How to Make the TS Sound -- American English Pronunciation

Today I'm going to talk about the TS sound. I've noticed, working with my students,

that many people have problems putting the T into the TS sound. So, lit ends up sounding

like "less". So what is the difference between the S and the TS? A stop, the T stop. So,

to make the S, the tip of the tongue is forward, here, ss, lightly touching behind the bottom

front teeth. Corners of the lips will be pulled a little wide, teeth are closed, and the lips

are parted, letting out the sound. To make the T, one would ordinarily lift the tongue

to the roof of the mouth, tt, and release. However, in the TS sound, there's actually

a short cut that the tongue does. Rather than lifting the tip for the T, the tip stays down

here, ss, ss. And it's further back, the front part of the tongue, but not the tip,

that will raise and touch the roof of the mouth, to cut off the air flow. Sst, sst.

So rather than the tip coming up, it's simply the front part raising. And still, that contact

with the roof of the mouth makes the stop because it cuts off the airflow. So to work

on this sound, we're actually going to begin by practicing an S sound with a stop T at

the end rather than a TS sound. So the first sound, the S. Ss, ss, tip of the tongue down

low. Sst, and the stop. Bringing the front of the tongue to the roof of the mouth while

leaving the tip in its place. Sst, sst, sst, sst. Practice that along with me. Sst, sst,

sst. So as the tongue moves up, it cuts off the airflow. Now let's practice alternating

the S with the stop T a little quicker this time. Sst, etc. So to make the TS sound, it's

simply starting with the stop T, and moving into the S: ts, ts, ts, ts. So you want to

start with the front part of the tongue raised, the tip down, and air in a cut-off manner.

Ts. You the pull the tongue back down with the tip still forward, releasing the air out

for the S. So let's take a look at the two words from before. Let's, and less. Let's,

the tongue is raising in the front part, cutting off the airflow. Let's, and, less, less,

less. No stop in the sound. Let's, less. So as you're practicing this, make sure

you hear that pause. Let's. You might even want to exaggerate it like that to make sure

you're getting it in. The TS sound is very common in English. It's, what's, let's.

Also, any noun in plural form that ends in a T, for example, cats. And the conjugation

of some verbs that end in a T, like sits. So let's look at some more examples. It's

raining, it's, ts, ts, it's raining. That's what I said. Tha-ts-, that's what I said.

He fights with his boss a lot. He fights, ts, fights, he fights with his boss a lot.

That takes some guts, guts, that takes some guts. Let's go. Let's, let's go.

That's ts, ts, that's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.