Sesotho — Pronunciation for English Speakers
This guide is based on a phoneme-by-phoneme comparison of Sesotho and English. Sesotho and English share 19 sounds — about 41% of Sesotho's inventory. The remaining sounds are where English speakers will need to focus their practice.
Sounds to learn from scratch (27)
These phonemes exist in Sesotho but not in English. English speakers will need to learn to produce and perceive them as new categories — not just a variation of an existing English sound.
Familiar sounds (19)
These phonemes exist in both Sesotho and English. You already produce and perceive them — though they may appear in different positions or syllable structures.
English sounds not used in Sesotho (26)
These English phonemes don't exist in Sesotho. Native Sesotho speakers learning English will face the reverse challenge with these sounds.