IELTS Pronunciation for Indian Speakers: What to Fix

First, the most important point: IELTS does not ask you to lose your Indian accent. Indian English is a well-established variety of English, and the IELTS Pronunciation criterion is about how easily you are understood, not how British or American you sound. The public Band Descriptors describe a Band 8 speaker as "easy to understand throughout", with their first-language accent having "minimal effect on intelligibility".

So the question isn't "How do I sound less Indian?" It's "Which features, if any, make me harder to follow, and how do I fix those?" This guide answers that.

A note on variety: India has many first languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi, Malayalam and more), and features differ between them. Not every speaker has the features below. Use this list to check yourself, not as a description of everyone.

What the IELTS Pronunciation criterion actually rewards

From the public descriptors, higher bands reward:

• Using a range of pronunciation features: word stress, sentence stress, rhythm, intonation and connected speech
• Sustaining them throughout the test, not just in short answers
• Being easy to understand throughout

At Band 6, the descriptors note you "can generally be understood throughout", though mispronouncing individual words or sounds "reduces clarity at times". The step up is mostly about fewer moments where the listener has to work. See does accent affect your IELTS Speaking score?

Features worth checking (most impact on clarity first)

1. Word stress on longer words

Stress on an unexpected syllable can make a familiar word hard to recognise, especially in longer academic words. Check the stress of words you use often in IELTS answers:

• deVELopment · enVIronment · ecoNOmic · phoTOgraphy · responsiBIlity · deTERmine
• Noun/verb pairs: a PRESent / to preSENT, a REcord / to reCORD

Drill: say the word, clap on the stressed syllable, then use it in a full sentence. Check new words in a dictionary that shows stress marks.

2. Unstressed vowels and rhythm

English rhythm relies on weak, short syllables, often a schwa /ə/, between stressed ones. Many Indian English speakers give unstressed syllables full vowels, which makes speech sound evenly weighted. That's fine on its own, but at speed it can blur where the important words are.

• to /tə/ in "I want to go" · for /fə/ in "wait for me" · the first syllable of banana, police, about

Drill: read a sentence with only the key words stressed: "I WANT to GO to the MARket on SUNday." The small words should be quick and light.

3. /v/ and /w/

Many speakers use one sound for both. Usually context makes it clear, but some pairs can confuse a listener:

• vest / west · vine / wine · veil / whale · verse / worse

Drill: for /v/, rest your top teeth lightly on your bottom lip and buzz. For /w/, round your lips with no teeth contact. Practise the pairs slowly, then in sentences: "We visited a very wide valley."

4. Consonant clusters at the start of words

Some speakers add a short vowel before or inside clusters: school → "iskool", station → "istation", sports → "isports".

Drill: start with the s sound held, then glide straight into the next consonant: "ssss-chool", "ssss-tation". Then say them at normal speed in sentences.

5. /z/ and /ʒ/

Some speakers use a "j" sound for /z/ (zero → "jero", zoo → "joo") or for /ʒ/ (television, measure).

Drill: /z/ is just /s/ with voice. Hold "ssss", then add voice: "zzzz". Practise zero, zoo, easy, reason, busy.

Features you can leave alone

These are part of the Indian English accent and rarely affect clarity for an IELTS examiner:

• Retroflex /t/ and /d/
• Dental /t/ /d/ in place of th in words like three and the (if the word is still clear in context)
• Steady vowels in words like day and go where other accents glide
• Your natural intonation, as long as key words stand out

Spending weeks on these won't move your band. Spend that time on stress, rhythm and the few sounds that cause real confusion.

A 15-minute daily pronunciation routine

1. 3 minutes, minimal pairs: v/w, and any other pair you found hard.
2. 4 minutes, word stress: ten long words from today's topic, clapped and then used in sentences.
3. 5 minutes, a Part 2 cue card out loud: focus only on stressing key words and keeping small words light. See Part 2 cue cards.
4. 3 minutes, listen back: where would a listener have to work to understand you? Fix just that.

FAQ

Will I lose marks for an Indian accent in IELTS? No. IELTS assesses how easy you are to understand and how well you use pronunciation features, not whether you have a particular accent.

Should I copy a British or American accent? No. A forced accent is hard to keep up for 11–14 minutes and often reduces clarity. Clear, steady speech with good stress is what scores.

What matters most for Indian speakers aiming for Band 7? Usually word stress on longer words and a clear rhythm (strong stressed syllables, light unstressed ones). After that, fix only the specific sounds that cause confusion.

Practise with a live tutor

Sprechify is a live voice AI tutor built only for IELTS Speaking. Its pronunciation week drills sounds, word and sentence stress, and intonation for clarity, never accent, inside real Part 1–3 conversations. See the 30-day course. Also see IELTS Speaking practice in India.

Further reading: Learner English (Swan & Smith, Cambridge University Press) describes pronunciation features of speakers of many first languages.

Related reading: Does accent affect your IELTS Speaking score? · IELTS Speaking Band Descriptors Explained · How to improve IELTS Speaking fluency