Korean

Study the whole book, but also pay special attention to the topics outlined below. These are common areas of difficulty for Korean speakers of English.

Consonants

Confusing /r/ and /l/

Study Chapter Three to learn the difference between these two sounds and do all of the r and l exercises in Chapter Four.  Be especially careful about the r and l when they are near each other as in: entirely, rarely, and barely.

Pronouncing Both /n/ + /l/

Because a similar tongue position is used to pronounce both /n/ and /l/, there is a tendency for Koreans to pronounce them as one when they are next to each other.  Make sure you clearly pronounce both sounds in the following words: unless, only, suddenly, mainly

The /w/ Sound

Review the section on the /w/ sound in Chapter Four. Make sure that you are producing a puff of air and that your vocal cords are vibrating as you produce this sound. Don’t say “I us,” say “I was.” Pay special attention to the w in the middle of words and to words that begin with qu. Remember, qu sounds like /kw/ as in question. Don’t say “/kes/ + tion,” say “/kwes/ + tion.”

Here are some commonly mispronounced words with a /w/ sound: 

1. twelve
2. forward
3. question
4. quit
5. someone (one = “won”)
6. always
7. would
8. inquire
9. somewhere
10. overwhelmed
11. quiet
12. language (u = /w/)

Confusing /b/ and /v/

Review the exercises in Chapter Four. Remember, the /b/ sound requires the lips to be completely closed, with no air coming out, whereas the /v/ sound only involves the lower lip, which touches the upper teeth and creates a vibrating air flow. Be particularly careful with words that contain both a b and v or when these sounds are close together as in: Beverly, November, vibrate, available, I’ve been, and very big.

Confusing /p/ and /f/

Because the /f/ does not exist in Korean, there is a tendency to put the lips together and form a /p/ sound instead. This type of mistake is parallel to the /v/ and /b/ confusion, and it requires you to focus on using either two lips or just the lower lip. Be particularly careful with words that contain both a p and an f or when these two sounds are close together as in: perfect, perform, puffy, helpful, full page, and cup of coffee.

Word Contrasts for Practice

Make sure you pronounce the words in each pair below differently.

Practice Sentences

1. That’s a perfect performance.
2. I will pay up front for the fans.
3. I prefer to have coffee before five pm.
4. Do you feel that I improved my French?

Confusing /z/ and /ʤ/

The following words all have a /z/ sound but they are commonly mispronounced with a /ʤ/ sound. Review Chapter Three which discusses the correct tongue positions for these sounds.

disease, zoo, business, transition, physician, thousand, desire, result, design, busy, exaggerate*, exist*

*The x in the words exaggerate and exist is pronounced as /gz/.

Word Contrasts for Practice

Make sure you pronounce the words in each pair below differently.

Confusing /ʒ/ and /ʤ/

Both the /ʒ/ (as in beige) and the /dʒ/ sound (as in orange) are voiced. The easiest way to fix the problem of confusing these two sounds is to practice pronouncing their voiceless pairs. First say the sh sound as in shoes and then add the vibration to the vocal cords. That will produce the /ʒ/ sound. Now say the ch sound as in choose. If you add vibration and make it voiced, that produces the /ʤ/ sound. So, if you can pronounce shoes and choose differently, you can also pronounce massage (/ʒ/) and message (/ʤ/) differently. Below are a few common words with the /ʒ/ sound: usual, beige, Asian, garage, prestige, vision, occasion, regime

The th sound

Review Chapters Three and Four to learn the correct pronunciation of this sound. A common mistake is to substitute a /t/ or a /d/ for th.

Vowels

It is recommended that you study all of the American vowel sounds in detail. (See Chapters One and Two.) However, pay special attention to the vowel sounds highlighted below.

Confusing /æ/ and /ɛ/

The sounds /æ/ (as in bad) and /ɛ/ (as in bed) are often confused by native Korean speakers. Review Chapters One and Two for more explanations and exercises related to these sounds.

Word Contrasts for Practice

Make sure you pronounce the words in each pair below differently.

The /ɔ/ Sound

Be careful that your /ɔ/ sound (as in saw) is not influenced by the very different British version of this sound. In British English pause sounds almost like “pose,” but in American English it sounds much more like /pɑz/, and has the same /ɑ/ sound as in father or watch.

Word Contrasts for Practice

Don’t pronounce the two words in each pair the same way.

Syllable Stress

There is a tendency for Koreans to stress the first syllable of words. Review Chapter Five on syllable stress and continuously practice saying longer words while checking that you are stressing the right syllable. Don’t assume the first syllable is the one to be stressed.

Word Stress

Just as Koreans tend to stress the first syllable of a word, they also tend to stress the first word of each sentence. Try to break this pattern. Practice the rules of word stress as outlined in Chapters Six and Seven.