1.

Voiced and Voiceless Consonants

Sharpening correct pronunciation of similar sounds is essential for learners to develop clear
speech. Providing guidelines of which consonants are voiced and which are voiceless is an important first
step. Voiced consonants create a vibration in the vocal cords. You can feel voiced sounds where they are
produced, at the neck. Voiceless consonants are the opposite of voiced, and do not create any vibration
in the vocal chords. To demonstrate voiceless sounds, students put fingers of one hand on their throat,
and the other hand in front of their mouth. If they feel a heavy breath, but no vibration, it is a voiceless
sound. An alternative to this is to put a piece of paper in front of the mouth. The paper should move
when the sound is voiceless. Sometimes it can be a bit tricky for students to feel or not feel the vibration,
so have them loudly and clearly produce the sounds so they can determine whether each sound is
voiced or voiceless.

There are many more voiced sounds than voiceless. Here is the list of letters that are voiced and
voiceless:
VOICED: b, d, g, j, l, m, n, r, v, w, y, z, th
VOICELESS: f, h, k, p, s, t, ch, sh, th

When working on these sounds, it is quite common to use a pair of opposites to really drive the point
home. The pairs are often the commonly confused sounds anyway, so it is only natural to work on them
together to punctuate the differences. Common pairs are k/g, b/p, l/r, and s/z. Also th has both a voiced
and voiceless component. To practice these, choose words that you can compare. For example, use the
sentence: Think about this thing, that thing, and those things. In general, the voiced th sound occurs in a
lot fewer words than the unvoiced th. However the voiced th sounds occurs a lot in small words like the,
that, these, their, and them.

2. 3

Nursery Rhymes

It might sound crazy but Nursery Rhymes provide an unlimited supply of simple, quick pronunciation
work. They can be nonsensical, often focus on specific sounds, and inherently have rhymes that assist
with language development. You can find all the resources you need on the internet. Students are often
curious about the meaning behind nursery rhymes as well, so you could explore the nonsense, or use
them to increase vocabulary and explain concepts. A few examples of songs that are easy to learn and
have great language value are: Hey Diddle Diddle, Pop Goes the Weasel, and Mary Had a Little Lamb.
They are repetitive, often rhyme and have catchy and memorable melodies. Some of the other songs
like Itsy Bitsy Spider, I'm a little Teapot, and the Wheels on The Bus can also be combined with hand
motions for younger learners or adults who are open to being a bit animated.

Pronunciation practice doesn't have to be stiff, rote or quiet.

In fact healthy pronunciation practice should be exaggerated, loose, and full of sound. Try the above
three secrets to keep your students engaged and excited about pronunciation work.

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