VOA · Ask a Teacher
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In Ask a Teacher, real learner questions about English grammar and usage get short, clear answers. Episodes are only a few minutes long and use simple classroom English — a gentle entry point if you are new to dictation practice.
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01This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Doraemon in Japan.
02Here is Doraemon's question.
03Hi, VOA.
04For me, as an English learner, words like clash, crash, and crush sound like the same word.
05Can you help me to tell one word from others?
06Thank you.
07I'm happy to answer this question, Doraemon.
08When a foreign language contains sounds that do not exist in a person's native language, it can be difficult for learners to hear those sounds.
09The reason you have difficulty hearing the difference between crash and clash is because the Japanese language does not have the consonant sounds R or L.
10And when English speakers are talking quickly, the difference between the sounds of R and L becomes very small.
11As a result, those two consonants can sound the same to a native Japanese speaker.
12Some vowel sounds can also be difficult to hear or pronounce depending on the vowels a person's native language has.
13For example, consider the difference between the following two words.
14Hit, heat.
15The Spanish language has the vowel sound in the word heat, but it does not have the vowel sound in the word hit.
16As a result, Spanish speakers will sometimes pronounce words like hit, bit, and little with an E sound.
17For example, the two words hit and heat will both sound like heat when spoken with a Spanish accent.
18You can learn to hear the difference between sounds in a foreign language by careful practice using minimal pairs.
19Minimal pairs are two words that differ from each other by only one sound.
20For example, the two words hit and heat differ from each other by only one sound.
21Here are some tips for using minimal pairs.
22Find lists and recordings of minimal pairs through a Google search or on YouTube.
23For Japanese speakers, find minimal pairs that differ between the sounds of R and L.
24Be sure to include minimal pairs that place the two sounds at the beginning, middle, and end of words.
25Here are examples.
26Rake, lake.
27Correct, collect.
28Hare, hail.
29Carefully listen to the pronunciation of the minimal pairs.
30At first, it might be difficult for you to hear the difference between them.
31But over time, you will start hearing the difference.
32Also, practice pronouncing these sounds.
33Learning to pronounce them can help you hear them.
34To pronounce them, you need to practice putting your tongue in the correct position.
35The tongue is a muscle.
36Just as we can train our muscles to play a sport, we can train our tongue to move to the correct positions for pronouncing a foreign language.
37This How to Pronounce video from VOA Learning English shows the tongue positions you need to pronounce the letters R and L correctly.
38For our readers and listeners, what are your questions about American English?
39We want to hear from you.
40Send us an email at learningenglish at voanews.com.
41And please, let us know where you are from, too.
42And that's Ask a Teacher.
43I'm Andrew Smith.
44I'm Andrew Smith.
45I'm Andrew Smith.!
46I'm Andrew Smith.
// transcribed with Whisper AI — reading it is easy; catching it by ear is the skill
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