Asians, particularly East Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Korean speakers), often struggle with English sounds like L/R, "th," "v," "w," and complex consonant clusters due to differences in their native phonology, leading to difficulties with words like "rural," "through," "sixth," "colonel," "rhythm," and "squirrel"; however, "hard" words vary by native language and individual.
Most commonly mispronounced words
Difficulties with [l] and [n], which in some languages (e.g. Cantonese) don't change the meaning of a word, but do in English so learners have trouble distinguishing, e.g. [h] tends to be pronounced more 'heavily' in Chinese languages, with friction in the back of the mouth rather than a soft sound in the throat, e.g.
10 of the hardest English words to pronounce
Tricky words in English often involve confusing spellings, silent letters, or subtle meaning differences, with examples including homophones like there/their/they're, spelling challenges like accommodate (double letters) and rhythm (no vowels), and usage confusion such as imply vs. infer, bring vs. take, and sight words like was, are, and the that don't follow phonetic rules. These words can trip up both learners and native speakers due to pronunciation discrepancies or similar forms with distinct meanings.
The 15 most unusual words you'll ever find in English
If you've been studying Mandarin for some time, you've probably heard of the “3-3” tone rule. This rule states that if two consecutive characters have a third tone, the first “third tone” character should be changed to the second tone. So, it goes from “3-3” to “2-3”.
Notice and learn these essential spelling-based rules and soon enough, English pronunciation will be a breeze.
semi-syllabary used for transcribing Chinese languages, particularly Mandarin. Zhuyin Fuhao, often shortened as zhuyin and commonly called bopomofo, is a type of sound-based writing for the Chinese language. In Chinese, "bo", "po", "mo" and "fo" are the first four of the conventional ordering of available syllables.
The Chinese internet slang 666 (liù liù liù) basically means “awesome” because the number six in Chinese sounds like “溜” (liù), meaning “smooth”. 666 started as gaming slang to praise a skilled player, like “GG” in English, but is now used generally to praise someone for doing something very impressively or “smoothly”.
1. 操你妈 – Cào nǐ mā Of all the bad words in Chinese Mandarin, 操你妈 is probably one of the most classic and insulting swears you can use to take someone down a notch. These negative-meaning words consist of three simple characters: 操 (f*ck) 你 (your) 妈 (mom).
Ǒ (o3, Zhuyin ㄛˇ) (phonetically) Vowel “O” pronounced with the third tone (falling then rising).
To say 1-10 in Mandarin Chinese, you say: yī (一), èr (二), sān (三), sì (四), wǔ (五), liù (六), qī (七), bā (八), jiǔ (九), and shí (十), using specific tones for each word.
In Chinese, 哪 (nǎ) means "which" or "where," used in questions like "Which one?" (哪个 nǎ ge) or "Where are you going?" (你去哪儿 nǐ qù nǎr). It's a common interrogative word, often combined with classifiers (like 个 ge) or location words (like 儿 er, 里 lǐ) to form specific questions about choice or place.
So the most literal translation of 'daijoubu, boku saikkyou dakara ' is 'don't worry. I'm the strongest, that's why (as in that's why you shouldn't worry).
In Japan, the number 4 is a symbol of bad luck for multiple reasons, mainly because the Japanese word for “four” is pronounced the same way as the Japanese word for “death”. A neat detail I noticed is that the Squid Skull sticker happens to have a price of 44444.
How to Read Larger Numbers in Japanese
“Eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious” is a 30-letter adjective that means “very good or fine.” It's one of the longest words in English. For example, “The chef's special dessert was nothing short of eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious—a truly delightful treat!”
The word with 645 meanings is "run," according to the Oxford English Dictionary. This number refers specifically to the verb form, making it the most complex word in English, surpassing the former record-holder, "set". Its vast meanings range from physical movement to operating machines, managing businesses, and extending in a direction, a versatility that grew with societal changes like the Industrial Revolution.
9 English Words That Have Gone Extinct