English for Hindi and Urdu Speakers: Pronunciation and Accent Help

I'm Julie Cunningham, MA, CCC-SLP, a licensed speech-language pathologist. I help Hindi and Urdu speakers speak American English clearly and confidently.

Words like hat and hot can sound alike to many Hindi/Urdu speakers. Choose Hindi/Urdu in the free 2-minute American English accent test to check the sounds that are often hard for you.

To see which sounds in your own sentences are often hard for Hindi/Urdu speakers, type them into my free American English IPA translator. It marks those sounds for you, like the V in very and the W in west.

Prefer one-on-one help? See my private accent reduction training.

You can start for free with English Pro Lite, my online American accent course, with 45 lessons and 2.5 hours of video.

English Pro is my full program, for intermediate learners and above. It's $49.99 a month or $479 for lifetime access, with a 10-day money-back guarantee.

Are you a native Hindi or Urdu speaker who:

uses a tapped or trilled R (with the tongue tip touching the roof of the mouth) in words like world, very, and correct?
has trouble using American English intonation patterns?
isn't sure how to pronounce W and V in words like went and vent?

American English Pronunciation for Hindi and Urdu Speakers: Top 5 Pronunciation Challenges

These are the five areas my Hindi- and Urdu-speaking students work on most. I explain each one below, and you can practice with my free video lessons.

Hindi/Urdu Challenge #1: Intonation

Hindi/Urdu intonation is often described as "curly" or "rolling," with lots of highs and lows in pitch across the sentence. Hindi/Urdu speakers may also raise their pitch on the last word of a thought group or sentence. American English intonation works very differently.

In American English, a higher pitch is one of the main ways we show which syllable is stressed. So when there are too many ups and downs on too many words, it's hard for the listener to tell which words are the important ones.

Intonation matters as much as your words, vowels, and consonants. It's a big part of what your sentence means.

How to Pronounce American English Intonation

In typical American English intonation, the highest pitch goes on one or two focus words in each thought group, and the other words stay lower. The last content word of a sentence may also be stressed, but remember that this isn't always the last word of the sentence.

To learn more about American English intonation patterns, watch the videos below.

Hindi/Urdu Challenge #2: Stop Consonants P/B, T/D, K/G

Hindi and Urdu have many more ways to pronounce stop consonants than American English does. (Last time I counted, Hindi and Urdu had eight different T and D sounds!) With so many options, it can be hard to know which one to use in English.

In American English, aspiration is one of the main ways we tell these sounds apart. Aspiration is the small puff of air after P, T, and K at the start of a stressed syllable. It's what separates the P in pear from the B in bear, the T in two from the D in do, and the K in came from the G in game.

Without that puff of air, pear, two, and came may sound like bear, do, and game, and the listener can get confused.

The other challenge is where the tongue goes for T and D. In Hindi and Urdu, T and D can be retroflex: the tongue tip curls up and back, and the underside of the tip touches the roof of the mouth.

American English T and D are made with the tip of the tongue instead, touching the gum ridge just behind the upper teeth.

How to Pronounce American English Stop Consonants P/B, T/D, K/G

To learn how to pronounce the American English stop consonants P/B, T/D, and K/G, watch the videos below.

Hindi/Urdu Challenge #3: The American R /ɹ/ Sound

The American R /ɹ/ can work as a consonant or as a vowel, depending on where it is in a word. R is a consonant at the start of a word or syllable, and in clusters like bread. When it comes after a vowel in the same syllable, as in party, it works like a vowel. Both kinds of R can be tricky for Hindi and Urdu speakers.

Download a free PDF: How to Pronounce the American R /ɹ/ Sound

For the American R, as a consonant or a vowel, your tongue tip never touches the roof of your mouth. In Hindi and Urdu, R is usually tapped or trilled: the tongue tip quickly touches the roof of the mouth.

Most Americans are used to hearing a tapped or trilled R, because many languages use it, like Spanish, Arabic, and Portuguese. But it can make your listener focus on your accent instead of on what you're saying.

How to Pronounce the American English R Sound

It's all about where your tongue is. Make your tongue wide, and press its sides against the inside of your upper back teeth or gums.

Then either pull the tongue tip back into the body of the tongue (the "bunched" R), or curl it up (the "retroflex" R). In both cases, the tip stays off the roof of your mouth.

To learn how to make the American R, watch the videos below.

Hindi/Urdu Challenge #4: V /v/ and W /w/ Consonants

In Hindi and Urdu, W /w/ and V /v/ are the same sound. Speakers may use them interchangeably, or use a sound in between: the labiodental /ʋ/.

For /ʋ/, the top teeth almost touch the bottom lip, but not firmly enough to stop the air. It has a little bit of V /v/ and a little bit of W /w/.

Because of this, Hindi and Urdu speakers may swap V /v/ and W /w/ in English, so very sounds like wary.

That can confuse listeners, because English has many word pairs like this: west/vest, very/wary, and went/vent.

How to Pronounce the V /v/ and W /w/ Consonants in American English

The key to a clear V /v/ and W /w/ is your lips. For W /w/, your lips don't touch anything. Shape them as if you're about to say the OO /u/ vowel in "blue."

For OO /u/, your lips round into a small circle and push forward, away from your teeth. Your lips do the same thing for W /w/.

For V /v/, lift your upper lip a little to show your upper teeth. Then let your upper teeth lightly touch the inside of your lower lip. Teeth to lower lip; not lip to lip.

Watch the videos below to learn more about the V /v/ and W /w/ consonants.

Hindi/Urdu Challenge #5: AA /æ/ and AH /ɑ/ Vowels

Hindi and Urdu use the AA /æ/ vowel, but mostly in words borrowed from English. Because it isn't very common, it can be hard to say accurately in American English.

Download a free PDF: The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) of the American English Vowels

AA /æ/ is an open front vowel, like in apple, last, and class. Many Hindi and Urdu speakers say it with their lips too rounded and their tongue too low, so it sounds more like AH /ɑ/.

So last class sounds closer to lost closs. This can confuse listeners, because swapping AH /ɑ/ for AA /æ/ makes many real word pairs: lost/last, gloss/glass, and moss/mass.

How to Pronounce the AA /æ/ and AH /ɑ/ Vowels in American English

To practice these two vowels, watch the videos below.

What are the biggest American English pronunciation challenges for Hindi and Urdu speakers?

The five I see most are intonation, the stop consonants P/B, T/D and K/G, the American R, the V and W consonants, and the AA and AH vowels. Each one has a free video lesson on this page.

Why is the T sound hard for Hindi and Urdu speakers?

Hindi and Urdu have more ways to say stop consonants than American English does. In Hindi and Urdu, T and D are often made with the tongue tip curled back (a retroflex position). In American English, the tongue tip touches the gum ridge just behind the upper teeth.

How is Indian English pronunciation different from American English?

Indian English is a full variety of English with its own sound system. Compared with American English, the biggest differences I hear are: a tapped R, T and D made with the tongue tip curled back, little or no puff of air after P, T, and K, the same sound for V and W, and more ups and downs in pitch across a sentence. If your goal is American English, these are the places to start.

Should I use an app or work with a speech-language pathologist?

An app can give you practice and a score. A speech-language pathologist can hear why, for example, very sounds like wary, show you how to change your tongue, lips, or jaw, and track your progress over time. You can do both: practice with my free English Pro Lite course, then get feedback in private training or the 5-Week Intensive Accent Class.

What a Hindi-speaking student says

“She helped customize the syllabus as per the feedback from my initial performance review, which helped me focus on my weak areas such as understanding intonation, consonants, and American English pronunciation.”

Sunit V., Hindi, Electrical Engineer

Read this review on Google