Speaking English: How to say CH & SH

Hello. My name is Ronnie. It's nice to see you. That was very formal, very strange. What's

happened to Ronnie? Today, we're going to do some pronunciation. I did it. I said the

word correctly. I'm going to teach you how to say the difference between "ch" -- so CH

-- and "sh", SH.

I'm not 100 percent on how many people really have problems with this, but I do know that

if you speak Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, and any other languages, you probably

have trouble pronouncing these two words because -- or these two sounds -- because you don't

have them in your language. So don't worry. I'm here to help you. But please practice.

The only way that you're ever going to get this -- aces -- or get it well is by practicing.

You've got to tell your mouth what to do. Okay? We're going to do some exercises to

help you.

The first sound is "ch", "ch". Think of a train, "Choo-choo!" So when you make the "ch"

sound, you're going to bite the back of your teeth down, "ch". And your lips are going

to be like so. Okay? It's like you want to show people your teeth, but at the back. The

air is going to be pressed between the gap of your top and your bottom teeth. So it's

"ch, ch, ch, ch, ch... Choo-choo!" So you can think of it like making a train noise.

This word is "chair". Your turn. "Chair. Ch, ch, ch, chair."

Then we have something delicious, "chip". Maybe you like potato chips, so you're going

to say, "I'd like some potato ch, ch, ch, chips." You don't want to say "ship". You're

not going to ask someone for a "potato ship". "Potato ship? What is -- a ship of potatoes?

Would you like an entire ship of potatoes? That is a lot of potatoes." So you just want

a "chip" or "chips". Delicious.

Delicious. We have some "cheese". Again, the first part of this sound is the "ch, cheese".

Good.

The next word. This part on your face is called your "chin". "Ch, ch, chin". What's a "chair?"

A "chair" is something that you can sit on. So this is a really good drawing of a "chair".

Next word is what you do if you have gum or if you're eating something. Sorry, marker.

You're going to "chew". "Ch, ch, ch, chew". We're almost done the "ch" sound.

One thing that we had a long time ago when I was in school because I am so young is "ch,

ch, ch, chalk". A while ago, we didn't have these beautiful colored markers. We had something

called "chalk". Probably maybe when you were in school, the teacher had, not a whiteboard

but a blackboard, and would write on a blackboard with something. That little thing is called

"ch, ch, chalk". Good.

So we've practiced the CH sound. Now, it is on to the "sh". I have done lessons before.

So if you have problems with S and SH, please look on the website, www.engvid.com, and we

have lessons on SH and S. But we're not doing that. What we're comparing is the CH and the

S.

When you make the SH sound, you're going to put your mouth like this. It's similar with

the mouth with the CH. Except "sh", you have to blow air very quickly out of your mouth.

So you're going to be like "sh". When I was a child and as I got older, people would always

say, "Shh! Ronnie, stop talking." They wouldn't say, "Chh! Ronnie", they would say "shh".

So the sounds are very similar, but the S is going to take more power from your stomach.

So you're going to have to protect or say the "sh" stronger. So "ch" is like this, and

this one is "sh". "Ch, ch, sh". This sound is much longer and stronger than this one.

So let's go through the "sh" side.

This word is "share". "Share" means if I have something and you don't have any, I will give

you some; I will share with you. Okay? So you have to be careful, and you don't want

to say "chair". "Can you chair with me?" "I don't think I know how to chair with someone.

I can share with you, but I'm sorry, I do not know how to chair with you." This is a

verb. "Chair" is a noun.

As I said before, we have the word "ship". One thing you must be very careful about is

you have to really say the P at the end of the word as well. The pronunciation of the

P is important because if you don't, you might say a naughty word like "shit". So you don't

want to say "shit"; you want to say "ship". The P is "puh" at the end. So you're going

to say "ship". Okay?

If you're referring to someone, you're going to say "she's". "She's beautiful." This is

a short form for "she is". Usually, you have to use an adjective after this one. So you

can say, "She is beautiful. She is funny." Okay? It would be very strange if you said,

"Cheese is funny." "Is it"? Is cheese -- no. Cheese isn't really funny. She's funny, but

cheese not so much." Unless you are doing some crazy drugs and cheese is talking to

you. I don't think it's that funny.

The forward part of your leg is called your "shin", okay? You guys know I'm such a very

good artist. I'm going to draw a leg. Watch out. In detail. This is quite spectacular

if I do say so myself. I've just done the foot wrong. That's okay. It's a frog. A "shin"

is kind of the bone in the front of your leg. This part is called your "knee" as you can

see because I'm such a good artist. And this is your frog foot. Your "shin" is the front

part of your foot here. So it's a "shin", okay? If you play football, maybe someone

kicked you in the shin. If they kicked you in the chin, that would be a whole different

story.

Something you might wear on your frog feet to cover them is a "shoe", "shoe". And -- "Oh,

my god! What just happened?" Shock! "Shock" is like a good -- sorry. A bad surprise. For

example, if somebody was at work and they fell and broke something, maybe they would

text you and say, "Hi. I broke both of my arms." I would be in shock. "Shock" is a bad

surprise. So this sound is "sh, shock, shoe, shin, she's, ship, and share."

Are you ready to put them together and compare them? This is where it becomes difficult.

This is where you -- you -- have to practice yourself. I can't do anything more than just

tell you to practice.

So please repeat after me. "Chair, share." The next one we have is the CH word. So you're

going to say, "ch, ch, ch, chip and ship". Okay? "Potato chip" and maybe a "ship". I

don't know what kind of ship you can have. So "ship", "ch, ch, chip".

Delicious. Delicious, but not funny. "Ch, ch, cheese." The next one is the girl who

is quite humorous -- "she's". One thing that will help you do this if you're having problems

-- because they do sound so similar -- is to kind of make this like a long S. So like

"Shhh, she's", and this is "cheese". It's faster. Okay?

This word, "chin". And this word, "shin". "Chin, shin." Disco time. We've got the next

word, "chew", and the thing we wear on our feet, "shoe". "Chew, shoe".

The last two. Are you ready? "Chalk. Ch, ch, chalk" and "shock". "Chalk, shock". We're

going to go through them one more time. See if you can get them correct. One thing that

you can do to help you is you can record your voice. If you have some kind of a smartphone

-- if you have a stupid phone -- or some kind of recording device, a good thing to do to

help with any words you want to say in English is to listen to yourself speak. Then, you

can hear and go, "Was that 'chew' or 'shoe'?" So please feel free to record things, listen

to them, erase them. Digital era. We can do what we like.

So "chair, share", "chip, ship". Your turn. Then, we have "cheese" and "she's". Good.

"Chin, shin". Your turn. Do it again. "Shh" -- that's better. Good. "Chew, shoe". "I chew

a shoe." Good. Remember to make this one short. "Chew" -- good. And this one, "chalk, shock".

Your turn. That was excellent. Good job. You did it.

So if you have problems eating ships and not chips, if you think that she's beautiful,

but they think you said "cheese beautiful", review, review, practice, record it. Let me

know how it goes. 'Til then, bye-bye.