Why can't Chinese pronounce l?

The /l/ can only appear syllable-initially while the /r/ appears syllable-finally. This means that a Chinese speaker would have more trouble with an /l/ sound at the end of a word and also with an /r/ sound at the beginning of a word.

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Why can't Asians pronounce l and r?

While the “R” is in the same position but with the tongue allowed to drop a little so that it “floats” ever so slightly below the palate. The Asian “R” becomes an “L” simply by touching the palate with the tongue. That's why L and R sound so similar to our Western ears – because they are very similar.

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Why can't Chinese people pronounce V?

Some Chinese people don't distinguish 'W' with 'V', as there is no the [V] sound in Chinese Pinyin. In fact they are different. When you want to pronounce 'V', you should put lower lip under your upper teeth and sometimes your upper teeth should bite your lower lip slightly. As for 'W' sound, you don't do so.

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Why do Koreans confuse l and r?

The light tap is often perceived as an R by other speakers, and this is why it seems like the R's and L's are confused (even though it's not the English R). When Korean speakers hear the R in English, they often categorize it as L, which makes it really hard for them to distinguish between the two.

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Why can't Chinese people pronounce the letter r?

In Mandarin Chinese, /r/ sounds are not made using the American /r/ sound (as in car). The Chinese /r/ sound is made in the same way we make the sound in the word 'leisure' (in American English). This is called a retroflex /r/ because the tongue turns back toward the throat.

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Why some Asian accents swap Ls and Rs in English

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Why can't Japanese pronounce L?

Why don't the Japanese pronounce the "L"? Because they don't have an L sound in their language. They have a similar sound, a tapped R, [ɾ], which is kinda halfway between an English R and L. Same tapped R as in spanish.

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Why do Japanese confuse L and r?

The Japanese adaptation of English words is largely non-rhotic, in that English /r/ at the end of a syllable is realized either as a vowel or as nothing and therefore is distinguished from /l/ in the same environment.

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Why do Asians struggle with r?

In English, the letter R stands for one sound. In Pinyin, the letter R stands for a different sound. Chinese have no problem pronouncing the sound represented in Pinyin by R. They have difficulty pronouncing the sound represented in English by R — because that sound doesn't exist in Chinese.

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Does the L sound exist in Japanese?

When using English letters for Japanese, almost everyone uses the “R” character and drops the “L” from romaji, but the truth of the matter is that neither R nor L exist in Japanese. The sounds signified are usually written as “ra, ri, ru, re, ro,” but these aren't the same “r” as the ones we use in English.

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Does L exist in Korean?

ㄹ /l/ is an alveolar flap [ɾ] between vowels or between a vowel and an /h/. It is [l] or [ɭ] at the end of a word, before a consonant other than /h/, or next to another /l/; in these contexts, it is palatalized to [ʎ] before /i, j/ and before palatal consonant allophones.

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What is the hardest Chinese word to pronounce?

Lesson Transcript
  • 去 (qù) "to go" 去 (qù) also has the meaning as “last”; for example, “last year” 去年 (qùnián). ...
  • 喝水 (hē shuǐ) "to drink water" The hard part is 水 (shuǐ). ...
  • 四十 (sì shí) "forty" ...
  • 姜 (jiāng) "ginger" ...
  • 日 (rì) "day" ...
  • 汉语 (hàn yǔ) "Chinese language" ...
  • 知道 (zhī dao) "know" ...
  • 脚 (jiǎo) "foot”

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Do Japanese people say r instead of L?

"I agreed that in Japanese, they spelled both English "L" and "R" with "R". But it will be incorrect to say that they have trouble to pronounce "L". It is actually the other way around, that is, they have trouble pronouncing "R". They simply don't curve their tongues.

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Why do Asians struggle with English?

Some sounds are not in their language

In some cultures and often Asian cultures the sounds around them are so completely different to the English sounds, the people's tongues literally grow comfortable in a certain way and it is very difficult to retrain it any other way.

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Why can't Germans pronounce r?

The only reason that it sounds like “ya” in words like “vier” and “hier” is because the “r” in those words is preceded by the vowel combination “ie” that in German is pronounced like an “ee” sound in English.

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What languages have no L sound?

So you probably know that Japanese doesn't have the /l/ sound like in English but I would to give another example: Vietnamese. In some parts of the northern dialect of Vietnamese they can't differentiate between the consonants /l/ and /n/.

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Does the L sound exist in Chinese?

The /l/ can only appear syllable-initially while the /r/ appears syllable-finally. This means that a Chinese speaker would have more trouble with an /l/ sound at the end of a word and also with an /r/ sound at the beginning of a word.

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What is f in Japanese?

「ふ」 is the only sound that is pronounced with a “f” sound, for example 「ふとん」 (futon) or 「ふじ」 (Fuji). That's fine in Japanese because there are no words with other “f” sounds such as “fa”, “fi”, or “fo”. However, it's a problem when converting foreign words such as “fork” into Katakana.

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How do Asians show respect?

In Asia, paying respect to elders is expected among younger people, a gesture such as bowing expresses the utmost respect. The elaborate and refined Japanese tea ceremony is also meant to demonstrate respect through grace and good etiquette.

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Why can't Japanese pronounce V?

tl;dr: It varies, but it is usually a weak "b". It varies from person to person, so some may pronounce it like the English "v", but others may use a strong "b" sound. Originally, Japanese had no ヴ character so they used variations of ビ (bi).

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What are Asians most at risk for?

Asian Americans are most at risk for the following health conditions: cancer, heart disease, stroke, unintentional injuries (accidents), and diabetes.

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Why do Koreans have trouble saying L?

They're NOT voiced consonants. They only get voiced between voiced sounds like vowels. There're only 3 voiced consonants out of 18 consonants (except for ㅇ for “NG” sound as it always comes at the end of a syllable.) that can come to the beginning of a word in Korean: ㅁ /m/, ㄴ /n/, and ㄹ /r/.

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What letters don't exist in Japanese?

Notice that several English sounds are missing from the Japanese language entirely: "c," "f," "l," "q," "v," and "x." When Japanese want to represent these sounds, they have to use Japanese syllables that sound almost the same.

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Does the letter C exist in Japanese?

Next there is C, which is available in its traditional reading, シー (shii), but more recently has come to be pronounced スィー (sii).

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