It is easy to understand why English is one of the hardest languages to master due to the sounds that do not exist in Indian languages and other tongues for that matter, particularly "TH", "R" and "L" In order to make these sounds, you have to move your tongue and mouth in a specific and sometimes difficult way. Once you are able to learn how to pronounce these sounds, you will be able to pronounce words more clearly and fluently, thus bringing your spoken English to a more natural level.
As such hence, following the alphabetical order of linguistics, Let's take a close look at each of these sounds, their pronunciations in detail and some work outs for you to try them out.
Focusing on the Workouts of the "TH" Sound
If cared for well, mastering "TH" can sound quite lightly as its pronunciation involves the tongue being extended in two forms, a voiceless known in the words "thank" and "think" and a voiced known in the words "this, and they". The problem with saying "TH" is that it is extremely tongue intensive and very complicated, hence mixing them can result in disastrous verbal communication with english native speakers
The "TH" that voice at the Start (e.g., then any of the three pronouns: this, they, and tell)
Pronouncing this particular sound involves lots of vibration in the throat which turns out to be a rather complicated task, if you don't know the steps to make the sound. Here is a simpler guide to pronouncing it.
- Put the tip of your tongue between your upper and lower teeth so it sticks a little out.
- Then put the tip of your tongue on your upper teeth lightly
- Voice the sound when you bring it closer to your throat and push air out. In fact, without making any sounds during such a process, you should feel slight vibrations if you place your fingers on your throat.
Practice Words: this, they, them, that
Common Mistake: Other English learners tend to replace voiced TH with a d sound, stating dis instead of this. In this case, to avoid such a process, you have to perform the voice TH sound by placing your tongue between the teeth so that you feel a slight vibration when making a sound.
Voiceless "TH" Sound (e.g. think, thank)
The voiceless TH sound is without the use of vocal cords. Here's the correct method:
- Place the tip of your tongue as you did with TH, except this time it is a voiced sound.
- Push air out of your mouth and do not vibrate your vocal cords, instead let the air flow along the tip of your tongue.
Practice Words: think, thank, both, path
Common Mistake: There are some people that do not pronounce voiceless TH, rather they say the letter "s" or "t" making the word think, turn to sink or tink. Making sure the tongue is placed between the teeth during the pronunciation helps in this case.
Exercise: Create a web of voiced and voiceless 'TH' sounds including minimal pairs including They-Think and This-Thank. So , it's necessary to be slow in each pair and make tongue and airflow focus.
Getting Hold of 'R'
For those whose language doesn't have some pronounced sounds, such as the letter 'R', it can be quite problematic. Even more so, English speaking R does not require the tongue to touch any area of the mouth.
English Sound 'R'
In English speaking the letter 'R' revolves around the very particular use of 'rolled' tongue a little more than other letters. However be diligent to ensure it does not sit on top of the mouth.
- Slightly cupping your tongue, drive the edge of it towards the back of your mouth.
- Avoid letting the tip of tongue touch any part of the mouth. The tongue should be positioned away from the roof but still close.
- Purse your lips slightly as you begin to say the sound, keep the mouth relaxed as well.
Practice Words: red, right, run, road
Common Mistake: Many learners tend to pronounce 'r' using a rolled tone, similar to how Italians or Spanish speakers do, or they say an 'r' eliminating the use of the tongue. But it should be clear that in English whenever 'r' is pronounced it is neither rolled nor touches the roof of the mouth.
Practicing of 'R' in Context
When 'r' comes in between two vowels or at the end of the word, it is likely that the sound gets suppressed, because those two vowels already make a potent combination.
Exercise: First begin with the pure form of the sound then heed in its articulation within words or sentences. Ensure the tongue does not deviate from its stance.
Example Sentence: Run along the road.
This combines R at the start, in the middle and even at the end of the word making it possible to practice R in all potential forms in a single sentence.
Gaining Skills in Pronunciation of 'L'
As much as the 'l' sound need encodes a different way of pronouncing it when compared to the pronunciation of 'r' in English, that is the most common problem with the language. And the same goes for those who do not have direct Rémy consonance differentiations, such as the Japanese.
Sound Production for "L"
While producing the "L" sound in English pronunciation, the tip of the tongue is needed against the mouth at a particular location.
- Position the tip of the tongue on the upper gum line directly behind one's front teeth.
- Allow the sound pronunciation to be accompanied by the airflow which passes through the sides of one's tongue in the speech sound production.
Words for Practice: look, like, love, light
Common Mistakes: Lateralization of the "L" sound into "R" or shifting the location of producing "L" deeper into the mouth cavity. In order to avoid this, ensure that the specific location of "L" sound is being produced which is the upper frontal tooth.
'L' Sound Assimilation in Words
It must be pointed that there are geographical and phonetic variations of the "L" sound also in terms of the location's of its articulation within the word. This may be softer or weaker at the end of a word, but be stronger if it comes at the start of a word.
Exercise: Practicing sentence where the "L" sound comes more towards the beginning or towards the middle of a word such as repeat after me I like to look at the lake which allows the sound to be easily pronounced.
How To Eliminate the Confusion Between R And L
R and L are sounds that speakers become accustomed to over time. However, L and R aren't phonemes in various other languages. Because of this, pronouncing L and R correctly whilst being able to distinguish the two separately is key for clarity. To the aim of decreasing the pronunciation inaccuracy of these phonemes, it is paramount to first practice pronouncing each one sound then to practice contrasting the two sounds using minimal pairs such as sit and set and using sentences that callback to each sound in practice.
Exercise: Repeat words which have R and L at least very close to each other such as 'light, lead, and fly' as compared to 'right, read, and fry'. For every sound in that minimal pair, repeat it slowly with a singular focus on placement of the tongue.
Example Sentence: The red light is on the right.
The activity for those trying to learn how pronounce R and L separately and without blending the two phonemes would be to repeat this phrase and doing so consistently and ensuring there is focus on correct pronunciation.
Putting Everything Together And Understanding The Key Points To Practicing L, R And TH Phonemes
When trying to maximize eloquence in speech it is necessary to learn how to pronounce L, R and TH sounds in multiple situations. There are plenty of strategies that can be deployed to make the pronouncing these sounds easier and more natural.
Shadowing Practice
Shadow pronouncing the sounds is effective as it aides the learner in grasping how to properly pronounce more complex sounds.
- Pick an audio recording with a native speaker emphasizing great pronunciation, while also ensuring it isn't too long.
- Listen to the clip and repeat as you read, pronouncing the sounds "TH", "R" and "L" properly.
- Record yourself and listen as you pronounce similar words from an English speaker to check your work.
Minimal Pair Drills
Minimal pairs are pairs of words that differ in only one sound, such as lead vs. read or think vs. sink. Practicing minimal pairs improves your accuracy with sounds by developing an ear to note very slight changes.
- Minimal pairs incorporating "TH", "R" and "L" should be selected.
- As you articulate each word, concentrate on how the mouth and tongue must be positioned for that particular sound, and go through each word gradually.
- As you get more adept, do not forget to steadily increase your pace.
Self-Recording and Analysis
Recording one's self provides a perspective that allows for assessing one as an outsider which aids in noticing minor adjustments plus it in the first place is a mechanism for self-assessing progress.
- Record yourself reciting, in an audible voice, the paragraphs and sentences with the "TH", "R" and "L" sounds.
- Do a play-back of what you recorded. Note down, together with your attempt, the sound differences with the illustration of a native speaker's pronunciation. Such sounds should be pronounced clearer.
- Once again, through those sounds, re-do, emphasizing perfection on sound.
Consistently practicing these techniques will allow you to develop muscle memory for the correct tongue and mouth positions, allowing these sounds to come more naturally with time.
