Self-Assessment Tool

The first task you have is to write down all of the words that you have difficulty saying. These may be words you often get stuck on, avoid saying, or words that others ask you to repeat
often. Write each word under each “sound” that word contains. You will likely be writing the same word multiple times under different sounds. Once completed, choose the sound that has
the most words in the list. You likely have an issue with this sound in general. Start with the largest lists in the first category “PRIORITY SOUNDS”. Once you have dealt with those, then move
onto the SECONDARY SOUNDS lists that are largest and work your way down to “LEAST IMPORANT/LEAST COMMON ISSUE SOUNDS”. This will help you focus on your issues, and on the
sounds that not only impact being understood the most, but also the sounds that are used more in English overall.

Keep adding to your lists as you go through your week. Keep track of new words that you find difficult and add to the tool to hone in on patterns of issues you may be having.

PRIMARY SOUNDS

“TH” Voiced/ð/ Z “IH”/ɪ/

e.g. “the” e.g. “was” e.g. “it”
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“TH” Voiceless/θ/ R “AH”/ɒ/

e.g. “think” e.g. “read” e.g. “lot”
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“UH” stressed/ʌ/ “EUH”/ʊ/ “NG”/η/

e.g. “sun” e.g. “look” e.g. “thing”
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L H W
e.g. “girl” e.g. “happy” e.g. “whatever”
___________ ___________ ___________
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D
e.g. “glad”
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SECONDARY SOUNDS
“SH”/ʃ/ “CH”/tʃ/ “J”/dʒ/
e.g. “she” e.g. “chess” e.g. “judge”
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“EE”/i/ “OO”/u/ “AA”/æ/

e.g. “very” e.g. “boo” e.g. “hat”
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“EH”/ɛ/ “UH” unstressed /ə/ “SCHWA” “AH EE”/aɪ/
e.g. “pet” e.g. “ago, America” e.g. “try”
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“EH EE”/eɪ/ “AA OO” /aʊ/ B

e.g. “say” e.g. “how” e.g. “grab”
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G T V
e.g. “mug” e.g. “little” e.g. “have”
___________ ___________ ___________
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LEAST IMPORTANT/LEAST COMMON ISSUE SOUNDS

“OH EE”/oɪ/ “ZH” /ʒ/ “OH OO“/oʊ/
e.g. “boy” e.g. “beige” e.g. “go”
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“Y”/J/ K S
e.g. “yes” e.g. “pick” e.g. “sick”
___________ ___________ ___________
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F M P
e.g. “for” e.g. “more” e.g. “pick”
___________ ___________ ___________
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N
e.g. “man”
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