Don't Be Shy About the H

French spelling includes the letter h, but it's silent — so your mouth has never had to produce an actual /h/ sound at the start of a word. In English, though, /h/ is a real, audible breath of air, and dropping it can turn 'hair' into 'air', 'heat' into 'eat', or 'hill' into 'ill' — very different meanings to a native listener. The good news is that /h/ is one of the easiest sounds to learn: it's just a breathy exhale, no tongue or lip shaping needed. Hold your hand a few inches from your mouth and say 'hair' — you should feel a clear puff of warm air hit your palm before the vowel starts. Try heat/eat, hill/ill, hair/air the same way for two minutes, checking the puff each time. Some learners find it helpful to imagine gently fogging up a mirror right before the vowel. Once this breath becomes automatic, your English will sound noticeably clearer — keep practicing, you're closer than you think.