My Speaking Score · L1 Pronunciation Guide

Japanese → English: the sounds that cost you points

The English sounds and patterns Japanese doesn't use — with mouth diagrams, minimal pairs, and drills.

Why this matters for your TOEFL Speaking score

Japanese is built from open syllables (consonant + vowel), with one R/L sound and a small consonant set. So English clusters and endings collect extra vowels, and a few consonants get swapped. To a scoring engine these read as added syllables and unclear words, lowering your Intelligibility construct. Fix the top few and your speech tightens dramatically.

/r/ vs /l/ — rice/lice, right/light

Japanese has one R/L sound (a quick flap, ら り る れ ろ). English has two very different sounds.

The Japanese habitthe flap lands between English /r/ and /l/, so "right/light", "rice/lice", "fry/fly" blur together.
The fix — /l/: tongue tip touches the ridge behind the top teeth and stays there.
/r/: tip floats back, touches nothing, lips slightly round. No flap.
light ↔ rightlice ↔ riceglass ↔ grass

Drill (30s): slow la-ra-la-ra — feel the tip press on L and float on R. No quick tap.

/l/ — tip touches /r/ — tip free no contact
L: tip presses the ridge. R: tip floats back, lips round.

Construct: Intelligibility. The highest-value contrast for Japanese speakers.

Extra vowels — don't add "u" or "o"

Japanese syllables end in vowels, so a small "u" (or "o") gets added after English consonants and inside clusters.

The Japanese habit"desk" → "desuku", "milk" → "miruku", "and" → "ando", "salad" → "sarada". Every consonant grows a vowel.
The fixStop on the consonant — no vowel after. For clusters, blend the consonants directly. Say the word as one or two beats, not five.
desuku→desk
miruku→milk
ando→and

Drill (30s): freeze on the ending — desk(stop), milk(stop), and(stop), build(stop). No "u/o".

de·su·ku3 beats ✗ desk1 beat ✓ Blend the consonants. Delete the added vowels.
Keep it short: stop on the consonant, no "u/o" tail.

Construct: Intelligibility + Fluency. Added vowels change the syllable count and timing.

/v/ — very, vote, save

Japanese has no /v/; it becomes /b/.

The Japanese habit"very" → "bery", "vote" → "bote", "save" → "sabe".
The fixTop teeth on the lower lip + voice (buzz) = /v/. For /b/ the lips press together — teeth never touch the lip.
bery → verybote → votesabe → save

Drill (30s): teeth-on-lip buzz vvvv → very, voice, save, love. Contrast vote-boat.

teeth on lip + voice = /v/
/v/ uses teeth on the lip; /b/ uses both lips.

Construct: Intelligibility.

The English F — teeth, not two lips

Japanese "f" (ふ) is made with both lips; English /f/ uses the teeth.

The Japanese habit"food", "coffee", "phone" get a soft, breathy bilabial f that can sound like /h/ or weak.
The fixPut your top teeth on your lower lip and push air — a clear, sharp /f/. Don't use two lips.
food, coffee, phone, life

Drill (20s): hold fffff with teeth on lip → food, four, coffee, life; then voiced vvvv → very.

English /f/ — teeth ふ — two lips ✗ no teeth
English /f/ = top teeth on the lower lip, not lip-to-lip.

Construct: Intelligibility.

"see" vs "she", "tea" vs "chee"

In Japanese, し = "shi" and ち = "chi" — so /s/ and /t/ change before "ee".

The Japanese habit"see" → "she", "seat" → "sheet→she-t", "tea" → "chee", "to" → "tsu".
The fixKeep /s/ a crisp, forward hiss before "ee" (tongue tip near the ridge, lips not rounded). Keep /t/ a clean tap, not "ch".
she → seecheam → teamsee vs she

Drill (20s): alternate see–she–see–she (tongue forward for /s/); then tea, team, two with a clean /t/.

see — crisp /s/ ✓ she — rounded /ʃ/ ✗ Tongue forward, lips unrounded for /s/.
Before "ee", keep /s/ forward — don't let it become "sh".

Construct: Intelligibility.

/θ/ and /ð/ — think, three, this

No "th" in Japanese — replaced by /s/, /z/.

The Japanese habit"think" → "sink", "three" → "sree", "this" → "zis".
The fixTongue tip lightly between the teeth, push air. Voiceless = /θ/; add voice = /ð/.
sink → thinksree → threezis → this

Drill (30s): tip peeks out — th-th-th → think, three, math; voiced → this, they, mother.

tongue tip → between the teeth
The tip comes forward to the teeth — not back like /s/.

Construct: Intelligibility.

Your 10-minute daily drill

  1. Warm up (1 min): la-ra-la-ra / fffff (teeth) / th-th-th.
  2. Minimal pairs (3 min): right/light and see/she, 5× each, recorded.
  3. Your worst sound (3 min): usually R/L or the added "u/o".
  4. Sentences (2 min): real practice sentences, no extra vowels.
  5. Check (1 min): upload to My Speaking Score and watch Intelligibility rise.