hope your wss can help us.Thank you. |
13 Apr 2011
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lalla99
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My observation is that they feel uncomfortable positioning the tongue between the teeth in order to produce the sound. Romanian students have the same difficulties: most commonly I hear /t/, /d/ and occasionally /s/ depending on the hard or soft �th �. |
13 Apr 2011
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libertybelle
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TH as in thank you is either pronounced tank you or sank you.
(or one, two, tree)
The retroflective R in American English is difficult for people who speak languages where the R is in the back of the throat, but not necessarily gutteral (German, Dutch) - such as French and Danish.
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13 Apr 2011
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chrissmolder
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A good source for you would be Learner English (CUP edited by Swan and Smith).
You can also look here:
http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/phono.html
Th sounds are a common problem for many learners because they are not as universal as many of the other consonant sounds. However Jennifer Jenkins suggests that it may not be a high priority in a pronunciation syllabus for learners of EIL (that is, people learning English in order to speak mainly to other nonnative speakers). (Phonology of English as an International Language, OUP).
Sorry for the lazy referencing 
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13 Apr 2011
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dawnmain
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Spaniards tend to have problems with everything!
/i/ /i:/
s + consonant at the beginning of a word
w often pronounced gw
d + t
all long vowels - /a:/
m at the end of a word
es + ed after a consonant at the end of a word
sh + s
v+b pronounce the same
the list is practically endless
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13 Apr 2011
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