Pronunciation of sounds th. Reading English digraphs. How to develop speech with tongue twisters

1) how voiced, then in the phonetic alphabet we denote it by the symbol [ð]
this sound can be heard in the words: then, this, there, other, smooth
2) or both deaf (unvoiced), which in phonetic transcription will be denoted by the symbol [θ]
this sound can be heard in the words: thin, through, thumb, healthy, author, path

More about phonetic transcription you can read .

general rule when the combination of letters th reads like voiced sound [ð], and when voiceless sound [θ] does not exist, and we simply memorize the words along with their pronunciation.

Pronunciation of sounds [ð] and [θ].

Let's see how to pronounce the sounds [ð] and [θ] correctly. We watch a video of a wonderful teacher of English for foreigners Alex Bellem, where she explains and shows how to pronounce the sounds [ð] and [θ].

In these videos, we will listen to Alex explain in English how to pronounce these sounds, look carefully at her mouth, listen and repeat some words after her where combination of letters th is at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.

[ð]	[θ]

Useful games and exercises to help you pronounce the th sound correctly in English.

Many people think that it is very difficult to pronounce sounds corresponding to the combination of letters th in English. Here, apart from jokes, on one very respected linguistic forum I read the following question: “What is the best way to pronounce the word thank you (sank yu or tank yu)?.

Watch the following two videos carefully: If you spend two or three minutes a day to sing a simple song and more a few minutes to repeat some saturated letters th phrases, then I assure you, it will not even occur to you to ask the question with what sound the word begins thanks – why try to say s, f, t when you can just say [θ]!

1. Very useful video from Olga Kozar. Here we will sing a song with sound, we will hear a very emotional and useful (for pronunciation training) phrase “This thing is my thing. Everything is your thing. This is my only thing.” And let's start learning a simple tongue twister: " I thought a thought but the thought I thought was not the thought I thought I thought.”

2. Filochko suggests sweetening the pronunciation exercises [ð] and [θ] with the help of Alenka chocolate. Do you already have chocolate? If not, then run to the store and start practicing the pronunciation of the sounds [ð] and [θ] with Phil and a chocolate bar.

Song-game: English sounds th [ð] and [θ] for young students

With children, you can look at a picture where one clown shows his tongue to another and learn a song

It is very important that while singing: All the kids pretend to be rude clowns and stick out their tongues saying the words this, that and the sound [ð], and when they say the sound [θ], they should stick out their tongues even more.

English sound th [θ] for young students

Click on the picture to listen to the sound th [θ] and play. Press the continue arrow and you will be prompted to find the sound combination th in the words, and if you click on it, you will hear the sound [θ] again and the whole word. Be sure to repeat these words after the speaker.

What sound [ð] or [θ] did you hear?

Listen to the words and color them according to the sound we heard. Color words with a voiced (voiced) sound [ð] in blue, and with a deaf (unvoiced) sound [θ] - in pink. When all the words are colored, click the Check Answers button

That's all for today about the combination of the letters TH and the pronunciation of the sounds [ð] and [θ].
Stay with us!

In this article, we will finally figure out how to pronounce "th" correctly. The pronunciation of this combination is recognized as one of the most difficult for non-English speakers around the world. Is it really all that complicated?

Not really. We offer you a simple and understandable video, which provides a detailed visual explanation. However, this video is in English, so if you have any difficulties in understanding, below you can just read the article below.

How to pronounce voiced "th"

The first thing you need to know about the "th" sound is that it has two pronunciations - voiced and voiceless. The difference is that when a voiced sound is pronounced, a vibrating sound is obtained. In order to pronounce such a sound, you need to place your tongue between your teeth. If you touch your throat while saying "th", you will definitely feel it vibrate.

For example, voiced "th" can be heard in the words: the, these, that, them.

This sound also occurs in the middle of a word: although another.

Mostly voiced sound is pronounced when "th" is located between two vowels - mother, father, brother etc.

How to pronounce voiceless "th"

The best example of a voiceless "th" is English word"three". This sound is less distinguishable than the previous one.

It's funny, but many people pronounce the word "three" as "tree", and Russians especially like to simplify (for some reason) to "free", although these are completely different words in English.

To pronounce a dull sound, you need to be guided by the same principle as for a voiced one: place your tongue between your teeth, but at the same time just silently push the air out of your mouth - there should be no vibration anymore.

Example words - three, thirty, thanks, as well as with the sound "th" at the end - mouth, both, worth, month etc.

That's all the information about the "hardest" sound "th" for non-English speakers. Is it really difficult for you now? Practice your pronunciation after reading this article. If the video turned out to be difficult to understand by ear, still do not rush to turn it off: listen to how a native English speaker clearly pronounces the voiceless and voiced “th” and demonstrates the difference in sounds.

More than once in the comments they asked to disassemble the interdental sound th. This is not surprising at all: th is one of the most common sounds of the English language, while in Russian (and in many others) this sound simply does not exist.

How to pronounce it? How to fix common mistakes? How to “train your mouth” on correct pronunciation? Today we will answer these questions with videos, exercises, tongue twisters, words and song examples.

What sound do the letters th make?

Let's just make a reservation right away that th is not a sound. This is a combination of letters that can be read as two sounds: deaf / θ /, as in the word thanks, and voiced /ð/, as in the word that. It is these signs that interdental “th sounds” are designated in transcription. But in the article I will sometimes write “th sound” for convenience.

Both sounds, both voiced and deaf, articulate the same way(lips and tongue are in the same position). Therefore, we will build the work as follows:

First, learn the correct position of the mouth for both sounds;
Then we will analyze possible errors and find out how to fix them;
Then we will work on tongue twisters and words each sound separately.

Yes, we do not have these sounds. But we have the concept of "lisp". Do you remember Sid the sloth from ice age: “No, I f whether f who is young f to die!”. In English explanatory dictionary the word “lisp” (lisp) is interpreted as “a speech defect in which s and z sound like th in think And this respectively".

This video just talks about lisp. I recommend to watch: simple and with humor.

That is, it turns out that we need to pronounce Russian / s / in a lisp for the deaf / θ / and Russian / з / - for the voiced / ð /. How is it, "lisping"? Say the word right now "composition". When you make the /c/ sound, your tongue is behind your teeth. Now put your tongue between teeth(sound th - interdental) and say again "composition". You will get a semblance of a deaf th, as in the word thick.

Now do the same, but with the word "gap". As a result, you will get a semblance of voiced th, as in the word then.

Why do I say "similarity"? Because the Russians are /s – z/ /s – z/, which means that their lisp will be slightly different. So let's take a closer look at the position of the articulatory apparatus.

How to pronounce th sound in English

Language flattened and tense, and its tip is between the upper and lower teeth, forming a narrow flat gap between cutting edge of upper teeth and the surface of the anterior edge of the tongue.

To learn the ideal setting of the articulatory apparatus, I suggest you watch the video. It shows three life hacks:

2:08 – how to put the articulatory apparatus in the ideal position: open your mouth, put your tongue on top of your lower teeth so that the tip is just behind the lower lip and slowly lower your upper teeth onto your tongue – try to pronounce the voiceless version of th, as in think.

2:52 - how to feel the right voltage tongue: take a straw and put it between the tongue and upper teeth - so you will feel how much tension the tongue should have.

3:36 - how much to stick out the tongue forward: put the finger perpendicular to the lips (as when we ask to be quieter) and stick out the tongue. The tongue should lightly touch the finger - this is the limit.

And do not forget to repeat sentences and words after the leader! This sound takes practice and more practice.

Pronunciation of interdental sound th: video.

How to pronounce th sound in Russian

Now that you figured out what position the articulatory apparatus should be in, let's laugh together at typical mistakes Russian speakers in order to avoid them in practice (which, by the way, will come immediately after this paragraph).

Possible mistakes:	How to fix:
Replacing voiceless /θ/ with /s/ ( think pronounce "sink"); Replacing voiced /ð/ with /z/ ( then pronounce like "zen").	Do not arch the back of the tongue up. + The tip of the tongue should be between the teeth, and not at the base of the lower front teeth (and not at the alveoli,). Report word contrast exercises, for example: mouth /maʊθ/ - mouse /maʊs/, thing /θɪŋ/ - sing /sɪŋ/, with /wɪð/ - whizz /wɪz/.
Replacing voiceless /θ/ with /f/ ( three pronounce like “fries”); Replacing voiced /ð/ with /in/ ( breathe pronounce like "brive").	Expose the teeth, especially the lower ones, as when brushing them, so that the lower lip does not come into contact with the upper teeth and does not come close to them. Reprimand contrasting pairs: three /θriː/ - free /friː/, thought /θɔːt/ - fought /fɔːt/.
Replacing voiceless /θ/ with sound /t/ ( thick pronounce like "teak"); Replacing voiced /ð/ with /d/ ( this pronounce like "diz").	Do not press the front part of the tongue to the upper teeth: it is lowered down, and the tip is between the teeth. Report exercises on the contrast of words, for example: thick / θɪk / - tick / tɪk /.
Stunning of the voiced variant th / ð / ⇒ replacement with the voiceless variant / θ / at the end of the word. It can happen out of habit, because in Russian voiced consonants at the end of a word are pronounced dull.	Remember that in English, voiced sounds at the end of a word are not deafened! Report word contrast exercises, for example: teeth /tiːθ/ - teethe /tiːð/.

You see, it's not all that difficult. 🙂 To figure out exactly how this sound should be pronounced is quite feasible. Moreover, the Internet is full of instructional videos on this topic (for example, look, from which you will learn how to pronounce th sounds correctly in combination with other sounds).

What then is the catch? Why does this sound still cause problems? Because accustoming ourselves to pronounce it correctly when speaking quickly and spontaneously is a real feat for us. The way out is special exercises and a lot of practice.

Practicing the sound th in English: exercises and training

First advice: first, in order for the tongue to become accustomed to this “interdental position”, deliberately exaggerate! Stick your tongue out as far as possible, pronounce it very exaggeratedly, do not be shy to look stupid. More in the video:

Another exercise that will help you get used to it is to hum absolutely any melody (for example, “A Christmas tree was born in the forest”), replacing all words with the sounds / θ / and / ð /.

A Christmas tree was born in the forest, it grew in the forest, it was slender green in winter and summer
Thetheethethethethethethethethethethethe.

Now that you're used to it, move on to practicing in words and tongue twisters.

English words with th sound: voiceless

So, we adjust the mouth to the desired position and proceed to phonetic charging for the sound th. Remember that this sound does not need to be softened before front vowels (such as i). The sound /θ/ is always only solid.

thought /θɔːt/

thrust /θrʌst/

through /θruː/

strength /streŋθ/

thrall /θrɔːl/

fourth /fɔːθ/

Fine! Now you can try tongue twisters.

English tongue twisters for the sound th

Th irty- th ree th ousand and th irty th inkers th ought th irty- th ree th ousand and th irty th oughts.
Th ree th eraptists th rew th ree th ermometers in th ree th ick th ickets of th orny th istle.
I am th ankful for a th ousand th ings … For fai th full ear th, for bir th and brea th, for th ought and heal th and strenght th and peace th, and, may be, when it comes, for dea th.

At the end of our training, as usual, we will take an example from a well-known song for the sound th. I settled on the song “Under My Thumb” by The Rolling Stones. Word thumb repeated throughout the song with a distinct pronunciation of the /θ/ sound.

Words with th sound in English: voiced variant

Now let's move on to ringing sound/ð/. I again draw your attention to the fact that this sound is always hard and does not soften before front vowels.

loathe /ləʊð/

breathe /briːð/

other /ˈʌð.ər/

there /ðeər/

whether /ˈweð.ər/

mother /ˈmʌð.ər/

father /ˈfɑː.ðər/

brother /ˈbrʌð.ər/

neither /ˈniː.ðər/

worthy /ˈwɜː.ði/

leather /ˈleð.ər/

together /təˈɡeð.ər/

another /əˈnʌð.ər/

English tongue twisters for the sound th

Th ese bro th ersba th e wi th th ose bro th ers, th ose bro th ersba th e wi th th ese bro th ers.
Th ey are always bo th ering Fa th er and Mo th er to do things for th em.
Th ese clo th es are ra th er for th and southern wea th er, th ose clo th es are ra th er for th e northern wea th er.

By the way, I strongly advise you to study another tongue twister. Rather, this is a lot of different tongue twisters for voiceless and voiced th, which are superimposed on the music. Learn this song and your articulatory apparatus will never forget the correct position. 🙂

And now an example from the song. For a resonant th, I settled on the song “One Way Or Another” by Blondie. Word another re-pronounced throughout the song and clearly articulated.

Summary: reading th sounds in English

As you can see, there is nothing too terrible in the sound of th. The main thing is practice. You can save our article to your bookmarks and periodically run the th sound workouts over and over again. And so that nothing gets confused in my head, I propose to briefly summarize:

The letter combination th gives 2 sounds: deaf / θ /, as in thanks, and voiced /ð/, as in that. Remember these icons: if you come across a new word, then refer to the dictionary to find out the transcription and hear the pronunciation.
This sound is pronounced as a lisping / s / and / z / - the tongue is flattened and tense, the tip is between the upper and lower teeth, forming a narrow flat gap between the cutting edge of the upper teeth and the surface of the front edge of the tongue.
The main difficulty for us is to accustom our articulatory apparatus to this sound. Especially to pronounce it correctly during fast, fluent speech. Therefore, be sure to conduct training for yourself: sing songs, drive out sets of words and tongue twisters.

Don't Switch: To Be Continued

In we calculated that we had 24 sounds left to make out. Therefore, after today's training, there are 22 left. Next time we will take on a new batch of sounds, this time - vowels. See you soon! 🙂

Hello my dear readers.

We all know perfectly well that the sounds of English speech sometimes differ from Russian and do not always find analogues. And the problem of pronunciation of some sounds is faced not only by small children, for whom this is almost normal, but also by many adults who.

In connection with such an urgent problem, I have prepared a special lesson for you: tongue twisters in English. You are waiting for tongue twisters for practicing sounds - with pronunciation and translation into Russian. At the end, I added another interesting video on the topic).

Practicing

I have no doubt that the most problematic sound for both children and adults is interdental sound. "th" . I have prepared for you some tongue twisters for interdental sounds with audio.

These brothers bathe with those brothers, Those brothers bathe with these brothers. If these brothers didn't bathe with those brothers, Would those brothers bathe with these brothers?	These brothers swim with those brothers Those brothers bathe with these brothers. If these brothers didn't swim with those brothers, Would those brothers swim with these brothers?
I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn't the thought I thought I thought.	I thought thought. But the thought I was thinking was not the thought I think I was thinking.
Thirty thousand thirsty thieves thundered through the thicket.	Thirty thousand thirsty thieves thundered through the thicket.

The second most popular group of sounds are whistling sounds. "s" . But I won't leave you here either. Here are simple and short phrases for you.

It is equally important to use the right sound "sh" . Catch tongue twisters that are easy to learn.

Quite problematic sounds sometimes become "f" And w . But don't worry, I took care of them too.

Four furious friends fought for the phone.	Four furious friends fought over the phone.
Fat frogs flying past fast	Fat frogs quickly flew by.
Five fat friars frying flat fish.	Five fat monks were frying flat fish.
There was a young fisher named Fisher who fished for a fish in a fissure.	There was a young fisher named Fisher who fished in the hole.
If two witches would watch two watches, which witch would watch which watch?	If sorceresses looked at two clocks, which sorceress would look at which clock?

And last but not least the sound "j". It would seem that problems with it should not arise, but still it happens. So here are some short and easy suggestions for you.

Jean jellies ginger jam in June

Jess jellies ginger jam in July.

If Jean didn't jelly ginger jam in June

Could Jess jelly ginger jam in July?

Jean gels ginger jam in June

Jess gels ginger jam in July.

If Jean hadn't gelled the gingerbread in June,

Would Jess have ginger jam in July?

Judy Jones jigs with Jim James,

Jozy James jives with Job Jones.

If Judy Jones didn't jig with Jim James,

Could Jozy James live with Job Jones?

Judy Jones dancing a jig with Jim James

Josie James jives with Job Jones.

If Judy Jones hadn't danced a jig with Jim James

Would Josie James jive with Job Jones?

Tongue twisters for children in video

Tongue twisters for adults and children in the video:

How to develop speech with tongue twisters

And now I want to tell you how best to work with English tongue twisters in order to achieve the effect in the shortest possible time.

Divide tongue twisters into sounds.

It sounds strange, of course, but it's true. Do not try to cover something that causes a complex of problems at once. Go in order. If you have problems with sound – th, then start with tongue twisters for this sound. Then, having mastered one, move on to the next group.

Read the short sentence carefully.

You should not immediately try to "shoot" everything that is like a meteor. Will not work.

Analyze each word: its meaning and sound.

This is not the most necessary part of preparation, but if you are already learning, why not memorize new vocabulary as well?

And only now try to slowly read the whole tongue twister aloud.

Slowly and confidently read the tongue twister until you read it without a single mistake.

Gradually increase the pace of your speech.

And only now, when you have gone through all the stages, you can try to increase the pace of speech and each time pronounce it as quickly as possible. But the important point here is precisely gradually.

Well, my dears, have you already tasted every tongue twister?)

And now more tongue twisters and live English speech from the lips of two cheerful young people in this video:

I am sure that you are obedient students. If you would like to receive more more information, which will help you quickly and effectively improve your English - then subscribe to my blog newsletter. Before you know it, your English will completely change in a couple of months.

Until then, I say goodbye.

See you again, my dears.

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Introduction

The sound is rightfully considered the king of complexity among English sounds.

In many languages, such a sound does not exist at all, except for Arabic, Greek, Castilian and Swahili.
You and I are also lucky.
We do not have such a letter!

For this reason, it is so difficult for us to pronounce words such as the, this, with ... And therefore we often replace the sound with C, T, Z or D.
And it sounds instead of The - Ze or De; instead of Think - Sink or Tink.
And you, by the way, know that it was not from a good life that the English people began to stick out their tongues, but from a lack of front upper teeth during scurvy. Don't believe? Read the origin story English sound.

“... scurvy, which was the result of a cold snap, dramatically changed the phonetic picture of Europe. Babies whose teeth fell out before they had time to grow were physically unable to utter dental sounds, and the rest of their speech apparatus was forced to rebuild for more or less intelligible pronunciation of the most simple words... The sounds d, t, s, z fell out along with the teeth, and the gums and tongue swollen from scurvy could not pronounce the contractions of two consonants ... "

That is, if it seems to you that the sound is a lisping S or Z, then you are on the right track.
Try to pronounce the tongue twister “Sasha walked along the highway and sucked dry”, replacing With the sound Th. It should go something like this: “Thla Thаtha by thоthе and thоthala thоthku.”
If there was scurvy in Russia, we would probably talk like that with you.
By the way, the above phrase is convenient to use as an exercise for warming up before classes. Just make sure there are fewer people around.

Who is guilty?

Usually they say - stick your tongue out and tell « THIS« .
But in many countries "IT" is considered indecent!
"Don't show your tongue" our mother says to her child.
Even as adults, people cannot perform this simple action, which is so necessary in the English language.

And here Einstein didn't hesitate to do it. And that means you shouldn't either.
In addition, some especially sophisticated teachers even recommend biting the protruding tongue with your teeth.

What to do or debunking myths?

Well, we have already figured out who is to blame - this is our mentality and the inclinations of some teachers.
And here I would like to quote an excerpt from Mikhail Zadornov about a foreign intelligence agent:
“Right from the construction site, I was taken to English courses, from which I was expelled for poor performance, because the teacher did not understand my pure English pronunciation.
Once he asked me where I studied the language. I honestly admitted - in an English special school.
He replied that he always did not trust English special schools, and it is not at all like me, you need to pronounce the word “The table” according to the latest instructions of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions.

Now it remains to find out what to do? How to learn to pronounce this sound without spending the rest of your life on it?
After trying to do it myself, looking through a bunch of literature and carefully listening to my own feelings, I came to certain conclusions and found the right ways to quickly solve the problem. According to the comedian: "Having drunk, I judged soberly."

Firstly, it is absolutely not necessary to stick out your tongue for a kilometer - this is a common misconception. Usually 2-3 MILLIMETER is enough, which looks decent enough even with our reserved mentality.

Secondly, the tongue should be pressed against the UPPER TEETH, and not just stick out, which is another common misconception. However, it should be pressed only slightly so as not to block the movement of air. Do you want to stay alive in the end?

Thirdly, the core of this manual is my know-how.
Or maybe How-Know, as Zadornov says :)):
Imagine that the LOWER edge of the TOP teeth…

Ok, I know it sounds complicated, especially after a day at work.
Let's look at the photo.

Ouch!
This kid has no teeth at all!
And scurvy has nothing to do with it.

Then one more try...

OK, this photo is closer to the topic.
Although Keira Knightley looks
a bit like a vampire, but
she obviously did not suffer from scurvy
and she can see well
the same edge of the upper teeth.

So. Imagine what this edge is guitar string .
And you need SLIGHTLY sticking out the sharp and hard tip of the tongue, pull it on this string. Pull the tip of the tongue from outside to inside. Jinh...
Those who have played the guitar probably know what a plectrum or pick is. So the tip of the tongue performs the same function.
Now it is clear? We pull the tip of the tongue by the edge-string deep into the mouth and slightly up.

Try it. Try it a few times - you'll love it, I promise!
Do you really want to own this? voiced dental fricative consonant ?
Oh sorry! It seems that with this phrase I scared away more than half of the readers.
However, there is no greater half, and this is incredibly comforting ...

Look and listen my pronunciation explanation sound- the king of the complexity of English sounds

To purchase Lingvo-vitamin sound follow this link.