Filipino Languages

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Following are some topics outlined which are the common trouble areas for Filipino speakers of English. Review Phonetics: The Sound of American English.

Consonants

Confusing /p/ and /f/

People from Philippines substitute a /p/ for a /f/ sound. This type of mistake is parallel to the also common /v/ and /b/ confusion, and it requires you to focus on using either two lips of just the lower lip. Be particularly careful with words that contain both a p and a f or when these two sounds are close together as in: perfect, perform, puffy, helpful, full page, and cup of coffee.

The /th/ Sound

A common mistake for native Tagalog is to substitute a /t/ or a /d/ for the /th/.

typical mistake:	should be:
tank	thank
dose	those
mudder	mother

Confusing /b/ and /v/

Remember the /b/ sound requires the lip to be completely closed, with no air coming out, whereas the /v/ sound only involves the lower lip, which touches the upper teeth and creates a vibrating air flow. Be particularly careful with words that contain both a b and v or when these sounds are close together as in: Beverly, November, vibrate, available, I've been and very big.

Confusing /s/ and /z/

The s in many English words is frequently pronounced as a /z/ sound. Words pronouns with a /z/ sound include: husband, design, observe, always, and close. Make sure you say these pairs of words differently:

/s/	/z/
piece	peas
face	phase
bus	buzz
price	prize

Confusing sh and ch

Make sure you can pronounce chose and shoes differently. Practice the sounds /tʃ/ and /ʃ/.

Consonant Clusters

When a word contains two consonants next to each other, make sure that you pronounce both consonants. Review following words with consonant clusters:

1. just	6. project
2. act	7. mixed
3. lost	8. paint
4. hand	9. sense
5. paint	10. desks

Vowels

It is recommended that you study all of the American vowels sounds in detail. However, pay attention to the vowel sounds highlighted below which are the most problematic ones for Filipino speakers of English.

Words Spelled with o

English words spelled with o are particularly difficult since o is usually pronounces as /ɑ/ as in stop and hot, but it can also be pronounced as /ʌ/ as in love and Monday or even as /oʊ/ as in so and only.

The /ɪ/ Sound

Pay attention to this tricky short vowel. Make sure you pronounce the words in each pair below differently:

/ɪ/	/i/
1. sit	seat
2. live	leave
3. fill	feel

The /ʌ/ Sound

Practice pronouncing the following words differently:

/ɑ/	/ʌ/
1. shot	shut
2.lock	luck
3. cop	cup

The /ʊ/ Sound

The /ʊ/ sound as in good, can also pose problems for you. Make sure you pronounce the words in each pair below:

/ʊ/	/u/
1. full	fool
2. pull	pool
3. look	luke

Word Stress

Filipino speakers stress the adjective more than the noun in their native language. In English, the noun is stressed more that the adjective.

typical mistake:	should be:
that's a nice car.	that's a nice car.
he's an intelligent man.	he is an intelligent man.

Similarly, Filipinos tend to stress the first content word of a phrase or a sentence, whereas in English the last content word gets the most stress.

typical mistake:	should be:
I drove my car.	I drove my car.
I went to the bank.	I went to the bank.

Other common word stress errors:

typical mistake:	should be:
I should go.	I should go.
Turn it off.	Turn in off.
UCLA	UCLA

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