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English pronunciation for Arabic speakers

Arabic speakers start with an advantage almost nobody else has: both English th sounds already exist in Modern Standard Arabic (ث and ذ). If your dialect merged them years ago, they are still closer to hand than they are for most of the world.

The real work is in the vowels — Arabic's elegant three-vowel core meets an English system of about twelve — plus a v that Arabic never needed.

Nunzio never asks and never guesses where you are from — the app only compares the sounds you made against the sounds the sentence wanted, and this page would be exactly as true or as irrelevant for any one person. It is a reading map of where English and Arabic usually meet, not a verdict about you.

Where the two maps differ

ih” as in ship, when it comes out as “ee” as in sheep

English splits the i range in two: ship (short, relaxed) vs sheep (long, tense). Kasra is a good starting point for the short one.

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ay” as in day, when it comes out as “eh” as in ten

English day glides from e toward ee — it moves. A steady vowel gives let where late was wanted.

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oh” as in boat, when it comes out as “aw” as in law

Boat glides too, from o toward oo. Law holds still. English keeps the moving and the still one apart.

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oo” as in book, when it comes out as “oo” as in moon

Book and moon split the u range: damma is nearest the short, loose one; moon takes the long tense one.

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a” as in apple, when it comes out as “eh” as in ten

Apple's vowel opens wider than fatha usually goes — jaw down, tongue low and front, no pharyngeal colour.

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At the end of a word, “v” as in van, when it comes out as “f” as in fun

Arabic has f but no v. English v is f with the voice on — and it must stay voiced even at the end of a word: leave, not leaf.

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ng” as in sing, when it comes out as “n” as in nose

Sing ends in a nasal made at the back of the mouth — no n, and no g released after it.

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Which of these are actually yours? That is the part no list can know.

Nunzio records you reading a sentence and scores every sound in it on your phone — nothing is uploaded — then names the one worth your next ten minutes. No list, no guessing: your recording. Nunzio — Accent Coach is coming to the App Store and Google Play.