I'm Julie Cunningham, MA, CCC-SLP, a licensed speech-language pathologist. I help Mandarin speakers speak American English clearly and confidently.
Words like bed and bad can sound alike to many Mandarin speakers. Choose Mandarin 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 Mandarin speakers, type them into my free American English IPA translator. It marks those sounds for you, like the final L in table.
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 Mandarin speaker who:
- finds the dark L hard in words like little, table, and pull?
- has trouble connecting syllables and words, so their English doesn't flow?
- isn't sure which intonation to use in English?
American English Pronunciation for Mandarin Speakers: Top 5 Pronunciation Challenges
These are the five challenges I see most often in my students who speak Mandarin or another Chinese language. Read about each one below, then practice with my free video lessons.
Mandarin Challenge #1: Intonation
Mandarin is a tonal language: a change in pitch can make a different word. American English uses pitch to carry meaning too, but the rules are very different.
Mandarin speakers often make stressed syllables louder, but say every syllable on about the same pitch and for about the same length of time.
To American ears, that makes every syllable sound equally important, so it's harder to tell which words matter most.
In English, intonation changes meaning. Raise your pitch at the end of a statement, and it becomes a question. Raise it even more, and you sound very surprised, doubtful, or annoyed.
Pitch is also one of the main ways we show stress. Stressed syllables are usually higher than unstressed ones, and that helps the listener hear which words are important.
How to Pronounce American English Intonation
Watch the videos below to practice American English intonation.
Read more:
Mandarin Challenge #2: Linking and Final Consonants
In Mandarin, a syllable ends in a vowel or in a nasal sound, N or NG. English words and syllables can end in almost any consonant, a vowel, or a group of consonants.
So the ends of English words are often hard for Mandarin speakers, especially in fast, connected speech.
Sometimes the final consonant disappears completely, so hold sounds like "hoh." Then the listener only hears part of the word.
Spoken American English is also smooth and connected. Words blend into each other. For example, we usually say hold on as "hol-don," with the D moving over to the start of on.
Mandarin speakers often say each word or syllable separately instead.
That can make speech sound choppy to American listeners, and harder to follow.
How to Pronounce American English Linking and Final Consonants
Linking has a lot of rules, especially for final consonants. Start with the videos below.
Read more:
Mandarin Challenge #3: The Dark L
When L comes at the end of a word or syllable, as in pull, table, and little, it's called a dark L. It's made differently from the light L at the start of a word or syllable.
The dark L is hard for most English learners, and especially for Mandarin speakers, because Mandarin doesn't have an L at the end of a syllable. It often comes out closer to the OH /oʊ/ diphthong, so table sounds like "tay-bow."
To an American listener, it sounds like the L is missing, and that can be confusing.
How to Pronounce the Dark L in American English
The key is your tongue position. The tongue narrows and pulls back and down, and you should feel a little tension in the back of your throat.
The tongue tip usually stays down, but it can rise to the roof of your mouth in some words. Watch the videos below to practice.
Read more:
Mandarin Challenge #4: Rhythm and Reductions
Spoken American English has a rhythm. Stressed syllables are longer, and unstressed syllables are shorter. That contrast between long and short gives English its flow, something like "DA-da-da-da DA-da-DA, da-DA-da."
Mandarin speakers often give every syllable the same stress and length, so the rhythm sounds like "DA-DA-DA-DA."
Take the word banana. It has three syllables, and only the middle one is stressed. The first and last syllables are lower, quieter, and quicker. So the rhythm is "da-DA-da": ba-NAN-a.
Because the first and last syllables are unstressed, their vowel is the schwa /ə/. Most unstressed syllables in English reduce to schwa.
Reductions are very important in American English. They give your speech the right rhythm, and they make you sound much more natural.
But saying the schwa vowel isn't enough. The unstressed syllable also has to be short, and that's the part most Mandarin speakers find hard. Instead of ba-NAN-a, it comes out as BA-NA-NA, with every syllable the same length.
How to Pronounce Rhythm and Reductions in American English
To improve your rhythm, say unstressed syllables lower and shorter. If the syllable is reduced to schwa /ə/, make it even shorter.
Focusing on reductions, and keeping reduced syllables as short as you can, will make the biggest difference.
Watch the videos below to practice rhythm, reductions, and the schwa /ə/ vowel.
Read more:
Mandarin Challenge #5: Front Vowels
American English has several vowels that Mandarin doesn't have. For example, Mandarin speakers may say mate /meɪt/, met /mɛt/, and mat /mæt/ with the same vowel, so all three sound like met.
In English, these are three different vowels.
Many Mandarin speakers say AA /æ/ with the jaw too closed or the lips not pulled back enough. It comes out as EH /ɛ/, so mat sounds like met.
AY /eɪ/ is a diphthong, made of two sounds: /e/ and /ɪ/. Mandarin speakers often say only the first half, and sometimes with the jaw too open, which makes /ɛ/. So mate sounds like met.
How to Pronounce Front Vowels in American English
Watch the videos below to practice these front vowels.
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Common questions from Mandarin speakers
What are the biggest American English pronunciation challenges for Mandarin speakers?
The five I see most are intonation, linking and final consonants, the dark L, rhythm and reductions, and the front vowels. Each one has a free video lesson on this page.
Why is intonation hard for Mandarin speakers?
Mandarin is a tonal language, so a change in pitch makes a different word. American English uses pitch differently, to show which words are important. Mandarin speakers often make stressed syllables louder, but keep every syllable on about the same pitch and length.
Is English pronunciation hard for Mandarin speakers?
It can be, because the two languages work differently. Mandarin uses pitch to change the meaning of a word, and its syllables end only in a vowel, N, or NG. English uses pitch to show which words matter, and its words can end in almost any consonant. That's why intonation, final consonants, and the dark L are often the hardest parts. Each one has a free video lesson on this page.
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, table sounds like "tay-bow", 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 Mandarin-speaking student says
“The information I learned in her classes helped me to hear and understand better what others are saying. And with practice, I feel others can understand me better as well.”
Hong Y., Mandarin, Senior Scientist
Meet Nicky
Nicky found her own voice in English, and her confidence grew a lot.
If you work in software, see my page on accent training for software engineers.