Hello.

I'm John Russell.

So far in this series, we have talked about the vowel sounds of American English and the consonant sounds of American English.

But we have not yet specifically talked about an unusual sound that you have heard in almost every episode.

Every time I greet you to the show, I say the following word.

Hello?

Is it me you're looking for today?

Let's explore the sound at the beginning of this common everyday word.

Uh huh.

When you produce ha, you breathe out in general, your lips and tongue take whatever position is required to produce the vowel sound after it.

In other words, ha is a bit different depending on the nature of the following vowel.

Think about these words.

Hello.

When I say hello, I form my lips and tongue in a way so that I can say the vowel sound.

Now consider this word which is similar to Hello Halo Note how my mouth moves to say the vowel after ha halo.

Overall, when you make the ha sound, your vocal cords are tense and restricted, but they do not move.

The back of your tongue should be pushed back a little to create friction as the air flows out from the back of your mouth, while speakers of some kinds of English drop the ha sound.

In some words, I would recommend pronouncing the ha fully and clearly so when you practice making the sound, be sure to pay careful attention to how you say the following vowel sounds as well.

That's all for today.

Keep up the good work.