In our Accent Reduction sessions we see many non-native speakers struggle with certain sounds that don’t exist in their native language. These pronunciation challenges can make speech less clear, leading to misunderstandings or a lack of confidence when speaking. In this article, we’ll break down the most common pronunciation mistakes and provide simple, effective strategies to correct them and immediately improve your American accent.

Master These 6 Tricky Sounds to Speak English More Clearly

1. The ‘TH’ Sound (Voiced and Voiceless)

The Mistake:

Many non-native American English speakers replace the voiced TH (/ð/) (as in this, that, the) with a D or Z sound (zis instead of this), and the voiceless TH (/θ/) (as in think, three) with S or T (sree instead of three). (Note that TH is the most frequent consonant sound in English so if you are missing these it will be pretty obvious!)

How to Fix It:

• Place the tip of your tongue between your teeth so that a small part of it sticks out, then gently blow air out.
• Now move the tongue tip back behind your teeth – the tongue should not be visible during speech – and blow air out again .
• You may feel the tongue tip fully or partially touching the back of the upper front teeth
• For voiced ‘TH’ (/ð/), gently vibrate your vocal cords as you say words like this, those, mother.
• For voiceless ‘TH’ (/θ/), blow air out softly without using your voice, as in think, thanks, both.
• Try minimal pairs: sink/think, den/then, tin/thin.

Here is an exception: have you ever had trouble pronouncing the word “months”? It’s a truly awkward word because it contains 3 consecutive consonant sounds  (N+TH+S). American English native speakers often omit the TH and say “muns”. This is preferable to omitting the plural S, which we find many of our clients do to make the pronunciation of this word easier. You will not sound “accented” by omitting the TH but you will if you omit the S. 

2. The American ‘R’ 

The Mistake:

Speakers of many languages (such as Spanish, French, and Japanese) struggle with the American R sound. They may roll it (like in Spanish) or produce a softer, guttural version (like in French).

There are 2 versions of R in American English: the consonant form that precedes a vowel (as in robot and around) and the rhotic form that follows a vowel and “colors” it (airport, boring, actor).  Many non-native speakers who learned British pronunciation were not taught R-coloring and have to learn it during their American accent training.

How to Fix It:

• For consonant R: Curl the tip of your tongue slightly upward and back, but don’t let it touch the roof of your mouth.
• Keep your tongue tense and pulled back in your mouth. You may feel the sides of the tongue touching the upper molar teeth. 
• Practice words like red, right, run with an exaggerated R sound to develop muscle memory.
• For R-colored vowels: begin with the root vowel sound before raising the tongue tip and pulling it back. For example, to say the ER sound, begin with a relaxed, sustained UHHHH sound; for AR, begin with a sustained AHHHH. Let the tongue do the work (vs. the jaw).

3. Short and Long Vowel Differences

The Mistake:

Many non-native speakers struggle with the difference between short and long vowels, which can completely change the meaning of a word (e.g., ship vs. sheep).

How to Fix It:

• Short vowels (as in sit, bed, cat, hot, put) are quick and relaxed.
• Long vowels (as in seat, bead, gate, coat, food) are held longer and have more tension.
• Practice minimal pairs: bit vs. beat, not vs. note, luck vs. Luke.
• Use a mirror to watch your mouth shape—long vowels usually require your lips to be more rounded or stretched.

4. The ‘V’ and ‘W’ Confusion

The Mistake:

Many speakers (especially from Indian, Russian, and German backgrounds) mix up V and W, saying wery instead of very or vet instead of wet.

How to Fix It:

• For ‘V’ (/v/): Place your top teeth lightly on your bottom lip and vibrate your vocal cords (van, very, voice).
• For ‘W’ (/w/): Round your lips and gently push them forward (win, water, west). 
• Exaggerate the difference: “ Victor wants a very warm vest.”

5. Dropping Final Consonants

The Mistake:

Speakers of languages like Mandarin and Spanish sometimes drop final consonants, making bad sound like ba/ or desk sound like de/.

How to Fix It:

• Focus on fully pronouncing the last sound in words like big, dog, jump, test.
• Record yourself speaking and check if you’re dropping endings.
• Practice word pairs: bet vs. bed, cat vs. cad, back vs. bag.

Note that native AE speakers often change the pronunciation of certain phonemes depending on where the sound falls in a word . For example, the T sound at the end of a word  (cat, what, want) should not be exploded as it is initial position of words and stressed syllables (table, hotel). The tongue is in the same position in both cases but, for the final T, you should feel like you are holding your breath after the finishing the word. Go for it, but don’t explode it.

6. The ‘L’ and ‘R’ Mix-Up 

The Mistake:

Since Japanese and Korean don’t have a clear distinction between L and R, many speakers mix them up, saying lice instead of rice.

How to Fix It:

• For ‘L’ (/l/): Touch the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, right behind your upper front teeth (love, lake, leaf).
• For ‘R’ (/ɹ/): Pull your tongue back and don’t touch the roof of your mouth (red, right, run).
• Try this tongue twister: “Red lizards run along long roads.”

Final Tips for Clearer Pronunciation

• Listen carefully to native speakers in movies, podcasts, and YouTube videos.
• Try imitating actors and speakers using the American accent.
• Record yourself and compare with native speech.
• Slow down—rushing leads to more mistakes.
• Practice with minimal pairs (words that differ by one sound).

Would you like help refining specific sounds in your speech? Our expert instructors at AccentsOff can guide you through personalized techniques to improve your clarity and confidence. Set up a free Zoom Discovery Call to learn more.