Difficult English Sounds
The English sounds learners find hardest – what goes wrong, how to fix it, and where to practise each one.
Schwierige englische Laute: typische Fehler, einfache Tipps und Übungen – besonders für Deutschsprachige.
- 15 problem areas
- Typical mistakes
- Quick fixes
- 10-question quiz
Why Are These Sounds Difficult?
Most difficult sounds either don’t exist in your first language (like th), or exist but are used differently (like the voiced sounds at the end of bad or rise, which German speakers tend to devoice). Many of them change meaning: ship or sheep, bad or bed. Start with the sounds that cause misunderstandings – they matter more than a perfect accent.
1 Difficult Consonants
TH: think, this
Typical mistake: sink, fink or zis.
Fix: put the tip of your tongue lightly between or just behind your top teeth and let the air flow out. /θ/ is voiceless (think, bath), /ð/ is voiced (this, mother).
W vs V: wine, vine
Typical mistake: vine for wine, vest for west.
Fix: for /w/, round your lips like a short “oo” – the teeth don’t touch. For /v/, touch your top teeth to your lower lip.
bad – bat, rise – rice
Typical mistake: German speakers devoice final sounds, so bad sounds like bat.
Fix: make the vowel longer before a voiced ending: ba‑a‑d, ri‑i‑se. The length tells the listener which word you mean.
The -ing sound: sing, singer
Typical mistake: adding a /k/ or /g/: singk, workink, sin-ger.
Fix: end with the back of your tongue up and the air through your nose – nothing after it: singer /ˈsɪŋə/. Exceptions: finger, longer, stronger have /ŋɡ/.
J vs CH: jeep, cheap
Typical mistake: chob for job, choke for joke.
Fix: /dʒ/ is voiced – feel the buzz in your throat. /tʃ/ is voiceless, just air.
S vs SH: sea, she
Typical mistake: mixing them up in sip – ship or seat – sheet.
Fix: for /s/, spread your lips slightly; for /ʃ/, push them forward and round them.
2 Difficult Vowels
ship – sheep, live – leave
Typical mistake: one vowel for both words.
Fix: /ɪ/ is short and relaxed; /iː/ is long, with spread lips like a smile.
bad – bed, man – men
Typical mistake: German has no /æ/, so bad sounds like bed.
Fix: open your jaw wider for /æ/ – between German “ä” and “a”.
The NURSE vowel: bird, work
Typical mistake: walk for work, or a German “ö” with rounded lips.
Fix: relax your lips completely – no rounding – and hold the sound: wɜːk, bɜːd. In British English there is no /r/.
not – note, cost – coast
Typical mistake: a German “o” for both, so note loses its glide.
Fix: /ɒ/ is short and open. /əʊ/ is a diphthong: start from the schwa and glide towards “oo”.
cut – cart, hut – heart
Typical mistake: the same “a” for both.
Fix: /ʌ/ is short, central and relaxed. /ɑː/ is long and open at the back of the mouth.
The schwa: about, banana
Typical mistake: pronouncing every vowel fully: ba‑NA‑NA.
Fix: unstressed syllables are short and weak: /bəˈnɑːnə/. It’s the most common sound in English.
3 R, L and Consonant Clusters
red, car, here
The tongue curls back without touching anything – no rolled or throat R. After a vowel, the r is silent: car /kɑː/, unless a vowel follows (car‿r‿outside).
feel, milk, people
At the end of a word or before a consonant, raise the back of your tongue for a “darker” L. In people and little, the L forms its own syllable.
months, sixth, texts
Several consonants in a row. Don’t add vowels between them (mon‑uh‑ths). Slow down, then speed up.
4 Quiz and Practice
Choose the best answer. You’ll see the explanation straight away.
A simple routine for any difficult sound
- Hear it: listen to a minimal pair (ship – sheep) until you can hear the difference.
- Feel it: check your lips, tongue and jaw in a mirror.
- Say it slowly: the sound alone, then in words.
- Use it: put the words into short sentences and record yourself.
Pronunciation for German Speakers
The sounds and habits that matter most if German is your first language.
You don’t need a perfect accent. Clear contrasts – ship and sheep, bad and bed, wine and vine – are what make you easy to understand.
Take the free pronunciation test →
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