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  • Hi! I'm Tom Kelly, a Rachel's English teacher.

  • Today's practice tip deals with what some students consider a pretty tricky consonant sound.

  • The TH.

  • For many students, the TH consonant ends up sounding like an American English D or T consonant.

  • For instance, instead of saying "the", a very common word that begins with the voiced TH consonant,

  • students will say "duh". It's in the back.

  • You can hear the consonant sound "duh-duh".

  • We want the TH sound "the - the".

  • It's in the back. "In the - in the". It's in the back.

  • Here are a few tips to help with your TH sound.

  • First off, you want the tip of your tongue to be between the teeth.

  • You don 't need to bite the tongue. You can just gently rest the tongue

  • between the teeth.

  • You also don't need to push a lot of the tongue out.

  • It can just be the very tip of the tongue. That's enough.

  • Another tip I have for you is to remember that the TH consonant is a very gentle sound.

  • And it takes a bit of relaxation to find it.

  • A great way to test your TH consonant sound is to see if you're able to hold out the consonant.

  • For instance, here is the unvoiced consonant held out.

  • TH

  • Can you even hear it?

  • It's a very quiet, gentle sound. Right?

  • All that's happening is air is being pushed past the tip of the tongue and the upper teeth.

  • You don't have to hold any tension anywhere in your face for this sound.

  • Just rush the air past the tongue and teeth.

  • TH

  • Think

  • Therapy

  • For the voiced version of this consonant,

  • all you do is add vibration of your vocal cords and use just a little less air.

  • You should feel the vibration in your tongue.

  • Again, you should be able to hold the sound out easily.

  • TH

  • Their

  • This

  • Their

  • This

  • Here's one last tip to help you work on this challenging consonant sound.

  • We always talk about putting the tip of the tongue between the teeth for this consonant sound.

  • Or having the tip of the tongue just behind the opening between the teeth.

  • But what is the rest of the tongue doing?

  • Think of the rest of the tongue being low in the mouth and relaxed for this sound.

  • Many students will place the tip of the tongue between the teeth,

  • but the rest of the tongue is actually lifted in the mouth

  • which blocks the air from flowing easily past the tongue and teeth.

  • If you do this, you will end up with that D or T consonant.

  • With a low relaxed tongue, "there".

  • With a lifted tongue blocking the airflow, "there".

  • It sounds like a D consonant - "there"

  • because my tongue is blocking the airflow.

  • There, there.

  • Keep that tongue low in the mouth.

  • Don't forget to keep the rest of the tongue low and relaxed when the TH consonant

  • comes in the middle or at the ends of words as well.

  • Another, father, whether, myth, faith, bath

  • Practice this sound by holding out the consonant easily in words.

  • This will build up the habit of keeping the tongue relaxed and letting the airflow

  • easily pass the tongue and teeth.

  • TH

  • Therapy

  • Whether

  • Faith

  • You don't really need to hold out the TH that long.

  • This is just a way to practice.

  • That's all for today's practice tip.

  • If you're interested in learning more about taking private lessons with me,

  • click here or in the description below.

  • I also offer pronunciation evaluations

  • where I help you identify and focus on your specific pronunciation challenges.

  • Keep practicing, have fun, and thanks for watching Rachel's English!

Hi! I'm Tom Kelly, a Rachel's English teacher.

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