English Sounds - N [n] Consonant - How to make the N [n] Consonant
194,961 views ・ 2017-03-02
Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
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In this American English pronunciation video,
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we're going to learn how to make the N consonant sound.
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To make this sound, the jaw drops a little
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and the lips part.
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Nn-- The front flap part of the tongue goes to the roof
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of the mouth.
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Make sure to keep you tongue wide as you do that.
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The soft palate is lowered.
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Air comes up through the nasal passages.
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This makes it a nasal consonant.
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You can feel the vibration in your nose.
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Nn--
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There are only 3 nasal sounds in American English.
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Nn-- Ng-- Mm--
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It's very important that the tongue be relaxed.
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If there is tension in the back of the tongue,
it will sound somewhat like the NG sound,
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ng-- even if the front of the tongue is in the
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right position.
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One thing that will help relaxation is to
think about keeping the tongue really wide.
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Nn-- nn--
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Let's look up close and in slow motion.
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The N sound.
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Lips relaxed, tongue wide and lifted to the
roof of the mouth.
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If you see any darkness on the sides of the tongue when you practice,
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that means there is tension in the tongue.
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Try to release that tension and keep the tongue wide.
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The word 'no'.
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Tongue soft, relaxed, and wide.
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The word 'snag'.
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Front of the tongue to roof of mouth.
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The word 'on'.
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Wide tongue to the roof of the mouth to finish
the word.
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The N consonant sound.
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No
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Snag
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On
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Example words.
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Repeat with me.
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Nice.
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Nn-- nice.
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One.
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Nn-- one.
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Number.
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Nn-- number.
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Woman.
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Nn-- woman.
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Win.
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Nn-- win.
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Any.
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Nn-- any.
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End.
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Nn-- end.
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This video is one of 36 in a new series, The
Sounds of American English.
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Videos in this set will be released here on
YouTube twice a month,
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first and third Thursdays, in 2016 and 2017.
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But the whole set can be all yours right now.
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The real value of these videos is watching
them as a set, as a whole,
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to give your mind the time to take it all
in and get the bigger picture.
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Most of the materials you'll find elsewhere
just teach the sounds on their own in isolation.
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It's a mistake to learn them this way.
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We learn the sounds to speak words and sentences,
not just sounds.
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Move closer to fluency in spoken English.
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Buy the video set today!
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Visit rachelsenglish.com/sounds
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Available as a DVD or digital download.
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Original video on YouTube.com
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