Hi guys. Welcome back. In this video I'm
going to explain in detail how to pronounce the two TH sounds in English.
Hopefully with my explanations and a bit of practice, you'll be able to pronounce
these sounds perfectly. Remember that if you want to watch my videos with
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click the little bell if you don't want to miss a video. Now I prefer not to say "the" TH sound,
because there are actually two TH sounds in English, (yay!) which are
represented by these two phonetic symbols. This sound is in words like "think", "teeth"
and "thunder". This sound is in words like "the", "that" and "mother". Many people
learning English find these sounds difficult, so if you find them difficult,
don't worry, you are not alone. It's simply because these sounds don't exist
in many other languages. I also know what it's like to struggle and get frustrated
because you can't say specific sounds in a language. For me that sound was the
rolled R in Spanish, and it's similar to the R in other languages like Italian
and Indonesian. It's the "rr", "rr". Perro, perro. I had to practise it a lot. I think
when I was in Spain I practised it several times a day - sometimes when I was
walking in the street and I thought no one could hear me. And even doing that it
still took me many months to kind of be able to say it. And even now I normally
have to concentrate when I say it, and I know it's not always perfect. So yes,
I can feel your pain, but there are some things in languages that simply require
a lot of practice, at least for most people. Let's first look at this TH sound.
This is called the unvoiced TH sound. It's unvoiced because there's no
vibration here. It's just: th, th, th. So how do we make this sound?
Well, the most important thing is the position of the tongue. The tip of the tongue - so
this part here - needs to be between the top teeth and the bottom teeth. Or just
behind the gap between the top teeth and the bottom teeth. So, like, just behind the
teeth. It's actually possible to make this sound with your tongue in various
positions. You can stick your tongue quite far out like this... Or you can have it just behind
the gap between the teeth like this... (If you spit a bit when you practise,
don't worry, it's normal.) Or you can have your tongue somewhere
between those positions like this... Normally when we speak, if we stick the tongue
out, we don't stick it out very far, because the tongue needs to be able to move quickly
to make other sounds. A way to find a good position for the tongue is to put
your finger on your lips like this... and then make the sound. If your tongue touches your finger,
then it's probably out too far, or at least it will probably be
difficult for you to speak quickly if the tongue is out that far.
Another key point to remember is that the top teeth are very important. That's
because you are gently pushing against the top teeth with your tongue. In fact,
it's possible (more or less possible) to make this sound by pushing the
tip of your tongue against the back of your top teeth, like this... Think, think, think. I don't recommend doing it that way
- to me it feels more difficult and strange - but it's an option you can try if you want. As I was saying, you're gently
pushing against your top teeth, but you are allowing air to pass over your
tongue. If you put your finger here, you will notice air going between your
tongue and your top teeth. The th sounds are quite soft or gentle sounds, but when
you practise them, I recommend that you exaggerate them. This is quite a common
technique in pronunciation. You exaggerate something - you overdo it - and
then when it becomes easy, you pull back a bit. You soften it. Interestingly, when I
was in high school I went to speech and drama classes for a while
(theatre classes, in other words) and one of the methods I sometimes used to
perform a character that was completely different to me was to first exaggerate it,
and then pull back. The same method works with pronunciation. So now
practise saying these words with me, but exaggerate them.
Really stick your tongue out. Now let's say the same words,
but more naturally. Now practise saying this sentence after me.
So first listen, and then say it. It's meant to be "cloths", not "clothes". Now you say it. I'll put some more sentences like this
at the end of the video. Now we are going to look at
the voiced TH sound. This is the "theh" sound. Here's the good news, guys! The voiced TH sound is almost exactly the
same as the unvoiced TH sound. There is just one difference. Your mouth and your tongue are in the same
position as for the unvoiced TH sound, but if you put your hand on your throat,
you will feel vibration: th, th. Practise saying these words with me. Like before,
first we are going to exaggerate the TH. Now let's do the same,
but more naturally. Now practise this sentence after me. Now you say it. Here are some other sentences
you can practise with. These sentences have both
the voiced and unvoiced TH. I hope that helped, guys.
If you're still thinking that you will never be able to do it,
remember that for a long time, that Spanish R just seemed impossible to me. But little by little, by practising
a tiny bit every day, it got better. You can do it. See you next time, guys. Birds! There's a plane or something... Ok, start again.
