Please take a look at these three statements.

Are any of them true for you?

Number one, I have never found it difficult to pronounce an English word.

Number two, I have never needed to repeat myself because the person I was talking to didn't understand me.

And number three, I have never avoided saying a word out loud because I wasn't sure how to pronounce it.

If all three of these statements are true for you, then stop watching this video.

But if any of them are false, then keep on watching because I have four amazing techniques that are guaranteed to help you to overcome all these problems.

By the end of today's video, you will be able to communicate in English more confidently and clearly.

I've also created a free PDF to go with this video.

In the PDF, you'll find all of the techniques we cover in today's video, plus some bonus tips, and you will also get access to a secret link with interactive pronunciation activities.

If you would like to download the PDF and get access to that secret activity, all you have to do is click on the link in the description box, enter your name and your email address.

After that, you'll automatically receive my free weekly PDFs alongside my news, course updates, and offers.

It's free, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Okay, let's get started with technique number one, flex those facial muscles.

Speaking is a physical activity, so if we want to speak clearly and accurately, we should warm up our muscles just like we would before doing exercise.

The jaw, the lips, and the tongue all work together to make the vowel and consonant sounds that form words.

English has many sounds that require us to drop the jaw and open our mouths up wide.

So here are some exercises to get those muscles moving and to keep them in shape.

Begin by simply massaging your jaw and cheeks.

Try to loosen your jaw.

Once your facial muscles feel relaxed and you can't feel any tension, it's time to start moving.

Imagine that you have something like bubble gum in your mouth and start chewing.

Begin with small movements and then gradually open your jaw wider and wider, like.

Then scrunch up your face as tightly as you can, like this, squeeze, squeeze, squeeze, and then release.

Repeat that as many times as you need.

Then we do the opposite.

Stretch out those muscles as wide as you can.

You'll be amazed at how wide I can open my mouth.

La.

I like to do this before I record these videos or if I'm giving a presentation.

It really helps me to speak more clearly.

Let's train our mouths to open up with some tongue twisters.

We'll begin with a simple ah sound.

Repeat after me.

Arthur's father's aunt is calmer after an afternoon at the spa.

Good.

Now let's add in two more vowel sounds that also need an open jaw position.

Oh and ah.

Listen and then repeat.

I'm glad I got Matt's hat back after it got robbed.

Your turn.

Okay, feeling flexible?

Let's move things up a notch and practise some sounds which blend two vowel sounds together.

Oh as in go and ow as in now.

My jaw moves as I blend the two vowel sounds together so this is a double workout for your muscles.

Repeat after me.

How about Joe goes down to the house without Rose?

Great.

Now we've worked on our jaws.

It's time to move on to technique number two.

Train that tongue.

Our tongues play such an important role in forming sounds.

For example, to make the ul sound, we need to push the front part of the tongue against the top of the mouth, just behind the teeth.

Other sounds such as t, d and n also require this movement.

The tongue also works hard to make the sound r as we need to curl the tongue back in the mouth.

So it's really important that the tongue is strong so we can switch effortlessly between phonemes.

How can we keep our tongues in shape?

Here are just a few ideas.

One, pretend your tongue is your toothbrush.

Make sure you use your own tongue and not somebody else's.

Rub the tip of your tongue alongside the outside and inside of your top and bottom teeth like this.

After a few laps, switch direction.

Number two, try to touch your nose with the tip of your tongue.

I can't really get anywhere near with this.

My mum and my husband can do this.

I cannot.

No, no, it's not gonna work.

I can, however, fold my tongue in three.

That's one of just many party tricks.

Then imagine that you want to touch your left ear and then your right ear.

Really stretch it out.

Three, can you roll your tongue?

If you can, roll it and stick it out as far as you can.

Hold it for a few seconds and then relax.

Now let's practise some of the sounds that are a great exercise for our tongues.

Repeat after me and really exaggerate the movement to give that tongue a workout.

Lily loves to take David and Daniel dancing noon and night.

George and Jane chose a giant chunk of cheese for a budget lunch.

Fabulous, we'll do one more with the sounds ch and jj.

George and Jane chose a giant chunk of cheese for a budget lunch.

Okay, can you guess what's coming next?

That's right, it's time to loosen your lips.

Let's do some drills to help get your lips used to all of these positions.

Watch my mouth and exaggerate the lip positions.

No one's watching you, I hope.

Ready?

Ooh, ooh, round the lips and push your lips back.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.

Push them forward.

Repeat after me.

Who do you usually include?

Now, let's switch between e and ooh.

Smile and tense those facial muscles to make the e sound.

He needs deep sleep and you do too.

Now, moving from relaxed to rounded.

Eh, oh, eh, oh.

Ed, Ned and Fred bought four more forks.

Now, bring the lips together tightly for buh, puh and puh.

Mm, Bill picked me but Peter picked Mary.

Right, your muscles and articulators should be nice and warm by now.

Now, let's work on fine tuning some of those phonemes.

Are there some words or maybe even individual sounds that you still find challenging to pronounce?

Well, here's the secret.

It's all about repetition, repetition, repetition.

If you want speaking English to feel automatic and effortless, then you need to repeat those sounds and words so often that you can make them without even having to concentrate.

One of the best ways to do this is with tongue twisters which focus on the sounds you find challenging.

We have time for just two today but I have packed loads more into the bonus interactive exercise pack that comes with the PDF.

Okay, I'm going to need you to show me your tongue.

I want you to stick it out because we're going to practise th and th.

The th sound is unvoiced which means you shouldn't feel any vibration when you put your hand here.

When we add vibration at the vocal cords, th becomes th and you should feel vibration here.

Watch my mouth, repeat after me.

This mother thought her thistle was thirsty but thankfully it thrives in the earth.

That was tricky, now you try.

You can repeat that one a couple of times.

Start slowly and gradually build up speed as you gain confidence.

Let's try another two tricky phonemes, l and r.

To make the r sound, curl the tip of your tongue back but don't let it touch the top of your mouth.

To make the ll sound, push the blade of the tongue against your gum ridge just behind your front teeth.

Are you ready?

Let's go.

Lauren loves riding llamas through rolling hills and little remote valleys.

How did you do with that one?

Well, that's all we have time for today.

Let me know what your favourite technique was in the comments below and I'd also like to hear about what you found most challenging.

There's lots more practise material available for you in the PDF and in that extra interactive exercise pack that comes along with the PDF.

If you like learning with me here on YouTube,

I think you'll love my B1, B2 and C1 beautiful British English programmes.

These are 12 week self-study programmes although you can also have feedback from my team of teachers.

In these programmes, pronunciation is a priority.

I weave it through every single module.

You also have dedicated pronunciation lessons throughout.

If you would like information, please visit englishwithlucy.com.

I will see you soon for another lesson.