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What your first language does to the new one

Most of an accent is not laziness or a bad ear — it is your first language reaching for the nearest sound it already owns. Meet a sound your language does not have and your mouth substitutes the closest one it knows, usually without you hearing it happen. Pick the language you grew up with and the one you are learning: this works out which sounds are missing, which sound you will reach for instead, and which pairs of words you are likely to say identically.

Every pair below is computed from the two languages' sound inventories — not from a list of "common mistakes". That means it covers all 240 directions, including the ones no textbook is written for.

I speak English English

French17 Spanish11 Portuguese17 German16 Italian11 Georgian19 Russian29 Hindi21 Mandarin Chinese28 Cantonese25 Vietnamese20 Korean19 Japanese17 Malay12 Turkish11

I speak French Français

English24 Spanish8 Portuguese9 German22 Italian6 Georgian17 Russian26 Hindi28 Mandarin Chinese23 Cantonese32 Vietnamese15 Korean17 Japanese15 Malay10 Turkish8

I speak Spanish Español

English27 French17 Portuguese15 German28 Italian9 Georgian21 Russian27 Hindi28 Mandarin Chinese27 Cantonese32 Vietnamese17 Korean16 Japanese15 Malay9 Turkish12

I speak Portuguese Português

English25 French10 Spanish7 German23 Italian5 Georgian17 Russian25 Hindi28 Mandarin Chinese27 Cantonese31 Vietnamese15 Korean16 Japanese14 Malay11 Turkish9

I speak German Deutsch

English16 French15 Spanish12 Portuguese15 Italian10 Georgian19 Russian25 Hindi19 Mandarin Chinese26 Cantonese22 Vietnamese18 Korean20 Japanese12 Malay12 Turkish12

I speak Italian Italiano

English24 French12 Spanish6 Portuguese10 German23 Georgian15 Russian25 Hindi27 Mandarin Chinese26 Cantonese31 Vietnamese15 Korean17 Japanese14 Malay8 Turkish9

I speak Georgian ქართული

English29 French20 Spanish15 Portuguese19 German29 Italian12 Russian33 Hindi28 Mandarin Chinese30 Cantonese33 Vietnamese21 Korean20 Japanese21 Malay16 Turkish15

I speak Russian Русский

English26 French16 Spanish8 Portuguese14 German22 Italian9 Georgian20 Hindi27 Mandarin Chinese22 Cantonese29 Vietnamese18 Korean17 Japanese14 Malay11 Turkish12

I speak Hindi हिन्दी

English23 French23 Spanish14 Portuguese22 German21 Italian16 Georgian20 Russian32 Mandarin Chinese29 Cantonese24 Vietnamese26 Korean19 Japanese16 Malay17 Turkish16

I speak Mandarin Chinese 普通话

English29 French17 Spanish12 Portuguese20 German27 Italian14 Georgian21 Russian26 Hindi28 Cantonese24 Vietnamese16 Korean14 Japanese17 Malay14 Turkish16

I speak Cantonese 廣東話

English26 French26 Spanish17 Portuguese24 German23 Italian19 Georgian24 Russian33 Hindi23 Mandarin Chinese24 Vietnamese22 Korean20 Japanese19 Malay20 Turkish20

I speak Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

English28 French16 Spanish9 Portuguese15 German26 Italian10 Georgian19 Russian29 Hindi32 Mandarin Chinese23 Cantonese29 Korean16 Japanese16 Malay11 Turkish11

I speak Korean 한국어

English28 French19 Spanish9 Portuguese17 German29 Italian13 Georgian19 Russian29 Hindi26 Mandarin Chinese22 Cantonese28 Vietnamese17 Japanese10 Malay13 Turkish11

I speak Japanese 日本語

English29 French20 Spanish11 Portuguese18 German24 Italian13 Georgian23 Russian29 Hindi26 Mandarin Chinese28 Cantonese30 Vietnamese20 Korean13 Malay15 Turkish13

I speak Malay Bahasa Melayu

English23 French14 Spanish4 Portuguese14 German23 Italian6 Georgian17 Russian25 Hindi26 Mandarin Chinese24 Cantonese30 Vietnamese14 Korean15 Japanese14 Turkish8

I speak Turkish Türkçe

English23 French13 Spanish8 Portuguese13 German24 Italian8 Georgian17 Russian27 Hindi26 Mandarin Chinese27 Cantonese31 Vietnamese15 Korean14 Japanese13 Malay9

The number is how many sounds that language has that yours does not.

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