Improve Your

English By Using
Common Objects
May 31, 2016

Direct link
Share

Print
See comments

Education Tips - Improve Your Pronunciation By

Using Common Objects (0:08:33)

Direct link

Pop-out player
From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.
Pronouncing English can be difficult. One reason is because
English has some difficult sounds that are unfortunately for
English learners very common.
But English learners can improve their pronunciation by
using simple, everyday objects. These objects include candy,
a pencil, and a mirror.
What are some of these common difficult sounds? Well, you
have already heard or read them several times in this story.
The "th" sounds
In English, two different sounds are spelled with the same
pair of letters: "th." You hear (//) in the word "this," and
(//) in the word "thing."
When you say "this," your voice box moves. When you say
"thing," air moves freely through your throat.
Marla Yoshida teaches English as a foreign language at the
University of California, Irvine. She notes how strange these
sounds are:

"Those [sounds] are hard for speakers of a lot of languages,

because they are very unusual sounds... Very rare. I don't
want to hurt those sounds' feelings by saying that they're
strange... but, they're [strange]..."
Sometimes, th sounds are difficult for English learners to
make because saying them seems impolite, or rude.
All cultures have rules about polite ways to speak to each
other. When speaking English, learners may need to break
some of the rules of politeness they use in their native
language.
Tamara Jones, a program coordinator at the English
Language Center at Howard Community College, explains.
She tells why English learners might feel uncomfortable
making the "th" (//) and "th" (//) sounds:
"This can be really tricky for lots of different speakers
because in many languages, it's not polite
to stick your tongue out of your mouth when you are
speaking. But in English, to make the "th" (//) or "th"
(//) sound, you have to put your tongue between your
teeth."
So how can English learners teach their tongues to pronounce
"th" (//) and "th" (//) correctly?

Tamara Jones recommends a tasty, fun way to get in the habit

of sticking your tongue between your teeth: using a lollipop.
"I like to give my students lollipops, and they hold the candy
right in front of their mouth and they can practice saying
words like "thanks" or "there" or "this," and they can
practice sticking their tongue out between their teeth far
enough so that they can taste the candy. So, this is another
fun way to practice saying that tricky sound."
The "-er" sound
Other sounds in English may not be as strange as "th" (//) or
"th" (//), but they can still be difficult to pronounce. One
example is the "er" () sound. English speakers often use
er () when they make comparisons.
Here is an example of an er () sound in a popular song by
Britney Spears:
Stronger than yesterday
Now its nothing but my way
My loneliness aint killing me no more
Im stronger
Tamara Jones at Howard Community College says many
English learners have problems clearly pronouncing the "-er"
() sound.

Part of the difficulty is finding the right tongue placement. To

practice using the tongue correctly, Jones recommends that
English learners use a pencil.
"But one little trick that students might find useful is to put a
pencil in their mouth lengthwise. So they're biting down on
the pencil, and the pencil is sticking out of both sides of their
mouth.
"And then saying the sound "-er" (). When they say the
"er" () sound, their tongue should not touch the pencil. It
should be down, under, or around the pencil, but it shouldn't
touch the pencil.
"So this is a nice way, kind of a fun way, to make sure that
they are pronouncing that sound correctly."
Common problems with vowel sounds
Consonant sounds are not the only common difficult sounds
for English learners. Vowel sounds are often difficult, too.
Marla Yoshida, the teacher at the University of California,
Irvine, points out that English has many vowel sounds. She
says that English dialects can include between 13 and 15 vowel
sounds. By comparison, some languages, such as Japanese
and Spanish, have only five vowel sounds.

Two of the hardest challenges for English learners are

pronouncing the "i" () and "ee" (i) vowel sounds.
Listen for the difference between the "i" () and "ee" (i)
sounds in popular music, such as in Tom Waits' song "All the
World Is Green."
Pretend that you owe me nothing
And all the world is green
We can bring back the old days again
When all the world is green

Tamara Jones at Howard Community College says one way

English learners can start improving their pronunciation of
the "i" () and "ee" (i) sounds is to use another common
object. Look in a mirror, she says, while you say the words
pin and green.
"Because to say "i" (), your face is very relaxed, but to say
ee" (i), you are pulling the sides of your mouth, almost like
you're smiling it's a bigger mouth movement; it's
atenser sound "ee," ee versus "i" () that is more
relaxed. So, looking in a mirror can help students verify that
they are saying the sound correctly because their mouth is
moving in the correct position."
Using these tips

Clearly pronouncing common but difficult sounds can help

you communicate better in English. Improving your
pronunciation will take time and hard work, but a few basic
objects will help.

Touch a lollipop with the tip of your tongue to practice

"th" (//) and "th" (//) sounds
Bite a pencil but do not touch it with your tongue when
saying the er () sound
Use a mirror to make sure your face is relaxed when you
say "i" (), and that your face is tense when you say "ee" (i)

As you learned in the previous Education Tips story,

pronouncing individual sounds correctly is only part of the
pronunciation puzzle.
Future Education Tips stories will give you more suggestions
for how to improve your pronunciation.
I'm John Russell.
John Russell wrote this story for VOA Learning English.
Kelly J Kelly was the editor.
__________________________________________
______________________

Words in This Story

pronunciation n. the way in which a word or name is

pronounced
candy n. a sweet food made with sugar or chocolate
mirror n. a piece of glass that reflects images
tricky adj. difficult to do or deal with
stick v. to put something or someone in a specified place
lollipop n. a round piece of hard candy on the end of a stick
tongue n. the soft, movable part in the mouth that is used
for tasting and eating food and in human beings for speaking
relaxed adj. not strict or carefully controlled
tense adj. not relaxed but hard and tight