How a first-language habit lowers a machine score
Versant, SVAR and Harver do not mark your accent. They mark a short list of traits, and a first-language habit costs you only when it changes one of them. Pearson's 2024 guide to the Versant by Pearson English Speaking and Listening Test defines Manner of Speaking as "pronouncing English sounds in ways that are close to typical norms" and speaking "at a normal conversational pace, without too much hesitation or unusual pauses". SHL scores SVAR on "pronunciation, fluency, grammar, vocabulary, and comprehension". Harver scores "speaking rate, pauses & hesitations, cadence and pitch". So the habits that matter are the ones that turn one word into another (very into berry, pen into pin), add or drop a syllable (school as "iskool", and as "and-u"), flatten the rhythm, or slow you down. For Filipino speakers the costliest are usually f and v, vowel length and "po" inside an English sentence. For Indian speakers they are v and w, an added vowel, equal stress and speed.
- Every habit is a tendency, not a rule. Plenty of Tagalog and Hindi speakers make none of them. Record the ten lines in the last section before you fix anything.
- The habits come from how each language's sound system differs from English, as described in standard pronunciation references. They are TalkDrill teaching notes. No test owner publishes results by first language, and we quote none.
- Each habit is mapped to the trait it lowers, with one fix and one drill. Worked examples were written by TalkDrill, not taken from real candidates.
- Harver says its assessment can be "tailored for use in different regions by identifying words that are especially difficult to pronounce by candidates in a particular language group", so your single-word list may be built around exactly these sounds.
Sources for the trait names: the Versant Speaking and Listening official guide (2024, PDF), the Pearson India Versant store page, the SHL SVAR page and the Harver Spoken Language Assessment page, all read on 21 October 2026. For what each test asks and how it reports, start at the BPO English tests hub.
The trait map: habit, score, fix
One table for the whole page. Find the rows for your language, then read your section for the drill.
| Habit | Where it tends to come from | What it lowers | The fix in one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| f said as p, v said as b | Tagalog, Bisaya, Hiligaynon; v as b or bh in Bengali | Pronunciation; repeat accuracy when the word changes (file and pile) | Top teeth on the lower lip, then blow (f) or buzz (v) |
| Short and long vowels merged | Tagalog (ship and sheep); Bisaya (pin and pen) | Pronunciation, mostly in single words and read-aloud | Hold long vowels longer; open the jaw for e |
| v and w merged | Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam | Pronunciation in single words and reading | Teeth for v, rounded lips for w |
| Hard (retroflex) t and d | Hindi, Marathi, the South Indian languages | Pronunciation, mildly; it rarely changes a word | Tongue tip on the ridge behind the top teeth |
| An added vowel ("iskool", "and-u", "yeleven") | Hindi before s clusters; Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam at word ends and starts | Pronunciation, pace and rhythm; repeat accuracy | Stop cleanly on the last consonant; start vowels without a glide |
| Equal stress on every syllable | Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam; some Tagalog and Bisaya speakers | Rhythm: Manner of Speaking, cadence | Make one syllable big and shrink the rest |
| Rising or flat tone at the end of statements | Any group, mostly when nervous | Pitch and cadence (Harver), Manner of Speaking (Versant) | Let statements fall at the full stop |
| Speaking too fast | Any group, including confident speakers | Speaking rate; pauses inside phrases; dropped endings | The pace of a calm phone call |
| Fillers: po, ano, kasi, matlab, basically | Tagalog; Hindi and other Indian languages; everyone | Pauses and hesitations; fluency | Silence at a comma is better than a filler |
| Dropped -s and -ed in repeats | Every group | Repeat accuracy; grammar (SVAR); Sentence Mastery (Versant English Test) | Say the ending even when you lose a word |
Where each test reports the trait: the Versant English Test reports Fluency and Pronunciation (store page); the Speaking and Listening test reports Manner of Speaking (2024 guide); SHL scores SVAR on pronunciation and fluency; Harver reports speaking rate, pauses and hesitations, cadence and pitch. Every row above lands in at least one of those.
Tagalog and Filipino speakers
Tagalog's native sound system has no f, v or th, and its five vowels have no long and short pairs. English words that rely on those differences are where Filipino applicants are most likely to lose pronunciation points, and they are the kind of words a Harver single-word list or a Versant reading task can contain. The other two Tagalog habits come from the call-centre floor itself: "po" carried into English, and Taglish fillers while you search for a word.
| Habit | What the scorer may hear | Trait it lowers | Fix | 60-second drill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| f as p | "pive" for five, "repund" for refund, "pile" for file | Pronunciation; a different word in repeats | Lightly bite the lower lip and push air. You can hold an f ("ffff"); you cannot hold a p. | "five, fifty, file, refund, February" five times slowly, then at speed. p, f, b, v drill |
| v as b | "berry" for very, "berify" for verify | Same | The f position with voice: the lip should buzz | "very, verify, valid, service, view" five times |
| The reverse, when trying hard | "fork" for pork, "vest" for best | Same | Practise pairs, not single sounds | "pine, fine; pan, fan; best, vest" three times |
| th as t or d | "tree" for three, "dis" for this | Pronunciation; usually still understood | Tongue tip briefly between the teeth | th drill: "three, thank, think; this, that, there" |
| Short and long vowels merged | ship and sheep the same; full and fool the same | Pronunciation in single words | Long ee and oo are longer and tenser: smile for ee, round the lips for oo | short i and long ee drill |
| Stress moved in long words | ca-TE-go-ry for CA-te-go-ry | Cadence; Manner of Speaking | Check the stress of the ten longest words in your script in a dictionary | word stress drill |
| "po" and "opo" | "Yes po", "Thank you po" | An extra word in a repeat; a hesitation in open answers | In the test, plain "Yes." On calls, follow the account's style guide | Answer ten yes-or-no questions aloud with no particle |
| Taglish fillers | "ano", "kasi", "parang" while thinking | Pauses and hesitations; fluency | Pause silently at a comma instead | Talk for 40 seconds about your last job while a friend taps the table at each filler |
TalkDrill worked example: one repeat sentence
Sentence (written by TalkDrill): "I can verify the refund for your February bill right now."
With a strong f and v transfer, a recogniser may hear: "I can berify the repund por your Pebruary bill right now." That is four changed words out of eleven, and a repeat item is likely to treat them as wrong words, not as an accent.
Fixed: the four f and v words said with lip contact, and the sentence finished without "po". Practise the four words alone, then the whole sentence three times at call pace.
Bisaya (Cebuano) and Hiligaynon speakers
Cebuano's native vowel system is usually described as three vowels, a, i and u, with e and o arriving through Spanish and English loanwords. That is why vowel pairs English keeps apart can merge: pin and pen, sit and set, pool and pole, soup and soap. The f, v and th habits in the Tagalog table apply here too, as does "po" in English sentences. Hiligaynon, spoken around Iloilo and Bacolod, is a close Visayan relative of Cebuano, and its speakers may meet the same vowel and consonant issues; your recording will tell you.
| Habit | What the scorer may hear | Trait it lowers | Fix | 60-second drill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| i and e merged | "pin" for pen, "sit" for set, "bill" for bell, "chick" for check | Pronunciation; a different word in single-word lists and repeats | For e, drop the jaw a little more than for i | "pen, pin; set, sit; bell, bill; check, chick" three times |
| u and o merged | "soup" for soap, "pool" for pole, "boot" for boat | Same | English o is a glide: start open, finish with rounded lips ("oh-oo") | "soap, soup; pole, pool; boat, boot; coat, coot" three times |
| Short and long i merged | "leave" and "live" the same | Pronunciation | Smile and hold the long ee | short i and long ee drill |
| f, v and th | As in the Tagalog table | Pronunciation | As in the Tagalog table | p, f, b, v drill |
| Every vowel said in full | com-PU-TER with three full vowels | Rhythm; cadence | Shrink unstressed vowels to a quick "uh" (schwa): com-PU-tuh | schwa guide, ten words |
TalkDrill worked example: a minimal-pair check
Record (written by TalkDrill): "Let me check the bill and send you a copy of the receipt."
With the vowel merges, a recogniser may hear "Let me chick the bill and sind you a copy of the receipt." Two changed words, both short and common, which is why they are easy to miss when you listen to yourself.
Fixed: "check" and "send" with a slightly more open jaw. Say "check, chick, check" and "send, sinned, send" before the sentence, then the sentence twice.
Hindi speakers
Hindi has one sound where English has two (v and w), a set of retroflex consonants that English does not use, and few native words that start with two consonants such as st or sk. Many speakers also say the z of Urdu-origin words as j. Each of these produces a habit a machine can hear. Fix v and w first: it is the one most likely to change a word in a single-word list, and a call-centre script is full of w words (we, will, would, welcome, wait).
| Habit | What the scorer may hear | Trait it lowers | Fix | 60-second drill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| v and w merged | "wery vell", "vait" for wait, "wine" and "vine" the same | Pronunciation in single words and reading | v: top teeth on the lower lip, then buzz. w: round the lips as for "oo", then open; the teeth never touch. | v and w drill: "very well, we value, wine and vine" three times |
| A vowel before s clusters | "iskool", "ispeak", "istation" | An extra syllable: pronunciation and pace; repeat accuracy | Start with a long hiss, then glide into the next consonant: "sss-chool" | "school, speak, station, special, stop" five times, hissing first |
| Retroflex t and d | A heavy t in "today", "data", "total" | Pronunciation, mildly | Tongue tip touches the ridge just behind the top teeth, not curled back | "today, total, data, detail" three times |
| th as a dental t or d | "thank" with a hard t | Pronunciation; usually still understood | Tongue tip briefly between the teeth | voiced th drill |
| z as j | "jero" for zero, "lajy" for lazy | Pronunciation | z is a buzzing s: keep the tongue where s is and add voice | "zero, zone, size, easy, please" three times |
| Hinglish tags | "I will call you tomorrow only", "You got the mail, na?", "today itself" | Grammar and vocabulary in open answers (SVAR grammar; Versant Speaking) | Plain endings: "I will call you tomorrow." "Did you get the email?" | Retell your morning in 30 seconds with no tags |
TalkDrill worked example: a v and w sentence
Sentence (written by TalkDrill): "We value your visit, and we will waive the fee this week."
With v and w merged, a recogniser may hear "We walue your wisit, and ve will vaive the fee this veek." In a Harver paragraph or a Versant repeat, that is five words scored against you in one line.
Fixed: say only the v words first (value, visit) with the lip buzz, then only the w words (we, will, waive, week) with rounded lips, then the full line. The Hindi speakers' pronunciation guide has more pairs.
Telugu and Kannada speakers
Most native Telugu and Kannada words end in a vowel, and the rhythm gives each syllable similar weight. In English this tends to show up as a short vowel added after a final consonant ("and-u", "bus-u"), as equal stress across long words, and sometimes as a y or w sound before a word that starts with a vowel. v and w can merge as they do in Hindi. These are mostly rhythm habits, so they hit what Harver calls cadence and speaking rate and the pace side of Versant's Manner of Speaking.
| Habit | What the scorer may hear | Trait it lowers | Fix | 60-second drill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A vowel after final consonants | "and-u", "but-u", "check-u", "bus-u" | Extra syllables: pace and rhythm; an extra sound in repeats | End the word with the mouth or tongue still: whisper the last sound and stop | final consonant drill |
| Equal stress | DE-VE-LOP-MENT with every syllable the same | Cadence; Manner of Speaking | One big syllable, the rest small: de-VEL-op-ment | word stress drill |
| y or w before vowels | "yeleven", "yend", "wonly", "wopen" | Pronunciation | Start the vowel from the throat, not the lips: a tiny catch before "eleven" | "eleven, end, every, only, open, order" three times |
| v and w merged | As in the Hindi table | Pronunciation | As in the Hindi table | v and w drill |
| Dropped -ed endings | "I ask him" for "I asked him" | Repeat accuracy; grammar | Say the t or d of the ending clearly before the next word | -ed endings drill |
TalkDrill worked example: endings and glides
Sentence (written by TalkDrill): "Only one item is missing, and I will send it by express post."
With the added vowels and the glide, a recogniser may hear "Wonly one item is missing-u, and-u I will send-u it by express post-u." Four extra syllables in a thirteen-word sentence slow the rate and blur the rhythm.
Fixed: stop dead on "missing", "and", "send" and "post"; start "only" with the vowel. Read the line three times, whispering the final consonants the first time.
Tamil and Malayalam speakers
Tamil writes p and b, t and d, k and g with one letter each, and whether the sound is voiced depends on its place in the word. Carried into English, that can swap pairs English keeps apart: park and bark, cold and gold, time and dime. Tamil has no native f, so f may come out as p. Malayalam speakers often share the y and w glides before vowels ("Yenglish", "wonly") and, like Telugu speakers, may add a short vowel after final consonants. Both groups share the South Indian tendency to give every syllable equal weight, and v and w can merge in both.
| Habit | What the scorer may hear | Trait it lowers | Fix | 60-second drill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| p and b, t and d, k and g swapped | "bark" for park, "gold" for cold, "dime" for time | Pronunciation; a different word in single-word lists | Hand on the throat: b, d and g buzz, p, t and k do not. Add a small puff of air after p, t and k at the start of a word. | "park, bark; cold, gold; time, dime; pie, buy" three times |
| f as p (Tamil) | "pine" for fine, "pree" for free | Pronunciation | As in the Tagalog table: lip on teeth, blow | p, f, b, v drill |
| y and w glides | "Yenglish", "yeleven", "wonly" | Pronunciation | As in the Telugu table | "English, eleven, only, open" three times |
| A vowel after final consonants | "bus-u", "fine-u" | Pace and rhythm | Stop on the consonant | final consonant drill |
| Equal stress and a flat tone | Every syllable the same; no fall at the end | Cadence and pitch | One big syllable per word, and a fall on the last stressed word of a statement | intonation patterns, five statements |
TalkDrill worked example: a voicing self-test
Record (written by TalkDrill): "The gold card has a fine of ten dollars for a late payment."
Listen for three words: did "gold" become "cold", "fine" become "pine", "ten" become "den"? Any one of them changes the meaning for a caller and the match for a recogniser.
Fixed: say each of the three words as a pair first ("gold, cold", "fine, pine", "ten, den"), hand on the throat, then the sentence twice. The South Indian speakers' pronunciation guide has longer word lists.
Marathi and Bengali speakers
Marathi shares Hindi's single v and w sound and its retroflex t and d, and some speakers swap j and z in either direction. Bengali has no separate v, so v often comes out as b or bh, and its main s-type sound is closer to English sh, so "same" can sound like "shame" and "sell" like "shell". Many Bengali speakers also round the vowel of "cut" so that it sounds like "cot", and say zero as "jero".
| Habit | What the scorer may hear | Trait it lowers | Fix | 60-second drill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| v and w merged (Marathi) | As in the Hindi table | Pronunciation | Teeth for v, rounded lips for w | v and w drill |
| Retroflex t and d (Marathi) | A heavy t in "total", "today" | Pronunciation, mildly | Tongue tip on the ridge, not curled | "today, total, data, detail" three times |
| j and z swapped (Marathi) | "zoke" for joke, or "jero" for zero | Pronunciation | j has the tongue touching the roof of the mouth; z never touches | "joke, zone; jam, zip; major, easy" three times |
| s as sh (Bengali) | "shame" for same, "shell" for sell, "sharvice" for service | Pronunciation; a different word in single words | Smile, tongue tip behind the lower teeth, a thin hiss. Keep sh for words spelt sh. | s and plural endings drill |
| v as b or bh (Bengali) | "bhery" for very, "berify" for verify | Pronunciation | Lip on teeth, buzz | p, f, b, v drill |
| The u of "cut" rounded (Bengali) | "cot" for cut, "lock" for luck | Pronunciation | A short, relaxed "uh" with the lips not rounded | "cut, cot; luck, lock; done, Don" three times |
TalkDrill worked example: s and sh
Sentence (written by TalkDrill): "Sir, I see the same service charge on your statement."
With s said as sh, a recogniser may hear "Shir, I shee the shame sharvice charge on your shtatement." Five of the ten words carry an s; this is the sentence type a billing call is full of.
Fixed: read the line once very slowly, smiling on every s, then at call pace. "Charge" keeps its ch sound; nothing else in the line has sh or ch.
Habits every group shares: speed, tone, fillers, memory
Speed
Pearson's guide tells Versant test takers to "speak at a normal speed (do not rush or speak extra slowly)", and Harver scores speaking rate. Some confident speakers speed up to sound fluent, and in our judgement that costs twice: endings disappear, and pauses move from the commas into the middle of phrases. Use the pace of a calm phone call. The guide also says punctuation gives "clues for pauses in your speech": pause at commas and full stops, nowhere else.
Rising or flat tone
A statement that rises at the end sounds like a question; a statement that stays flat sounds unsure or bored. Harver scores pitch and cadence, and Pearson's repeat tip asks for "the same rhythm, pauses, and intonation that you heard". Let the voice fall on the last stressed word: "Your refund is on its WAY." Keep the rise for real yes-or-no questions: "Is there anything ELSE?"
Fillers and restarts
Pearson's guide says "you should not correct yourself" and to "give a single response that shows your ability". A restart repeats a phrase and a filler adds a hesitation, and both are scored. The fillers differ by language (ano, kasi and parang in Tagalog; matlab, basically and actually from Indian English) but the fix is the same: a silent pause at a comma, then carry on.
Memory in repeat items
Repeat items ask for exact words under time pressure, and first-language habits come back first when memory is loaded: endings drop and vowels creep in. Pearson's tips are to "consider the meaning of the sentence" and copy the rhythm. Hear the sentence as two or three meaning groups, start within the 6 seconds the guide allows, and if you lose the middle, keep the rhythm and say the start and the end exactly. Never stop. The practice bank has repeat sentences written for this.
Ten self-test lines and a ten-minute routine
Record these ten lines once, today, before you practise anything. Each was written by TalkDrill to expose one habit. Listen back the next morning with fresh ears, and tick the lines where a word changed or a syllable appeared. Then drill only what you ticked.
| # | Line | Listen for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Five fifty-five: file the refund on Friday." | f said as p |
| 2 | "Very valid, very visible: verify the view." | v said as b or w |
| 3 | "We will wait while the van is washed." | v and w swapped |
| 4 | "Please sit in the seat, then set the pen down." | i, ee and e |
| 5 | "The boat is full, but the pool is cool." | o and u; long and short vowels |
| 6 | "School starts at six, so speak to the station staff." | A vowel before s; s said as sh |
| 7 | "And then I asked him to send it back." | A vowel after final consonants; the -ed ending |
| 8 | "Development, category, technology, available." | Word stress |
| 9 | "Zero, zone, jam and juice." | z and j |
| 10 | "Your refund is on its way. Is there anything else?" | The statement falls, the question rises |
Then, every day until the test, ten minutes in this order:
- Minutes 0 to 3: read one passage in TalkDrill read-aloud practice. Every word comes back marked for accuracy, with fluency, completeness and prosody scored for the reading. Some passages are part of TalkDrill Pro, and the app says so before you start.
- Minutes 3 to 6: the drill for your first ticked habit, from your language section above.
- Minutes 6 to 9: ten repeat sentences from the practice bank, each started within six seconds, no restarts.
- Minutes 9 to 10: re-record the self-test line you ticked, and compare it with yesterday's.
The 7-day plan puts this routine into a week with a timed mock before test day, and the scores page explains what the numbers on your report mean. When the test is done, the mock call and interview page covers the round that follows it.