Common English mistakes Japanese speakers make, and how to fix them
If your first language is Japanese, your English mistakes follow Japanese sounds, grammar, and katakana loanwords. They're transfer, not carelessness, and each one has a clear fix.
The big ones. 1) /l/ and /r/: "rice" and "lice", "light" and "right" — for /l/ the tongue tip touches behind the top teeth; for /r/ it touches nothing. 2) Extra vowels after consonants: "desuku" for "desk", "sutoppu" for "stop" — end on the consonant. 3) /v/ as /b/ and /θ/ as /s/: "bery" for "very", "sink" for "think". 4) Missing articles and plurals: "I bought book" → "a book" / "books". 5) Dropped subjects: "Is delicious" → "It's delicious". 6) Katakana English that isn't English: "mansion" (apartment), "claim" (complaint), "smart" (slim), "naive" (sensitive), "pants" (underwear in US English), "cunning" (cheating). 7) "I will challenge the exam" (挑戦する) → "I'll take the exam" / "try"; "I'll check" (確認) → "I'll confirm". 8) "Yes" to negative questions: "Don't you like it?" — "Yes" (meaning no) → say "No, I don't". 9) Overusing "maybe" and "I think" to soften: in English it sounds unsure — say it directly. 10) "Play with my friends" (遊ぶ) → adults say "hang out with my friends"; "almost people" (ほとんど) → "most people".
A list won't fix these; making them out loud and being corrected in the moment will. Airi is built for that: she hears the pattern, fixes the one mistake that matters in her reply, and keeps the conversation going. Speak with her daily and these stop being habits within a few weeks. Free to start, no card.
A quick example with Airi
How to get the most from it
End on the consonant
Desk, stop, big — no extra vowel after the last sound.
Say it directly
Drop the 'maybe / I think' habit when you're actually sure.
Check katakana words
Mansion, claim, smart, naive — ask Airi what the real English word is.
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