Some learners start with TH because it looks difficult. Others try to remove every trace of their first language. But an accent is not the same as unintelligible speech, and the hardest sound is not always the one causing the most misunderstanding.
A more useful starting point is: Where does a listener misunderstand, ask for repetition or lose the message? Repair those moments before pursuing a particular accent.
Intelligibility is a more practical target
Intelligibility concerns how much a listener actually understands. Your vowels, rhythm or intonation can reveal your first language while your message remains perfectly clear. Conversely, practising every phoneme separately does not guarantee clear stress, thought groups and word endings in a full sentence.
TH pronunciation is worth learning, but it should not automatically outrank everything else. If a customer cannot distinguish your fifteen from fifty, that number contrast may deserve attention before the tongue position in think.
Functional load is a guide, not a universal ranking
Functional load broadly concerns how much distinction work a sound contrast performs in a language. Some contrasts distinguish many words; losing them may create more ambiguity. Pronunciation teachers have therefore used the idea to discuss priorities.
Sewell's 2021 mini-review also warns that common measures rely on limited minimal-pair lists, while first language, local varieties, context and frequency all affect understanding. A high-load contrast does not automatically become every learner's first target, and the principle is not a fixed cross-language law.
Use lists to generate candidates. Rank them with your listeners, your tasks and your recordings.
A ten-minute diagnostic
1. Record real tasks: give a price and phone number, explain an address or describe a symptom for 30 seconds each. Do not only read word lists. 2. Find communication breaks: mark unclear numbers, negatives, key endings, word stress or thought groups. A listener's retelling is even better evidence. 3. Choose one recurring problem: work on one issue that appears in situations you need this week. 4. Move from words to messages: try a small contrast set, then use it in three different complete messages without reading.
For fifteen / fifty, do more than repeat the pair. Say The total is fifteen dollars. and The meeting starts at fifteen fifty., then substitute your own prices and times. Stress and time format should make confirmation easy.
A weekly priority check
For each candidate, ask: Does it affect understanding? Will I use it this week? Can I temporarily paraphrase around it? Prioritise frequent, meaning-changing problems that are difficult to bypass.
“At the café, my price needed repeating twice” is more useful than “my accent sounds too Chinese.” Next week, check whether a similar task requires fewer repetitions rather than grading your accent by mood.
Pronunciation also includes connected speech and thought groups and stress. If listeners lose the whole sentence, isolated phoneme work may not be the highest priority.
Clearer does not mean more mechanical
Do not slow every sentence to imitate a model perfectly, and do not treat every difference as an error. Languages have multiple varieties. When uncertain, preserve the message, slow down the key word and ask for confirmation.
With MirrorSay, say your own sentence, listen to a natural formulation and compare your repetition on a short selected passage. It is a reference, not an accent eraser. Return to the full price, address or work explanation to test communication.
References
- Sewell, A. (2021). Functional Load and the Teaching-Learning Relationship in L2 Pronunciation. *Frontiers in Communication*, 6, 627378. Open access
- Levis, J. M. (2005). Changing Contexts and Shifting Paradigms in Pronunciation Teaching. *TESOL Quarterly*, 39(3), 369–377. DOI
*MirrorSay is a free AI speaking-practice app: say a sentence, see a natural way to express it, then shadow the model. No sign-up, and speech is processed on-device whenever possible.*