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  • In this video, I'm going to focus on two initial consonant sounds in English.

  • The 'f' sound.

  • And the 'p' sound.

  • Let's take two example words.

  • You'll understand what I mean.

  • The first word is the word 'fan' with an 'f' sound.

  • 'fan'

  • The second word is 'pan' with a 'p' sound.

  • So 'fan' and 'pan'.

  • I know to some of you they sound very similar, but they are quite different.

  • And they are very important sounds in English.

  • So practice with me because I want you to be able to pronounce these sounds correctly.

  • Let's get started.

  • Well, guys.

  • Before we get into the 'f' and 'p' sounds in English,

  • remember to check the I.P.A. spelling.

  • It's very important.

  • Also you can watch how I move my mouth

  • and please try to repeat after me when I ask you to.

  • You can make these sounds, guys.

  • Let's do it together now.

  • Let's now practice making this initial 'f' consonant sound in English.

  • So /f/

  • It's voiceless.

  • You are not going to use your voice.

  • No vibration in your throat.

  • What you're going to do is, you're going to place your top teeth against your bottom lip,

  • and you're going to push out some air.

  • So, /f/.

  • Please repeat after me.

  • /f/

  • Let's practice with the word 'fan'.

  • Please repeat after me.

  • 'fan'

  • Great.

  • Moving on now to the 'p' sound'.

  • So, /p/.

  • So it's voiceless as well.

  • No voice, no vibration in your throat.

  • Your lips are going to touch each other

  • and you're going to push out some air with your lips.

  • So, /p/.

  • Please repeat after me.

  • /p/

  • Let's use the word 'pan'.

  • Please repeat after me, guys.

  • 'pan'

  • Great.

  • Let's now practice using minimal pairs.

  • These words sound almost the same but the sounds are different.

  • And they're very useful if you really want to focus on the difference between sounds in English.

  • But first, let's focus on our sounds themselves.

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

  • First, the 'f' sound.

  • /f/

  • And now the 'p' sound.

  • Repeat after me.

  • /p/

  • Let's now do both.

  • Please repeat after me.

  • /f/

  • /p/

  • /f/

  • /p/

  • /f/

  • /p/

  • Let's now bring our words.

  • Please repeat after me.

  • 'fan'

  • 'pan'

  • 'fan'

  • 'pan'

  • 'fan'

  • 'pan'

  • Great job.

  • Okay, guys.

  • Let's now go through minimal pairs together.

  • Watch how I move my mouth

  • and please repeat after me.

  • Let's go.

  • face

  • pace

  • faced

  • paste

  • facts

  • packs

  • fad

  • pad

  • fail

  • pale

  • faint

  • paint

  • fair

  • pair

  • fang

  • pang

  • fart

  • part

  • fashion

  • passion

  • fast

  • past

  • fat

  • pat

  • fate

  • pate

  • fear

  • peer

  • feed

  • peed

  • feel

  • peel

  • feet

  • peat

  • felt

  • pelt

  • fen

  • pen

  • fence

  • pence

  • fend

  • penned

  • few

  • pew

  • fig

  • pig

  • file

  • pile

  • fill

  • pill

  • fin

  • pin

  • finch

  • pinch

  • find

  • pined

  • fine

  • pine

  • firm

  • perm

  • first

  • pursed

  • fit

  • pit

  • fix

  • picks

  • flak

  • plaque

  • flank

  • plank

  • fleas

  • please

  • flight

  • plight

  • fled

  • pled

  • flee

  • plea

  • fleet

  • pleat

  • flop

  • plop

  • flume

  • plume

  • flunk

  • plunk

  • flush

  • plush

  • flux

  • plucks

  • Excellent, guys.

  • Time now to practice with sentences using these consonant sounds.

  • Sentence number one:

  • 'Put that file on the work pile.'

  • Please guys repeat after me.

  • 'Put that file on the work pile.'

  • Sentence number two :

  • 'I put the fork in the fresh pork.'

  • Please repeat after me.

  • 'I put the fork in the fresh pork.'

  • And finally:

  • 'The fit pig ate the fig in the pit.'

  • Please repeat after me.

  • 'The fit pig ate the fig in the pit.'

  • Good job, guys. Let's move 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 with our first two words.

  • Which one do I say?

  • 'a' or 'b'?

  • Listen to me.

  • 'fries'

  • One more time.

  • 'fries'

  • Which one is it?

  • It's 'a', 'fries'.

  • 'b' would be pronounced 'prize'.

  • What about this one?

  • 'ply'

  • It's 'b' guys, 'ply'.

  • 'a' would be 'fly'.

  • 'pour'

  • It's 'b', 'pour'.

  • 'a' would be 'four'.

  • 'paid'

  • Answer 'a' is correct, 'paid'.

  • 'b' is 'fade'.

  • 'fund'

  • It's 'a', 'fund'.

  • 'b' is 'punned'.

  • 'fold'

  • It's 'a', 'fold'.

  • 'b' is 'polled'.

  • 'phrase'

  • It's answer 'a' again, 'phrase'.

  • 'b' is 'praise'.

  • 'funk'

  • Answer 'a', 'funk'.

  • 'b' is 'punk'.

  • What about this one?

  • 'prose'

  • It's 'b', 'prose'.

  • 'a' is 'froze'.

  • And finally.

  • 'per'

  • is 'b', 'per'.

  • 'a' would be 'fur'.

  • That was great, guys.

  • You now have a better understanding of these two initial consonant sounds in English.

  • The /f/ sound and the /p/ sound.

  • Keep practicing.

  • It takes a lot of practice to master these sounds to be able to pronounce them correctly

  • and to train your ear to hear the differences.

  • And obviously watch my other pronunciation videos.

  • I promise you they will help you improve your skills.

  • See you next time.

  • Thank you so much for watching, guys.

  • If you've liked it, show me your support,

  • click 'like', subscribe to the channel,

  • put your comments below, and share this video.

  • See you.

In this video, I'm going to focus on two initial consonant sounds in English.

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