Double Letters Don't Mean Double Sounds

In Japanese, a doubled consonant like the small tsu before another consonant genuinely lengthens the sound — it's a meaningful, audible pause. So when Japanese speakers see English words like 'dinner,' 'letter,' or 'summer,' it's natural to expect that doubled spelling to mean a longer, held consonant too. But English doubles letters mostly for historical spelling reasons, not pronunciation — 'dinner' and 'diner' actually differ in the vowel before the N, not in how long the N itself is held. Try saying 'dinner' and 'diner' side by side: notice the first vowel is shorter and tighter in 'dinner,' while 'diner' has a longer, gliding vowel, but the N in both takes about the same length. Practice this pair along with 'letter' and 'later' today, focusing entirely on the vowel, not the consonant. Letting go of the doubling instinct will make multisyllable English words flow much more smoothly and naturally.