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Pronunciation · For indonesian speakers

English pronunciation for indonesian speakers

In short

Indonesian speakers most need audible word-endings — final stops are swallowed and clusters simplified, deleting the -s and -ed that carry English grammar. Then /v/→/f/, /z/→/s/, and the missing long/short vowel contrast.

Your priority sounds, in order

Ordered by impact on being understood — not by how noticeable the error is. (That's why the famous 'th' is rarely first: it's heard often but changes meaning almost never.)

  1. 1

    /t/ — t as in tea

    final stops unreleased and clusters simplified — '-ed' and '-st' endings vanish

    Fix: Touch your tongue tip to the ridge just behind your top teeth. Practise: three vs tree

  2. 2

    /z/ — z as in zoo

    /z/ devoices to /s/ or hardens to /dʒ/ — plural endings blur

    Fix: Same position as /s/ — tongue near the ridge. Practise: price vs prize

  3. 3

    /v/ — v as in very

    /v/ becomes /f/ — 'very' → 'ferry', 'have' → 'haf'

    Fix: Touch your top teeth to your bottom lip — same position as /f/. Practise: vest vs west, berry vs very

  4. 4

    /ɪ/ — i as in sit

    long/short pairs merge — ship/sheep, full/fool

    Fix: Relax your lips and jaw — no smile. Practise: ship vs sheep

  5. 5

    /ʃ/ — sh as in she

    /ʃ/ becomes /s/ — 'she' → 'see'

    Fix: Pull your tongue slightly further back than for /s/. Practise: see vs she, chair vs share

  6. 6

    /θ/ — th as in think

    /θ/ → /t/, /ð/ → /d/ — address after endings and v/z

    Fix: Place the tip of your tongue lightly between your top and bottom teeth. Practise: think vs sink, three vs tree

Beyond sounds: stress and rhythm

Suprasegmentals — stress, rhythm, intonation — transfer from Indonesian in predictable ways, and research shows fixing them improves real-world comprehensibility more than sound polish does.

  • Even 'machine-gun' rhythm is the main prosodic habit — pick one stressed word per phrase and compress the rest.
  • You already have a schwa (the e in 'besar') — recruit it for English unstressed syllables.
  • Finish words completely before starting the next; unclear endings compound across a sentence.

Quick wins to start this week

  • ✓Endings bootcamp: over-pronounce -s/-ed for two weeks — 'workeD', 'planS', 'askeD'.
  • ✓v-drill with a mirror: teeth on lip, motor on — 'very, every, never'.
  • ✓Long-vowel stretch: 'sheep, pool, food' held twice as long as feels natural.

Keep exploring

Frequently asked questions

What are the hardest English sounds for indonesian speakers?
The highest-impact challenges are /t/ (final stops unreleased and clusters simplified); /z/ (/z/ devoices to /s/ or hardens to /dʒ/); /v/ (/v/ becomes /f/). These are ordered by how much they affect intelligibility, not by how noticeable they are.
Do indonesian speakers need to lose their accent for IELTS?
No. IELTS explicitly accepts every standard accent — the descriptors only mention L1 accent at Band 8, and only through its effect on intelligibility. The goal is clarity, not sounding native.
Where should I start?
Endings bootcamp: over-pronounce -s/-ed for two weeks — 'workeD', 'planS', 'askeD'.

Next step

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