\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGet better clarity with your spoken English by fully understanding all the consonant sounds we have in American English.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nToday is a compilation of every single consonant sound you need to know. Some will be easy for you.\u00a0 You have them in your own native language. Great! Just practice the words. Others will be tricky, unfamiliar. Use the photos to study the position and the up-close\u00a0slow motion\u00a0shots. This will help make it clear, for example, how much of the tongue tip needs to come through the teeth for the\u00a0th.\u00a0It\u2019s not much. Why not start with the\u00a0th? Let\u2019s dive in.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThese sounds are paired together because they take the same mouth position.\u00a0 TH is unvoiced, meaning, only air passes through the mouth, and TH is voiced, meaning you make a sound with the vocal cords,\u00a0th,\u00a0th.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe very tip of the tongue comes through the teeth.\u00a0 The air passes around the tongue.\u00a0 The tongue is relaxed.\u00a0 There shouldn\u2019t be any pressure in the mouth, or a stop quality to this sound.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJust nice and easy,\u00a0th,\u00a0th.\u00a0 The tongue has to easily vibrate between the teeth, so keep the tongue soft and relaxed.\u00a0 Th,\u00a0th.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe lips don\u2019t affect the sound, so they can be transitioning to the next.\u00a0 For example, in the THR cluster, the lips will round a little bit for the R as you make the TH:\u00a0 three, three.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBe careful with the tongue tip.\u00a0 Make sure it doesn\u2019t come too far forward; it\u2019s just the very tip that should come between the teeth.\u00a0 To make the unvoiced TH, the tongue tip absolutely has to come through the teeth,\u00a0th,\u00a0th.\u00a0 But the voiced TH can be different.\u00a0 When it\u2019s in an unstressed, quick word like \u2018these\u2019 or \u2018the\u2019, the tongue tip doesn\u2019t have to come through the teeth.\u00a0 It can press behind the teeth.\u00a0 Make sure the tongue isn\u2019t at the roof of the mouth, or pointing down, but pressing right in the middle, where the teeth come together.\u00a0 If it\u2019s not in the right position, the sound will be wrong.\u00a0 Th,\u00a0th, these, the.\u00a0 This tongue shortcut works in these words because they\u2019re unstressed.\u00a0\u00a0So\u00a0when you don\u2019t bring your tongue tip through the teeth, it allows you to make these less important words quickly.\u00a0 These, the.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet\u2019s look at these sounds up close and in slow motion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNotice how it\u2019s just the very tip that comes out of the teeth.\u00a0 The tongue is relaxed.\u00a0 The teeth surround it, but they\u2019re not clamping down on it.\u00a0 The lips and face are relaxed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThrow.\u00a0 Notice how the lips are starting to flare for the R as the tongue comes through the teeth for the unvoiced TH.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBirthday.\u00a0 Keep in mind when you only stick the very tip of your tongue out, the movement into other sounds isn\u2019t as hard as you might think.\u00a0 Watch the tongue tip come in and flip up for the D.\u00a0 This is a quick move of the tongue that you can practice over and over to make it more natural.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBrother.\u00a0 Tongue tip through the teeth for the voiced TH.\u00a0 Lips and tongue are relaxed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWorth, ending in the unvoiced TH.\u00a0 Again, the lips and tongue look very relaxed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRemember to keep your tongue relaxed and soft when you practice this sound.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe voiced and unvoiced TH:\u00a0 throw, birthday, brother, worth.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExample words.\u00a0 Repeat with me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOther<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEither<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThough<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThursday<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNothing<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSouth<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe R in American English is also such a tough sound for my students to get. Here\u2019s the thing, most people\u00a0needs\u00a0to simplify. Do less with the tongue. Maybe round the lips a little bit more but take out tension. Take a look.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis is truly one of the hardest sounds in American English. Before I go into how to make it, I want to talk about how not to make it.\u00a0 In many languages, the R is made by bouncing the front part of the tongue against the roof of the mouth,\u00a0rr,\u00a0rr.\u00a0 In American English, this sound of the T or D between vowels, but it\u2019s quite different from the American R,\u00a0rr.\u00a0 You can\u2019t hold out\u00a0rr,\u00a0rr, but you should be able to hold out the American R,\u00a0rr.\u00a0\u00a0 This consonant is voiced.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThere are two ways to make this sound.\u00a0\u00a0 In the first way, the front part of the tongue pulls back and up, like this.\u00a0 The tongue can be stretched so it\u2019s long and skinny, or it can be pulled into itself so it\u2019s fatter and thicker.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what we want here.\u00a0 We\u2019re making the tongue fatter and thicker so it\u2019s not as long.\u00a0 The back doesn\u2019t move.\u00a0 This is happening with the front and middle of the tongue.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe middle part of the tongue lifts up towards the roof of the mouth.\u00a0 You can touch the sides of the tongue to the sides of the roof of the mouth here, or to the inside or bottom of the side teeth, here.\u00a0 The front part of the tongue is hanging in the middle of the mouth, not touching anything.\u00a0 This sound is forward and focused because of the position of the lips.\u00a0 The corners come in, pushing the lips away from the face.\u00a0 This lip position will be a little more relaxed when the R comes at the end of a syllable.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWe\u2019ll compare this way, on the left, with the other way to make an R on the right.\u00a0 The R can also be made by flipping the tongue tip up.\u00a0 The lips flare the same way.\u00a0 Some native speakers make the R one way, and some the other.\u00a0 Native speakers get the correct sound, no matter the mouth position.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBut I\u2019ve found that non-native speakers drop the jaw too much in this second method, and it makes the sound hollow,\u00a0rr.\u00a0 The jaw doesn\u2019t need to drop very much for this sound,\u00a0rr, so keep this in mind as you work on one of these two methods.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHere is the R sound on its own, not part of a word.\u00a0 You can see the lips flare.\u00a0 Think of creating a little space between the inside of your lips and your teeth.\u00a0 Notice how little jaw drop there is.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need to drop the jaw to pull the tongue back and up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018rest\u2019.\u00a0 When the R is at the beginning of a word, we tend to make the lips a tight circle.\u00a0 Again, little jaw\u00a0drop\u00a0as the middle of the tongue lifts to the roof of the mouth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018proud\u2019.\u00a0 When R is in a beginning consonant cluster, the lips may not be as tight as in a beginning R.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018mother\u2019.\u00a0 At the end of a syllable, the lip position for the R is definitely more relaxed than a beginning R, but the lips still flare.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHere, we compare the lip position of the beginning R in \u2018rest\u2019, above, to the ending R in \u2018mother\u2019, below.\u00a0 The ending R lip position is much more relaxed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThinking about the lip position will help you make a better R sound.\u00a0 As you work on this consonant, practice very slowly, thinking about all three things at once.\u00a0 Very little jaw drop, the tongue position, and the lip position.\u00a0 Remember, you can hold out this sound, so that\u2019s how you want to practice it,\u00a0rrrr.\u00a0 Hold it out for 5 or 10 seconds; hold it out as long as you can.\u00a0 When you practice it in a word, do the same.\u00a0\u00a0Rrrrrrrest,\u00a0prrrrrroud,\u00a0motherrrrrr.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe R sound:\u00a0 rest, proud, mother.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExample words.\u00a0 Repeat with me:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRead<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGreat<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nTry<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLater<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nRight<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOther<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAnd now,\u00a0back to back\u00a0you\u2019ll see all the other consonant sounds in American English. We\u2019re going to start with the pairs like TH where there are two sounds together because one is voiced and the other is unvoiced but they have the same mouth position. Then we\u2019ll get in to single sounds like R.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThese two sounds are paired together because they take the same mouth position.\u00a0 P is unvoiced, pp, meaning only air passes through the mouth.\u00a0 And B is voiced, bb, meaning, you make a sound with the vocal cords, bb.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe lips stay together while the teeth part a little.\u00a0 The tongue position doesn\u2019t matter for these consonants, so the tongue can start to get into position for the next sound.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nFor example, if the next sound is the R consonant, the tongue can move back and up for the R while the lips close for the B, bring.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet\u2019s see the sounds up close and in slow motion.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe lips press together, and then release.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThese are stop consonants.\u00a0 In stop consonants, there are two parts.\u00a0 There is a stop of the airflow, and a release.\u00a0 The stop of the airflow happens as the lips close:\u00a0 hap-pen.\u00a0 The release is when the\u00a0lips\u00a0part and the air comes through, -pen, hap-pen, happen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSometimes native speakers don\u2019t release stop consonants when they come at the end of a sentence, or when the next word begins with a consonant.\u00a0 For example, the common phrase \u2018What\u2019s up?\u2019.\u00a0 My lips closed in the P position, but I didn\u2019t release the air.\u00a0 What\u2019s up?\u00a0 Another example:\u00a0 nap time!\u00a0 Nap—time!\u00a0 My lips came together for the P, but they didn\u2019t release the air.\u00a0 I stopped the air with my lips, then released it with the next sound, the T consonant.\u00a0 Nap time.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet\u2019s look at some words up close and in slow motion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018best\u2019.\u00a0 The lips press together, and then release into the EH as in BED vowel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018spot\u2019.\u00a0 The lips press together, and then release into the AH as in FATHER vowel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018rip\u2019.\u00a0 The lips press together, and then release.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe P and B consonants:\u00a0 best, spot, rip.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExample words.\u00a0 Repeat with me:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBring<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBaby<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJob<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nPeace<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nPrice<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nUp<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCH and JJ consonants.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe CH and JJ consonants are paired together because they take the same mouth position.\u00a0 Ch is unvoiced, meaning only air passes through the mouth, and\u00a0jj\u00a0is voiced, meaning, you make a sound with the vocal cords,\u00a0jj.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThese consonants have a stop consonant component, but unlike stop consonants, they’re always released.\u00a0 They each contain two sounds:\u00a0 for the CH, we\u2019re combining the T,\u00a0tt, and the SH,\u00a0sh, to make\u00a0ch.\u00a0 For the J sound, we\u2019re combining dd and\u00a0zh\u00a0to make\u00a0jj.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe teeth come together and the lips flair, just like in the\u00a0sh\u00a0and\u00a0zh\u00a0sounds. But the tongue position is like the\u00a0tt\u00a0and dd sounds.\u00a0 The tongue lifts so the front, flat part of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWe stop the air in our throat, and then we release everything,\u00a0ch,\u00a0jj.\u00a0 We release the air at the vocal cords, release the tongue down from the roof of the mouth, release the teeth so they part a little, and release the lips by relaxing them.\u00a0 Ch,\u00a0jj.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nLet\u2019s look at these sounds up close and in slow motion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe lips flare and the teeth come together.\u00a0 Then the release.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018jar\u2019.\u00a0 The lips flare and the teeth come together, then release into the AH as in FATHER vowel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018chart\u2019.\u00a0 The lips flare and the teeth come together, then release into the AH as in FATHER vowel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe word \u2018batch\u2019.\u00a0 The lips flare and the teeth come together, then release.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe CH and JJ consonants.\u00a0 Jar, chart, batch.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nExample words.\u00a0 Practice with me:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nChase<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAttach<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nTeacher<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDanger<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nJust<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nGeneral<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe T and D consonant sounds.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n