For Mandarin Chinese speakers
All 40 American English sounds
Every target sound in textbook order, with the sound a Mandarin Chinese speaker tends to use instead. Click a kind to open the detail page.
40 of 40
| Sound | As in | You may say | Kind | Salience | Impact | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 /i/ | see | /i/ | Same sound, different production | ●●○○○ | ●●○○○ | consensus |
 /ɪ/ | sit | /i/ | Missing sound | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | consensus |
 /e/ | day | /ei/ | Same sound, different production | ●●○○○ | ●●○○○ | consensus |
 /ɛ/ | bed | /e/ | Missing sound | ●●●○○ | ●●●○○ | consensus |
 /æ/ | cat | /a/ | Two sounds merged | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | consensus |
 /ʌ/ | cup | /a/ | Two sounds merged | ●●●○○ | ●●●○○ | consensus |
 /ə/ | sofa | /ɤ/ | Different distribution | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /ɝ/ | bird | /ɚ/ | Same sound, different production | ●●●○○ | ●●○○○ | consensus |
 /ɑ/ | hot | /a/ | Same sound, different production | ●●○○○ | ●●○○○ | consensus |
 /ɔ/ | law | /o/ | Missing sound | ●●●○○ | ●●●○○ | consensus |
 /o/ | go | /o/ | Same sound, different production | ●●○○○ | ●●○○○ | consensus |
 /ʊ/ | book | /u/ | Missing sound | ●●●○○ | ●●●○○ | consensus |
 /u/ | food | /u/ | Same sound, different production | ●○○○○ | ●○○○○ | consensus |
 /aɪ/ | my | /ai/ | Same sound, different production | ●●○○○ | ●○○○○ | consensus |
 /aʊ/ | how | /au/ | Same sound, different production | ●●○○○ | ●○○○○ | consensus |
 /ɔɪ/ | boy | /oi/ | Missing sound | ●●○○○ | ●●○○○ | consensus |
 /p/ | pen | /p̚, pə/ | Different distribution | ●●●○○ | ●●○○○ | sourced |
 /b/ | bed | /p/ | Missing sound | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /m/ | man | /n/ | Two sounds merged | ●●●○○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
| /w/ | win | no issue here | consensus | |||
 /f/ | fish | Different distribution | ●●●○○ | ●●●○○ | sourced | |
| /v/ | van | /w, f/ | Missing sound | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /θ/ | think | /s, f/ | Missing sound | ●●●●● | ●●●○○ | sourced |
| /ð/ | this | /z, d/ | Missing sound | ●●●●● | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /t/ | top | /t, tʰ/ | Different distribution | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /d/ | dog | /t/ | Missing sound | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /s/ | sun | Different distribution | ●●●●○ | ●●●●○ | sourced | |
 /z/ | zoo | /s/ | Missing sound | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /n/ | no | /ŋ/ | Two sounds merged | ●●●○○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /l/ | light | /u, ə/ | Missing sound | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /r/ | red | /ʐ, l/ | Different distribution | ●●●●● | ●●●●○ | consensus |
 /ʃ/ | ship | /ʂ, ɕ/ | Same sound, different production | ●●○○○ | ●○○○○ | consensus |
 /ʒ/ | vision | /ʃ, z/ | Missing sound | ●●●○○ | ●●○○○ | sourced |
 /tʃ/ | chair | /ʈʂʰ, tɕʰ/ | Same sound, different production | ●●○○○ | ●○○○○ | consensus |
 /dʒ/ | jump | /ʈʂ, tʃ/ | Missing sound | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
| /j/ | yes | no issue here | consensus | |||
 /k/ | cat | /k̚, kə/ | Different distribution | ●●●○○ | ●●○○○ | sourced |
 /g/ | go | /k/ | Missing sound | ●●●●○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /ŋ/ | sing | /n/ | Two sounds merged | ●●●○○ | ●●●○○ | sourced |
 /h/ | house | /x/ | Same sound, different production | ●●○○○ | ●○○○○ | consensus |