Japanese does not have distinct "r" and "l" sounds. The Japanese speaker of English is often confused with words containing "r" or "l". This is why Halloween ends up being pronounced "Harrowing"! I have to say it is quite appropriate in this case. Halloween is a harrowing experience for everyone, apart from being scary.
Mandarin Chinese pronunciation does have "r" and "l" sounds, but depending on which part of China you or your ancestors come from, you may or may not be able to distinguish between the two. This is why many Americans make fun of Chinese people trying to speak English. "Fly lice" instead of "fried rice" is a cliche now. For the Chinese learner of English, it is not funny. It's painful.
Yesterday, my Taiwanese friend was spelling out her Facebook name so I could add her as a friend. Taiwanese have a unique way of pronouncing certain letters of the English alphabet:
"H" is pronounced as "a-chy" or almost like "itchy"
"L" is pronounced as "el-lo"
"S" is pronounced as "es-see"
For that matter, Hong Kong friends who speak little English also pronounce words containing "s" in the same unique way. For example, "strawberries" is pronounced as "see-tor-berry-see".
Enough said.
Every learner of English has his own unique way of pronouncing English words. Some of them are hilarious to the native English speaker. Should we laugh out loud at them, and risk insulting them to the face? Or should we be polite and gently correct them? Personally, I do not mind being laughed at, but please, after you have stopped laughing, tell me what the correct pronunciation should be. I am trying my best to learn your language. The last thing I need is to be made fun of publicly and not know why. Language learning is painful enough without having to suffer public humiliation in the process.
Let's be kind to one another and help each other in our language learning journey. A little encouragement goes a long way.
Have fun in your language learning!
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