The #1 English Mistake in Each Country
Over the years I’ve taught students from most corners of the world, and over that time, I’ve noticed that students from each country tend to make the same mistakes. This could be due to the education system, or perhaps also the differences between English and their native language.
In this episode, I got a few of the largest countries and shared the number 1 mistake I hear from students in each country. I also share how you can avoid this mistake, then answer a question using the correct English as an example. Of course, I invite you to answer the questions too. You can do so in the shownotes comments.
Portuguese Speakers 🇧🇷
Often pronounce the -ed ending as a separate syllable, saying "talk-ed" instead of "talked"
Spanish Speakers 🇪🇸
Double negatives are natural in Spanish, so "I didn't do nothing" sounds correct to them
Make and do are one word in Spanish, so choosing between them in English is tricky
Japanese Speakers 🇯🇵
R and L sounds are very difficult as Japanese does not separate them
Vowels often get added to the ends of words, so "strike" becomes "sutoraiku"
Arabic Speakers 🇸🇦
P and B are easy to mix up as Arabic only has the B sound
Articles like "the" get overused because Arabic works very differently
Chinese Speakers 🇨🇳
Tense markers are often dropped, so "Yesterday I go" instead of "Yesterday I went"
Plurals get missed too, leading to things like "three book" instead of "three books"
French Speakers 🇫🇷
Age is expressed differently in French, so "I have 25 years" is a common slip
H sounds at the start of words often get dropped completely
⭐️ Transcript & Bonus Lesson
Answer one of the questions from today
Share your thoughts in the comments
Thank you, Michael. I am looking forward to part two.
Thanks, Zahra!