American Accent Training for Arabic Speakers

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The sound system of your native language affects how you hear and pronounce other languages.  When speaking American English, native Arabic speakers have accent patterns based on first hearing and speaking Arabic.  Use the chart below to learn more about the Arabic  accent in English.  Click on the individual sounds  for recordings and help with pronunciation. 

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sound

p

t

b

d

g

v

th (as in “think”)


th (as in “those”)



z

j



ng

r



consonant clusters (more than one consonant sound together)

error pattern

can sound like b at the start of words

can sound like d at the start of words

can sound like p at the ends of words

can sound like t at the ends of words

can sound like k at the ends of words

can sound like f at the ends of words

can sound like s at the start of words
can sound like s at the ends of words

can sound like d at the start of words
can sound like voiceless th or z at the  ends of words

can sound like s at the ends of words

can sound like zh at the start of words
can sound like ch or zh at the ends of words

 has an extra g or k sound

can be rolled at the start of words, can sound like “uh” or be rolled at the ends of words

can have sounds left off or have the same errors listed above

Example

pig sounds like big

two sounds like do

robe sounds like rope

code sounds like coat,

pig sounds like pick

leave sounds like leaf

thing sounds like sing
with sounds like wiss

those sounds like dose
breathe sounds like breeth or breeze

buzz sounds like bus

job sounds like zhob
ridge sounds like rich or rizh


thing sounds like think

paper sounds like papuh



lived sounds like live, 
want sounds like wan, 
words sounds like word