English Pronunciation for Vietnamese Students

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 Areas of Difficulty for Vietnamese Speakers
Consonants:

I.  /p/, /t/, and /k/ in word final position

Pronounce the final sound in these words carefully:

Carp          snap     flop      flap      flip       strap    strip     shrimp
Flat            beat      taught  caught  might   right     fight     blight
Back          smack  Jack     stack    milk     flick     flak      rack 

II.   /p/, /t/, /k/ vs. /b/, /d/, /g/ in word final position

Distinguish between voiceless and voiced stops in word final position in the following pairs of words:
kelp           crab                 bat       bad                  back     bag
Cap            cab                   mat      mad                 snack   snag
Flap           flab                  fat        fad                   flack    flag
Tap            tab                   bleat     bleed                brick    brig
Mop          mob                 flight    flied                 buck    bug

III.  /f/, /v/, /th/, /TH/, /s/, /z/, /S/, and /Z/ in word final position

Fricatives do not occur in word final position in Vietnamese.  As a result, Vietnamese speakers of English tend to omit them at the end of words.  Be sure to pronounce the final sound in the following words:

Strife         knife    wife     rife       stiff      sniff     miff     cliff
Rave          cave     five      glove   strove  cleave  grieve  strive
Breath        truth     with     mirth    girth     filth      birth     width
Breathe      clothe   bathe    blithe   lathe     loath    scathe
Bass          grass    floss    gross   moss    brass    mass    pass
Breeze       flees     sneeze  amaze  phrase  graze    braise   browse
Wash         crash    clash    smash  flash    blush   flush    bush
Beige         garage              barrage            fuselage           mirage 

IV.   Consonant Clusters

Consonant clusters do not exist in Vietnamese.  As a result, Vietnamese speakers of English, tend to delete one of the consonants from the cluster.  Practice pronouncing these clusters in word initial and word final position.

Pleasure                 pleasant           Plymouth         plight               plenty 
Present                  prudent            pregnant          prayer              pride
Blatant                   blame               blither              bland               bloom
Brew                     brisk                brawl               brainy              brink
Treasure                trash                trawl                trekker             trim
Twister                  twins               tweak               tweeter             tweed
Drain                     dream              dreadful           drudgery          dragnet
Clean                     clump              clasp                cloud               climb
Cream                    crammer          Creole              crispy              crowd
Queen                    quail                quaint              quality             quirky
Gleam                    glaze                glistening         glamour           glitz
Grammar               grail                 grilled              grotesque         grasp
Flame                    flask                flipping            flap                  flout
Frame                    frisk                 frown              frivolous          freed
Thrash                   three                thriller              through            throw
Slither                    slowly             slide                 slaughter          slimy
Spittoon                 special             spangled          sprinkle           spend
Stone                     stumble            studious           stinging           steam
School                   scholastic         scholar             schematic         schema
Smoldering            smiling smudge            smelting           smut
Snort                     snowing          snack               snicker             snuck
Sphere                   sphinx            
Shriek                    shrink              shrouded         shrimp             shred
Splice                    splinter            split                 spleen             
Spring                   sprain              sprayer            sprout              spring
String                    strainer            strumming       stream              striker
Screw                    scrawny           scream             scrooge            scrub
Squint                    squirt               squeak             squeeze           
Stump                    bump               clump              hump               dump
Rant                       grant                pant                 scant                mint
Hand                     grand               brand               bland               blind
Tense                     fragrance         commence       competence      fence
Tenth                     plinth               fifteenth           sixteenth          ninth
Wrench                  stench              bench               brunch             lunch
Strange                  arrange            derange            scrounge          lounge
Think                     blink                sink                 brink                stink
Help                      kelp                 yelp                
Welt                       smelt                kilt                   knelt                belt
Old                        gold                 cold                 child                wild
Milk                      silk                  sulk                 bulk                 bilk
Harp                      carp                 slurp                burp                 warp
Art                         smart               start                 fart                   cart
                              Cord                      gourd               afford              board               ford
                              Serve                     nerve               starve               horse d’oeuvre
                              Earth                      hearth              birth                 mirth                firth
                              Course                   force                remorse           hoarse              Morse
                              Arch                      starch               birch                march              lurch
                              Barge                     surge               merge              splurge            forge
                              Arm                       farm                 squirm             firm                 worm
                              Barn                      fern                  stern                burn                 worn

V. /th/ vs. / /
 Pronounce the following minimal pairs carefully:

Breath/breathe       bath/bathe        cloth/clothe      
                              
                              Now try this tongue twister:
Those three thieves threw thirteen things in the thicket of thorn trees.                

VI. /ch/ in word final position
Pronounce the final sound in the following words carefully.

                              March        search              birch                starch               arch     lurch

VII. /p/ vs/ /f/ and /b/                             
Since /p/ does not occur in word initial position in Vietnamese, Vietnamese speakers of English substitute either a /b/ or a /f/ for the English /p/.  Distinguish between the following pairs of words as you learn to pronounce the English /p/.

Put             foot                              Peter                beater
Pat             fat                                pent                 bent
Pest           fest                              pill                   bill
Pete           feet                              peer                 beer
Pool           fool                              pain                 bane

Vowels:
I. /I/ vs. /i:/
Make the distinction between the short and long vowels in the following minimal pairs:

Hit             fit         sit        fill        live      hid       mitt      kill
      Heat           feet      seat      feel      leave    heed     meet     keel     
           
II. /e/ vs. /ei/
Practice pronouncing the short and long vowels in the following minimal pairs:

Met            red       led       fed       wed     med     sell       set
Mate          raid      laid      fade     wade    maid    sale      sate

III. /U/ vs. /u:/
Make the distinction between the short and long vowels in the following word pairs:

Full                        foot                  should                         book
                              fool                        food                 shoot                           boot

IV.   /e/ vs. /ae/

Distinguish between the short vowel and the diphthong as your pronounce the following minimal pairs:

      Met            set                    fed                   led                   wed
                              mat            sat                    fad                   lad                   wad


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