English Pronunciation for Japanese Speakers: 7 Sound Fixes
ESL Pronunciation • QuickPronounce Team • 9 min read • August 21, 2026
Japanese organises speech into neat consonant-plus-vowel units, while English strings consonants together and ends words hard. Almost every Japanese-English gap traces back to that one structural difference.
The Seven Sound Fixes
Each fix targets a sound English uses that Japanese does not, or uses differently. Work through one sound per day rather than all seven at once.
/l/ vs /r/
The mistake: One Japanese liquid covers both, so “light” and “right” sound identical.
The fix: /l/: tongue tip taps firmly behind the top teeth. /r/: tongue curls back without touching, lips slightly rounded. Alternate slowly: lay-ray, lock-rock, collect-correct.
Practise with: light, right, really, library
Extra vowels (epenthesis)
The mistake: “drink” becomes “dorinku”; “club” becomes “kurabu”.
The fix: Whisper the word first to find where you sneak in u/o, then squeeze those vowels out. Hold the first consonant longer instead: d-rink, c-lub.
Practise with: drink, club, six, text
Final consonants
The mistake: “bus” becomes “basu”; “big” loses its g or gains a vowel.
The fix: End words with silent contact: put the articulators in place and simply stop. Practise three-beat endings: bi-g, ba-s, ca-t with no vowel tail.
Practise with: bus, big, cat, month
/v/ vs /b/
The mistake: “violin” becomes “baiolin” because Japanese borrows v as b.
The fix: Top teeth rest on the lower lip while buzzing. If it feels impossible, start from f and add voice: ffff-vvv. Pairs: boat-vote, berry-very, best-vest.
Practise with: violin, very, seven, love
/f/ vs /h/
The mistake: Japanese f is soft and bilabial, so “fan” drifts toward “han” or a puffy f.
The fix: Touch top teeth lightly to the lower lip and push steady air. It is a true fricative, not a blow. Pairs: fat-hat, fine-whine contrast, coffee.
Practise with: fan, coffee, office, life
/s/ vs /ʃ/ before i
The mistake: “see” becomes “shee” because Japanese si is pronounced shi.
The fix: Keep the tongue forward and flat for /s/, corners of mouth unrounded. Only round and retract for /ʃ/. Pairs: sea-she, sit-sheet, mass-mash.
Practise with: see, sit, pass, she
/θ/ and /ð/
The mistake: “three” becomes “suri” or “zree”; “this” becomes “dis”.
The fix: Tongue tip to the teeth edges, air flowing steadily. Practise after /f/ since the mouth position is close: fan-then, free-three, day-they.
Practise with: three, thank, this, together
Daily Drill
Daily whisper-then-say routine: whisper “DRINK SIX CUPS of COFFEE with THREE FRIENDS on the BUS”, finding and removing hidden vowels, then say it aloud at normal speed with crisp endings.
Check Every Word by Ear
All practice words above exist on QuickPronounce. Search any word, play the audio in both American and British accents, then repeat it three times before moving on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do katakana loanwords make things harder?
Katakana adds vowels that English does not have (dorinku). Train directly from audio, not spelling, and treat loanword pronunciation as a separate skill.
What is the fastest way to hear my own errors?
Record yourself reading one paragraph, wait an hour, then listen with headphones. Distance plus headphones reveals epenthesis and missing finals immediately.
Related pronunciation guides
- IPA Guide: Master Pronunciation Symbols
- Connected Speech Guide for Natural Rhythm
- Word Stress Rules Guide
About the author
Krishna Golwala — Founder, QuickPronounce