Practice Your English Pronunciation j /dʒ/ vs /z/ Sounds | Course #22

We are going to focus on two consonant sounds.

The sound /ʤ/ and the sound /z/.

Okay.

They are very different in English

even though they may sound similar.

But I want you to be able to pronounce them

differently and correctly.

So let's take two example words.

The first example word is ‘jag’.

Can you hear this ‘dg’ sound?

‘jag’

The other word is ‘zag’.

Can you hear the /z/ sound?

‘zag’

So ‘jag’ and ‘zag’.

I know they sound similar but they are different.

We are going to practice together,

and by the end of this video,

I promise you will pronounce them correctly.

So let's get started.

Before we learn about the consonant sounds /ʤ/ and /z/ in English,

you should know about the I.P.A. spelling, guys.

It's very useful.

Also you can watch me and how I move my mouth.

And of course always try to repeat after me in this video.

You can make those sounds, guys.

Let's do it together.

First, let's learn how to make the /ʤ/ sound in English.

So this is a voiced sound.

You're going to use your voice and feel the vibration in your throat.

What you do is, you place your tongue up there,

it doesn't move,

but your mouth is going to come out

and you're going to produce a sound using your throat.

You have to feel that vibration, okay so

/ʤ/

So please repeat after me.

/ʤ/

Let's practice with the word ‘jag’.

Please repeat after me.

‘jag’

Good.

Let's now move on to the /z/ sound.

It is voiced as well.

You're going to use your voice and feel the vibration in your throat.

You put your tongue against your bottom teeth.

Your teeth should practically touch each other.

And you're going to produce that vibration using your voice, okay so...

/z/

So, please repeat after me.

/z/

Let's use the word ‘zag’.

Please repeat after me.

‘zag’

Good.

Let's now practice using minimal pairs.

These words that sound almost the same

but not exactly.

And they're extremely good

if you really want to focus on

the difference between the two sounds.

First, let's focus on the sounds.

Watch how I move my mouth and repeat after me.

First… /ʤ/

And now the /z/ sound.

Repeat after me.

/z/

Let's now do both.

Please repeat after me.

/ʤ/

/z/

/ʤ/

/z/

/ʤ/

/z/

Let’s now use our words.

Please repeat after me, guys.

‘jag’

‘zag’

‘jag’

‘zag’

‘jag’

‘zag’

Great.

Let's now go through minimal pairs together.

Please watch how I move my mouth and repeat after me.

Let's get started.

barge

bars

binge

bin

budge

buzz

cage

Ks

change

chains

charge

chars

forge

fours

fridge

frizz

fudge

fuzz

gauge

gaze

gorge

gauze

grange

grains

jest

zest

Jew

zoo

jig

zig

page

pays

purge

purrs

rage

raise

siege

seize

singe

sins

stage

stays

strange

strains

tinge

tins

wage

ways

Good job, guys.

Let's now practice with a few sentences containing these consonant sounds.

Our first sentence is:

‘The actor stays on stage.’

Please repeat after me.

‘The actor stays on stage.’

The second sentence:

‘A strange virus strain made her sick.’

Please repeat after.

‘A strange virus strain made her sick.’

And finally: ‘There are ways to increase your wage.’

Please repeat after me.

‘There are ways to increase your wage.’

Very good.

Moving on.

Let's now move on to listening practice.

I'm now going to show you two words.

I will say one of the two words,

and I want you to listen very carefully and to tell me if this word is,

‘a)’ or ‘b)’

Let's get started.

Let's start, guys.

So which word do I say?

‘a’ or ‘b’?

Listen to me.

‘tins’

One more time.

‘tins’

Was this word ‘a’ or word ‘b’?

Word ‘b’ of course, ‘tins’.

Word ‘a’ is tinge.

What about now?

‘zest’ ‘zest’

It's ‘b’, ‘zest’

‘a’ is ‘jest’.

Listen to me, guys.

‘rage’ ‘rage’

‘a’ or ‘b’?

It's ‘a’, ‘rage’.

‘b’ is ‘raise’.

‘singe’ ‘singe’

It's ‘a’, ‘singe’.

‘b’ is ‘sins’.

Which one do I say now?

‘bars’ ‘bars’

‘b’ Very good. ‘bars’

‘a’ is ‘barge’.

Now listen.

‘ways’ ‘ways’

It's ‘b’, ‘ways’.

‘a’ is wage.

‘charge’ ‘charge’

It's ‘a’, students, ‘charge’.

‘b’ would be ‘chars’.

‘zoo’

It's ‘b’ obviously, ‘zoo’.

'a' is 'Jew'.

‘stage’

is word ‘a’, ‘stage’.

Word ‘b’ is ‘stays’.

And final.

‘strange’ ‘strange’

It's word ‘a’ guys, ‘strange’.

‘b’ is ‘strains’.

Excellent job, students.

You now have a better understanding of these two different consonant sounds.

The/ʤ/ sound and /z/ sound in English.

Keep practicing.

It takes a lot of speaking and listening practice to master these sounds.

You can do it.

Just practice, train your ear as well, to hear the different sounds in English.

And obviously watch my other pronunciation videos.

I promise you they will help you improve your skills.

See you next time.