Today we are going to begin exploring the continent sounds of American English.

But first we need to talk a bit about how speech sounds are made.

Speech sounds are made by air moving outward through the mouth or nose.

Continent sounds involved a narrowing in the mouth.

The narrowing causes an obstruction in the Airstream.

In contrast, vowel sounds involved very little narrowing in the mouth.

This lets air pass through freely.

Here's an example.

Consider this word farm.

Notice how my mouth narrows at the beginning and end of the word.

When I make continent sounds, my mouth opens more when I make the vowel sound in the middle of the word farm farm.

As we explore continent sounds, I would like you to keep three things in mind.

Place or point of articulation, manner of articulation and voicing place or point of articulation refers to the place in your mouth where the air is obstructed in English.

There are around six places inside the mouth where the air is obstructed to make continent sounds.

Such areas include the teeth, the area behind the teeth, the area further back in the mouth and even in the throat manner of articulation refers to the way in which the air is obstructed.

It can be a full or partial obstruction off the air, for example.

Voicing is about whether there is vibration in the vocal chords.

As we continue our exploration of continent sounds, you will become very familiar with these terms.

Keep up the good work.