Well, I decided that for all my podcasts, I'll write a little introduction and then put the transcript for the voice recording for you. So, welcome to "Alan's Weekend Words January 19th". Today some advice on pronuciation for all you English learners!

Hello, for my weekend words this week I want to talk about pronunciation difficulties for learners of English. It seems to me that there are some sounds that present more difficulties that others. For example the English "th" sound.

think

thought

thank

thesis

therapy

nothing

tether

teeth

are some words starting with or containing the sound 'th". For this sound place the top of your tongue against your top teeth - push some air through without too much pressure and say the word.

think, thought, thank, thesis,therapy,nothing,tether,teeth

The other 'th" sound is the same tongue position - but with less air movement and more voice. See if you can hear the difference between the two different 'th" sounds

the,there,those,with,feather

Try practicing these "th" sounds slowly then speed up

Make sure that you keep relaxed when you speak and don't worry if you find it difficult - just keep practicing when you have a little time.

The other sound I wanted to talk about today is the English "r"

The British version is softer sounding than the American:

run

ready

really

roaring

the american sounds more "strong" - in other words add more sound to your voice as you speak - with a little more energy.

run

ready

really

roaring

I can't really speak with an american accent very well - but I just wanted to show you an example.

Your tongue needs to be curled back about half-way in your mouth - but not touching any part of your mouth and then curl it back forward again and keep it quite loose as you do.

"a Rumanian runner was running a revolution around a really rocky racetrack"

Tongue twisters like this can be very useful for pronunciation practice

Take care and see you next time

http://www.englishsecret.com/pages/sound.jsp?pid=12