The Top 5 Pronunciation Mistakes ESL Learners Make (and How to Fix Them Fast)

When it comes to speaking English, clarity matters more than having a “perfect” accent.

⭐️ In fact, the idea of a perfect accent is nonsense. ⭐️

Your accent is fine! What usually needs attention is pronunciation.

The good news is that most learners trip up on the same handful of pronunciation mistakes. Once you know them, you can fix them quickly.

Here are the top five pronunciation mistakes I hear all the time, plus simple ways to correct them.

Here are the top five pronunciation mistakes I hear all the time,

plus simple ways to correct them.

1

The “TH” Sound Trouble

The mistake: Many learners replace /θ/ (as in think) with /s/ or /t/, and /ð/ (as in this) with /d/ or /z/.

The fix: Stick your tongue lightly between your teeth and blow air for /θ/. For /ð/, add vibration in your voice.

🎧 Thick - sink - tink

🎧 This - dis - zis

On a side note: yes, some native speakers drop or replace both “th” sounds in everyday speech, and that’s perfectly fine. But remember, native speakers also have native-level rhythm, intonation, and word stress. All of which contribute to sounding natural and being understood. Unless you’re already very advanced, you’ll benefit more from learning to pronounce “th” correctly first, and then adjust as you become more confident.

2

Dropping Final Consonants

The mistake: Words like cat, need, or work lose their final sounds, which makes sentences harder to understand.

The fix: Exaggerate final consonants when practicing. Read short sentences aloud and over-pronounce the last sound to build muscle memory.

This also applies to plurals—don’t forget to pronounce the final -s.

Say: I need my cat.

Now drop the /d/ and /t/, and it becomes "I nee my ca".

Can you hear how confusing that is?

🎧 I need my cat | I nee my ca

3

Confusing Long and Short Vowels

The mistake: Mixing up ship/sheep or bit/beat. A small vowel slip can completely change the meaning.

The fix: Train your ear with minimal pairs. Record yourself, then compare your speech with a native example to catch the difference.

Link to a Wikipedia article on minimal pairs.

🎧 Ship | sheep

🎧 Bit | beat

Tip: You can use tools like Google Translate or even ChatGPT voice-to-text. Say the word into the microphone and see how it’s transcribed.

If the software writes "sheep" when you said "ship", you'll know your vowel length needs work.

True Story ?

Working in a hotel, my Portuguese colleague asked for a "shit" ? when see wanted a bed ? "sheet".

Mind you, my Portuguese pronunciation is shockingly bad! ?

✅ Want to check how clear your speech is?

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4

Stressing the Wrong Syllable

The mistake: Stressing the wrong syllable, for example saying pro-PER-ly instead of PRO-perly, or com-FORT-able instead of COM-fort-a-ble.

The fix: Learn common word stress patterns and practice with rhythm. Try clapping or tapping the table as you say the stressed syllable. This helps lock in the pattern.

pro-PER-ly - PRO-perly - com-FORT-able - COM-fort-a-ble

As a native English speaker, it's challenging for me to stress the wrong syllable! But, this is my attempt!

Red = wrong

Green = correct

🎧 pro-PER-ly | PRO-perly