The TH Sound in English - New and IMPROVED Lesson

76,042 views ・ 2021-10-26

Accent's Way English with Hadar


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hey everyone.
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It's Hadar.
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Thank you so much for joining me.
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Today, I'm going to share with you one of my most complete and
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thorough lessons about the TH.
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And yes, I know it's funny that I used the word 'thorough' to describe a TH lesson.
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Anyway, I love teaching the TH sound.
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First, because it's easy to understand with the right explanation and practice.
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And it's easy to implement.
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And then it gets my students usually great results.
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Second, because I know that this is a sound that a lot of people struggle
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with and feel self-conscious about.
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And even though it's not crucial for your clarity for the most part, being
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self-conscious about a certain sound is not something that helps you sound clear
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and fluent, because you're obsessing over things that are not helping you
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feel free, and clear, and confident.
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So this is why I usually teach the TH right at the start of my programs.
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In fact, this lesson is taken from my program New Sound.
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New Sound is designed to help you reach a breakthrough in your English.
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And it really covers all the elements that are required for you to transform
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how you think, feel, and use English.
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Most of it is based on pronunciation training.
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Because I believe that it's so important to understand the external
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part of English, so you can free yourself up and feel clear and
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expressive so it's not in your way.
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We go really deep into learning all the key sounds of American English.
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And also, we go really deep into understanding prosody, which is
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intonation, rhythm, stress, phrasing, breathing, tone of voice, voice.
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So, all of these elements that make you a good communicator are important
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to learn and to understand, and most importantly, to practice effectively.
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So, as you will see, we will share with you a lesson about the TH.
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It's a part of the entire lesson, because we actually start with a
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self-assessment process, so you'll know what you need to focus on.
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Because not everyone has the same needs.
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And then we go into deeper practice and tackling challenges.
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Today I'm going to share with you the explanation of the TH and a short
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practice, which, I have no doubt, is going to help you significantly.
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And you'll know how to keep on practicing it on your own.
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If you need more help and you want to find out more about New Sound,
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I'm going to put a link in the description so you can check it out.
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When we release this video, doors are open for New Sound.
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So you can go check out the program, and maybe you would consider joining us.
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And if you're watching this when doors are closed, then you can get on the list to
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be the first to know when we open doors.
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All right, that's it.
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I'm not going to make you wait any longer.
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So let's watch and practice the TH lesson.
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And I will see you on the other side.
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Welcome to the TH sound.
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The TH sound is a sound that is created with
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the tip of the tongue, as in ‘think’ and ‘they’.
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A lot of students are very aware of the sound,
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but at the same time, they feel uncomfortable when using it or
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they feel that it's a little too much or fake, or just strange.
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Because if you don't have
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the TH sound in your native language,
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then it's going to be strange to speak with the tongue out.
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However, if you practice it
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consistently and the way I'm going to show you in this program,
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then I guarantee that very soon you'll be able to make it your own
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and feel comfortable, and the sound is going to be effortless for you.
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Because the good thing about the TH
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is that it's very clear how to pronounce it and how to use it.
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So, it's really all about the muscles and all about developing those
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new healthy speaking habits.
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Now, when we talk about the pronunciation of the sounds, we want
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to take into consideration three elements.
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The first one is the manner of the sound,
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then the placement, and then the voicing.
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So, let's begin with the placement.
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When pronouncing the TH sound, the tip of the tongue comes out
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and touches the top teeth.
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This is where the air or voice are blocked.
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And that's the place of articulation.
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So it's the tip of the tongue and the teeth.
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In a second we're going to talk
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about common challenges when pronouncing the TH sound.
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But the most important thing
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that you need to remember is that the tongue has to be out.
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And there has to be contact between the tongue
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and teeth to pronounce the TH sound.
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Think
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They
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When it comes to manner, the TH is a fricative.
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That means that the sound is not blocked.
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The air is not blocked.
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But it's released gradually. So it's restricted, right?
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Think about it. We release air, but the air is restricted
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because of the contact of the tongue and teeth.
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So you let it out slowly,
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almost like blowing out a candle.
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It is not a stop sound, it's not stopped.
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That would be a T or a D. But it's released gradually.
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This is why it's a little longer than a stop sound,
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for example, a D.
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Listen: ‘they’ - ’day’
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‘they’ - I can stretch it forever.
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D, D, ‘day’. It's a lot shorter.
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OK? So that's the idea of a fricative.
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And when it comes to voicing, we have two different TH’s.
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One is the voiceless TH, or as some people call it, the soft TH,
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where it's just air coming out between the tongue and teeth.
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Think
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Versus a voiced TH, as in ‘they’.
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Where it’s both air and sound.
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The vocal cords are vibrating.
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And if you put your hands here on your throat, try it.
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Now let's release air. Just air.
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And now add the vocal cords. Just sound.
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Did you feel the vibrations? Good.
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So that is your voice, and it actually changes the sound.
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So we're not doing anything different here.
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But it created a different sound.
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think - they
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Both are spelled with two letters - T and H - TH.
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But they have two different phonetic symbols.
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This is the phonetic symbol of the voiceless TH.
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This is the phonetic symbol - the IPA of the voiced TH.
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Now, before we practice it in words, let's talk about
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common challenges that you might face when pronouncing this sound.
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So we've already agreed that it's going to be
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a little challenging for some people to stick the tongue out,
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if that sound does not exist in their native language.
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So, you might be wanting to pull the tongue back as you're pronouncing the TH.
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And you may think that the tongue is out,
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but ultimately, if it's inside, then this is a sound that you're going to get.
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Did that sound like a TH?
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Because I blocked the air,
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it actually sounded more like a T sound than a TH.
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thought
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Now that my tongue is out, the sound is different. Listen again.
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By the way, I may even stick the tongue out and still get the same quality.
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That's because I pressed my tongue against the teeth really strongly,
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and I did not allow the air to pass.
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So, you need to remember two things.
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If you don't hear that friction sound of the TH
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that resembles an S or an F,
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then your tongue is either inside - right behind the teeth - or outside,
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but it's pressed so strongly against the teeth that the air is not coming out.
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So make sure that the tongue is loose and relaxed.
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And one more thing.
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Think of the body of the tongue, and you want to make sure that it's down
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because sometimes people stick the tongue out
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and the body of the tongue is so high up, that it's blocking the air inside.
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And you have no idea why you're pronouncing a T or a D instead of a TH.
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’dey’ instead of ‘they’
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So it has to do with what's happening inside the mouth as well.
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Good. Now, another common challenge is that when people are not aware of sticking the tongue out
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and you may want to create that friction sound.
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But you'll keep the tongue inside.
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’sink’
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And then you're pronouncing an S sound instead of a TH sound.
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‘sink’ instead of ‘think’.
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So in that case, you want to make sure that the tip of the tongue comes out.
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And you can do that by putting your finger right here.
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And you might want to feel the tongue touching the finger.
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Or you might want to use a mirror or your phone camera to see the tongue
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actually coming out.
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think
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Now, if you're hearing the quality of the TH and you're not seeing the tip of the tongue,
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maybe you're using your bottom lip to pronounce the TH:
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as in ’vey’ instead of ’they’, or ‘fink’ instead of ‘think’.
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And in that case, you might want to hold
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your bottom lip with your finger for a little bit,
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making sure that it's not coming up, and that the tongue is actually coming out.
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Instead, ‘they’, ‘think’. Right?
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It's all a matter of controlling your tongue and articulation organs,
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becoming more aware of what your mouth is actually doing.
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And when you're in control, then you're less likely
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to go back into old habits, which is the pronunciation habits
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that you've developed, like pronouncing an F or an S instead of a TH.
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So as you can see, the TH can be substituted with several sounds, like a T or a D.
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S or a Z - ‘zey’ instead of ‘they; or F or V.
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It depends on your native language and your speaking habits.
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But when you become aware of that and you understand what you tend to do,
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it's a lot easier to change that and go into the right pronunciation.
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Now, I want to remind you that it is possible for you to pronounce the TH.
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Your tongue is not too short.
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Your teeth are not too wide.
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It has nothing to do with the structure of your mouth.
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You're able to pronounce the TH.
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If you find it challenging, it's only because you're going back to old
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pronunciation habits, and to what's comfortable, and what's familiar,
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because that's how you pronounce sounds in your native language.
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OK? So it's just a matter of gaining control
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over your tongue, over your articulation organs, becoming aware and being patient.
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And doing it again and again and again
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and doing it slowly, until you hear what you're looking for.
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So now that you know how to pronounce the TH,
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let's move on to practicing it in words, phrases, minimal pairs, and sentences.
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OK, so let's begin with words.
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We're going to start with words with voiceless TH.
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Stick the tongue out, make sure the air passes.
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And prolong the sound, do it with me.
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Thanks. Thank you. Thanks.
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Theory. What a great theory.
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Theory. It's only in theory.
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Stick the tongue out.
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Feel the air passing.
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If you hear ‘teory’, then you want to relax the tongue.
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Stick it out a bit more: theory.
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Now, that might be confusing with a Z sound in the middle.
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And yes, it's a Z sound, even though it's spelled with an S.
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So, if you feel that you're saying something like
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‘southend’, like switching the sounds, so concentrate on the TH first.
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Hold it out, ’thaw’ - long ‘aw’ sound, ’thaw’ and then bring the tongue
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in for the Z sound:
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‘z’nd’ - ’thaw-zn’d’.
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thousand.
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Let's review the words.
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Very good. Now, moving on to voiced TH.
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Feel the vibrations.
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Now, you may see that it's spelled the same, and you might be asking yourself,
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how would I know if it's a voiceless or a voiced TH?
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So wait with that thought.
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I'll answer it in a little bit.
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the car
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the people
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The tongue comes out.
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You hear the vibrations.
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Now, with this word in particular, sometimes
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you can cheat and put the tongue on the back of the teeth.
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When you hold it out,
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you may even feel tickles here.
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If you don't, maybe the air is blocked somewhere,
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so you want to see why.
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the car, the people, the chair.
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‘this’ - a voiced TH, an ‘i’ sound, and an S. ‘this’.
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‘this’, right? We don't want
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to hear ‘dis’ or ‘zis’.
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this
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Now, having said that, again, if you pronounce it more like
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a D sound, because it's a function word, it's no big deal.
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But for the sake of practice.
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Right? It's not about mastering it
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every time you speak English.
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No, it's just for the sake of practice
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to train your tongue to get to the right placement, in all the words.
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After that, we'll learn where we can do all these shortcuts, because this is not
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as important as ‘father’, or at least the TH in these words.
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Can you hear the difference between the two?
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These. We begin with a voiced TH.
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But here we have high ‘ee’ sound.
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‘These’ - ending with a Z sound.
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this - these.
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Now let's continue with phrases.
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Now, this is where it gets interesting,
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because this is an opportunity to see how we transition from the TH
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to other sounds and vice versa.
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Let me think about it.
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So the ‘let me’ - we can reduce it to ‘lemme’.
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Lemme think about it.
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Let's do this thing.
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Say it again. Let's do this thing.
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What's the challenging part?
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Where do you get stuck?
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Probably the transition between the S and the TH, right?
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Let's do this thing.
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So make sure you bring the tongue in for the S and then you push it out
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for the TH - ‘this-thing’. Right?
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And you want to make sure that the tongue doesn't
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stop in the middle and stops the air as well.
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This thing. Make sure it's very smooth.
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Let's move into sentences.
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They need to think about the earth more
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Notice that here the ’the’ is pronounced as ’thee’ - ‘thee earth’.
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That's because there is a vowel right after. When there is a vowel,
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we want to say the word ’the’ with an ‘ee’ sound,
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so it's easier to connect: ‘thee-earth’.
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When it's a consonant, then we reduce it: the car, the plane.
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They need to think about the earth more.
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Now let's practice minimal pairs: similar words
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that the only thing that is different is that one sound - a TH and another sound.
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For example, day - they.
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So a lot of people might substitute the voiced TH with a D sound.
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So we want to look into those pairs to, again, develop awareness
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and to remind the brain that these are two different sounds: day - they.
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Let's do it again. ‘day’ - ‘they’
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And when you practice minimal pairs, make sure to always say the words first
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and then the sentence.
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They had a great day today.
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They had a great day today.
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sink - think
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I think the ship is about to sink.
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OK. That's it for now.
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Massage your jaw a little bit. Do a lip trill.
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Take a deep breath in, breathe out.
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You did a fantastic job.
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All right, that's it.
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I hope you enjoyed it.
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And I hope it was helpful, helped you understand how to simplify the TH sound.
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If you want to find out more about New Sound and all the lessons that we
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teach there, and how you can transform your English using my Pronunciation
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Confidence Method, and all the lessons about pronunciation, I invite you to
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click the link in the description.
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If doors are closed, get on the list to be the first to know when we open doors.
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Just so you know, the program is not just the videos.
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We also offer a lot of coaching.
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So you get to work with me, and with our coaches.
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And you can even get feedback on your pronunciation videos.
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So there's a lot that goes into it: a lot of speaking practice,
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and practice groups, and Sprints.
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So, it's a lot of fun.
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You should check it out.
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Anyway, I hope you'll have some time to put it into practice.
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Remember, practice makes better.
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So take what you've learned, and maybe make a list of all the TH words that
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you often use, and just practice it everyday for 3 minutes, that's it.
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I guarantee that you are going to feel the difference.
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All right.
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Take care.
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Thank you so much for watching.
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And I'll see you next week in the next video.
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About this website

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