19 Pronunciation Lessons for Beginners Learn How to Pronounce English Consonant Sounds

Subtitles section Play video

The first step is to know how to make these /b/ and /p/ sounds in English.
So you can pronounce them correctly
And you know the difference between the two sounds.
And I'm going to teach you that.
Also guys, if you're serious about pronunciation, it's very important to know about the IPA spelling.
You can also watch how I move my mouth,
and of course always try to repeat after me in this video.
I'm sure you can master these sounds.
So let's do this.
Okay, guys.
Let's now practice producing the sound /b/ in English.
So what you're going to do, the first thing is, that this /b/ sound is voiced.
Which means that you're going to use your voice.
So when you produce the sound,
you are going to feel a vibration in your throat.
And what you're going to do...
is basically push out the air with your lips.
They should touch each other so
/b/
Okay, please repeat the sound after me.
/b/
Let's now practice with the word 'bin'.
Please repeat after me.
'bin'
'bin'
'bin'
Good.
And now let's practice producing the sound /p/ in English.
So /p/
is basically going to be the exact same thing as the /b/ sound,
but it's unvoiced
which means that you are not going to use your voice.
No vibration in the throat.
You're just going to push out the air with your lips.
No sound.
So /p/
Can you repeat after me?
/p/
Let's now practice with the word /pin/.
Repeat after me.
'pin'
Good job.
Ok students, let's now practice with minimal pairs.
Words that sound very similar but the actual sounds are different.
They are very useful to help you hear the difference between the two sounds.
So first let's practice just the sounds.
Okay and I want you to repeat after me.
First the /b/ sound.
/b/
And now the /p/ sound.
Remember unvoiced.
Okay watch my mouth.
Repeat after me.
/p/
Good.
Let's now practice both.
Please repeat after me.
/b/
/p/
/b/
/p/
/b/
/p/
Good.
And let's now take our words.
Please repeat after me.
'bin'
'pin'
'bin'
'pin'
'bin'
'pin'
Excellent, guys. Moving on.
Let's practice producing the /n/ consonant sound in English.
So, what you're going to do is,
there's going to be air coming through your nose,
and you're going to block the air in your mouth
with the tip of your tongue.
So the tip of your tongue should be up there.
Okay watch me.
/n/
Okay, I want you to repeat after me.
/n/
Let's now use the word 'pin'.
Please repeat after me.
pin
pin
pin
Good.
Let's now learn how to produce the /ŋ/ sound in English.
So what you're going to do …
there's still air coming through your nose
and you're also going to block the air in your mouth.
But this time not with the tip of your tongue, but with the back of your tongue.
So this time, it's the back of your tongue that's going to be up there.
Okay, watch me.
/ŋ/
Okay, please repeat after me.
/ŋ/
Let's use the word 'ping'.
Please repeat after me.
ping
ping
ping
Good guys.
Moving on.
Okay we're now going to practice with minimal pairs
- words that sound very similar but the sounds are actually different.
They are very useful for you to hear the difference between the two sounds.
First, let's focus on the sounds themselves.
Please repeat after me.
First, the /n/ sound.
/n/
And now the /ŋ/ sound.
/ŋ/
Let's now do both.
Please repeat after me.
/n/
/ŋ/
/n/
/ŋ/
/n/
/ŋ/
And now, let's practice with our words.
Please repeat after me.
pin
ping
pin
ping
pin
ping
Very good, guys.
First let's learn how to make this 't' /t/ sound. The 't' /t/ sound in English.
It's unvoiced.
So you are not going to use your voice.
You are not going to feel vibration in your throat.
You're just going to push out some air.
And for this, your tongue is going to be forward against your top teeth.
And then you're going to push out some air.
And your tongue is going to go down.
Okay.
/t/
Please try and do it. Repeat after me.
/t/
Let's practice with the word 'tip'.
Please repeat after me.
tip
tip
tip
Good.
Let's now focus on the 'ch' /tʃ/ sound in English.
It's slightly different.
It's also unvoiced.
So no vibration in your throat, ok.
But this time your tongue is going to be up there.
It's not going to move
and you're going to release a lot of air.
So /tʃ/.
Please repeat after me.
/tʃ/
Let's practice with the word 'chip'.
Please repeat after me.
chip
chip
chip
Good.
Let's now practice with minimal pairs.
Words that sound practically the same, but the sounds are actually different.
Very useful for you to hear the difference between the two sounds.
First, let's focus on the sounds themselves.
Please watch my mouth and repeat after me.
First, the 't' /t/ sound.
/t/
Then the 'ch' /tʃ/ sound.
Repeat after me.
/tʃ/
Let's do both.
Please repeat after me.
/t/
/tʃ/
/t/
/tʃ/
/t/
/tʃ/
And finally, let's practice with our words.
Please repeat after me.
tip
chip
tip
chip
tip
chip
Good job, guys. Moving on.
First, let's produce the /f/sound in English.
What you're going to do is -
you're not going to use your voice.
It's a voiceless sound so no vibration in your throat.
You are going to place your teeth against your bottom lip
and you're going to push out some air through your teeth and your bottom lip.
/f/
Okay, please watch my mouth and repeat after me.
/f/
Let's practice with the word 'fan'.
Repeat after me.
fan
fan
fan
Good.
As for the/v/sound,
it's exactly the same as the/f/ sound.
But this time, you are going to use your voice.
It's a voiced sound so you are going to feel some vibration.
Okay
So /v/.
Can you please repeat after me.
/v/
Let's practice with the word 'van'.
Please repeat after me.
van
van
van
Good.
Let's now practice with minimal pairs.
Words that sound very very much alike but the sounds are actually different.
They are very useful if you really want to hear the difference between the two sounds.
First, let's practice producing the sounds themselves.
Please repeat after me.
First, the/f/ sound.
/f/
Now the/v/ sound.
Repeat after me.
/v/
Let's now do both.
Repeat after me, guys.
/f/
/v/
/f/
/v/
/f/
/v/
Let's now take our words.
Repeat after me.
fan
van
fan
van
fan
van
Good, guys.
First, guys, let's practice producing the sound /l/ in English.
So it's a voiced sound.
So again you're going to use your voice.
You're going to feel this vibration in your throat.
And your tongue is going to be forward.
okay. It's going to touch your upper teeth.
So it's /l/.
Okay? Can you repeat after me?
/l/
/l/
/l/
Let's now practice with the word 'light'.
Please repeat after me.
'light'
'light'
'light'
And now let's practice producing the /r/ sound.
It's slightly different.
It's also voiced.
So you're going to feel that vibration.
But your tongue is not going to be forward touching your upper teeth.
This time it's going to be curved.
So it's going to go up there.
Okay.
/r/
Can you please repeat after me?
/r/
/r/
/r/
Let's practice with the word 'right'.
Please repeat after me.
'right'
'right'
'right'
Good.
Okay, students let's now practice with minimal pairs -
words that sound practically the same but the sounds are actually different.
These words are very useful if you really want to hear the difference between the two sounds.
First, let's focus again on the sounds themselves.
And I want you to repeat after me.
First, the /l/ sound.
/l/
/l/
/l/
And now the /r/ sound.
Please repeat after me.
/r/
/r/
/r/
Let's now do both.
Please repeat after me.
/l/
/r/
/l/
/r/
/l/
/r/
Let's now practice with our words.
Please repeat after me.
'light'
'right'
'light'
'right'
'light'
'right'
Good job, guys. Moving on.
First, let's practice making the English consonant /b/ sound in English.
So listen to me very carefully.
What you're going to do - to produce the sound -
is first you have to know it's a voiced sound.
Which means that when you produce the sound,
you have to feel some vibration in your throat.
And what you're going to do is basically push out the air with both your lips.
Like I said /b/
Watch my mouth.
/b/
Now, let's repeat. Repeat after me.
/b/
/b/
/b/
Let's now practice with the word 'ban'.
Please repeat after me.
'ban'
'ban'
'ban'
Good.
And now let's practice the /v/ sound in English.
So this is a little bit different.
It is also voiced, so you are also going to have that vibration in your throat.
But this time, your lips are not going to touch each other.
And your top teeth are going to be against your bottom lip.
/v/
Can you see this?
/v/
Let's practice. Repeat after me.
/v/
/v/
/v/
Let's take the word 'van'.
Please repeat after me.
'van'
'van'
'van'
Good job.
Okay, guys.
We're now going to practice with minimal pairs.
Words that sound very similar but the actual sounds are different.
And they are very useful to help us hear the difference between the two sounds.
First, let's focus on the sounds themselves.
And I want you to repeat after me.
First, the /b/ sound.
/b/
/b/
/b/
And now to /v/ sound.
Repeat after me.
/v/
/v/
/v/
Let's now do both.
Please repeat after me.
/b/
/v/
/b/
/v/
/b/
/v/
Good.
And now let's take our words:
'ban' for the /b/ sound
and 'van' for the /v/ sound.
Please repeat after me.
'ban'
'van'
'ban'
'van'
'ban'
'van'
Excellent, guys. Moving on.
Let's practice making the /s/ sound in English.
So it's unvoiced.
No vibration in your throat.
You don't use your voice.
You're simply going to release some air.
Your mouth should not move.
Your tongue is going to go against your bottom teeth, okay.
And your teeth are actually going to touch each other.
And you're going to release some air.
So.. /s/
Please repeat after me.
Watch my mouth.
/s/
/s/
/s/
Let's practice with the word 'see'.
'see'
'see'
'see'
Good.
Let's now practice making the /ʃ/ sound in English.
It's also unvoiced.
And this time, your mouth is going to be rounded.
And it's going to come out.
/ʃ/
Your tongue is going to be down, okay.
And your teeth are definitely not going to touch each other, okay.
And you're going to release some air.
/ʃ/
Please repeat after me.
/ʃ/
/ʃ/
/ʃ/
Let's practice with the word 'she'.
Please repeat after me.
'she'
'she'
'she'
Good.
Let's now practice with minimal pairs.
These words that sound very very much alike but the sounds are actually different.
They are very useful if you really want to hear the difference between the two sounds.
First, the sounds themselves.
And I want you to watch my mouth, how it moves, and to repeat after me.
First the /s/ sound.
/s/
/s/
/s/
Then the /ʃ/ sound.
Please repeat after me.
/ʃ/
/ʃ/
/ʃ/
Let's now do both.
Repeat after me.
/s/
/ʃ/
/s/
/ʃ/
/s/
/ʃ/
And let's now practice with our two words.
Please repeat after me.
'see'
'she'
'see'
'she'
'see'
'she'
Very good, guys.
Let's first learn how to produce the 'th' /ð/ sound in English.
But this 'th' is voiced.
So you are going to use your voice You're going to use…
um… you're going to feel a vibration in your throat, okay.
And what you're going to do is you're going to put your tongue between your teeth
and you're not going to push out some air.
What you're going to do, is you're going to create a vibration with your tongue.
So your tongue has to vibrate, /ð/.
Okay.
Please watch my mouth and repeat after me.
/ð/
/ð/
/ð/
Let's practice with the word 'then'.
Please repeat after me.
'then'
'then'
'then'
Good.
Let's now move on to the /z/ sound.
So this is voiced.
You are going to use your voice and feel a vibration in your throat.
You're going to put your tongue against your bottom teeth
and you're going to make it vibrate.
Use your tongue.
Just make a sound
so, /z/.
Okay.
Please repeat after me.
/z/
/z/
/z/
Let's practice with the word 'zen'.
Please repeat after me.
'zen'
'zen'
'zen'
Good.
Let's now practice with minimal pairs.
These words, that have very similar sounds, but they are quite different actually.
And they're very good if you really want to hear the difference.
But first let's focus on the sounds.
Please watch how I move my mouth and repeat after me.
First, the 'th' sound.
/ð/
/ð/
/ð/
And now the /z/ sound.
Please repeat after me.
/z/
/z/
/z/
Let's now do both.
Repeat after me, guys.
/ð/
/z/
/ð/
/z/
/ð/
/z/
Let's now practice with our words.
Please repeat after me.
'then'
'zen'
'then'
'zen'
'then'
'zen'
Excellent, guys.
Let's first learn how to make the /f/ sound in English.
So it's an unvoiced sound.
You are not going to use your voice.
You're not going to feel any vibration in your throat.
And what you're going to do is put your teeth against your bottom lip,
and you're going to push out some air through your teeth and bottom lip, okay.
/f/
Please try and do it.
Repeat after me.
/f/
/f/
/f/
Let's practice with the word 'fat'.
Please repeat after me.
'fat'
'fat'
'fat'
Good.
Let's now practice producing the sound /h/ in English.
/h/
So as you can see your mouth is wide open.
It's voiceless as well, so no… no sound.
No vibration.
Mouth wide open and you're going to push out the air with your throat.
It has to come from down there, so…
/h/
Please watch my mouth, try to repeat after me.
/h/
/h/
/h/
Let's practice with the word 'hat'.
Please repeat after me.
'hat'
'hat'
'hat'
Good.
Let's now practice with minimal pairs; two words they sound very very much alike but
the sounds are actually different and they are very good for you to hear the difference
between the two sounds.
But first, let's practice the sounds themselves.
Please watch my mouth and repeat after me.
First the /f/ sound.
/f/
/f/
/f/
Now the /h/ sound.
/h/
/h/
/h/
Let's do the two sounds together.
Please repeat after me.
/f/
/h/
/f/
/h/
/f/
/h/
And now let's take our words.
Please repeat after me, guys.
'fat'
'hat'
'fat'
'hat'
'fat'
'hat'
Good job.
Okay, guys.
Let's now learn how to produce the /s/ sound.
So /s/
It's a voiceless sound.
You're not going to use your voice.
You're not going to feel the vibration in your throat.
What you're going to do is...
your teeth are going to touch each other.
And your tongue goes down.
It touches your lower teeth, okay.
And you're going to push out some air. So…
/s/
Please watch my mouth, repeat after me.
/s/
/s/
/s/
Let's practice with the word 'sink'.
Please repeat after me.
'sink'
'sink'
'sink'
And now, let's make the th /θ/ sound in English.
So /θ/.
It's voiceless.
Again, no vibration.
No voice.
And what you're going to do is you're going to put your tongue between your teeth...
okay
and you're going to push out some air, okay.
/θ/
Repeat after me.
/θ/
/θ/
/θ/
Let's practice with the word 'think'.
Please repeat after me.
'think'
'think'
'think'
Good.
Let's now practice with minimal pairs - words that are practically the same
but the sounds are different.
They are very good if you want to hear the difference between the two sounds.
First, let's focus on the sounds themselves.
Please watch my mouth and repeat after me.
First the /s/ sound.
/s/
/s/
/s/
And now the th /θ/ sound.
/θ/
/θ/
/θ/
Now let's do both.
Please repeat after me.
/s/
/θ/
/s/
/θ/
/s/
/θ/
And now let's practice with our words.
Please repeat after me.
'sink'
'think'
'sink'
'think'
'sink'
'think'
Very good, guys.