Session Three1. The Unvoiced TH Sound2. The Voiced TH Sound3. THR Blends4. Voicing the T SoundHi, welcome back. Again my name is Paul Gruber and this is the Pronunciation Workshops---Third Training Session. In this class, we will cover the American TH sounds, both the unvoiced TH[θ] and the voiced TH[ð]. This is one of my favorite areas because when you correctly produce TH sounds, you will significantly improve the way you speak English. Later on in this video, we’ll also address voiced T sounds.Now except for maybe a few languages, English is one of the only languages in the world that has TH sound when your tongue comes out between your teeth[θ] that you may have a difficult time with this sound because this sound probably does not exist in your own native language. Therefore, you don’t think to use the sound when you speak English. Most likely, you just substitute another sound, like a T or an S. So instead of saying a word like Thumb, my Thumb, which this is and notice my tongue is coming out. My thumb. You’ve been saying Tumb. My Tumb or my Sumb and your tongue is not coming out. That is not correct. If you made mistake like this and connected speech over and over again. There’s a good chance people are not going to understand you. I have found that some people from different cultures of the world find the idea of sticking out their tongue when they speak to be rude and offensive even if it is to produce a TH sound, I want you to understand that this is how American speak English and it is something that you must become comfortable with if you wish to speak well. To produce TH sound correctly you need to first stick your tongue out between your teeth and bite down slightly[θ],then blow[θ].This created Air Friction. The sound comes from the air friction and should be pretty lou d[θ]. Keep your tongue flat and maintain it even steady flow of air. I’ m not just saying stick it out a little bit, I’ m saying stick it way out at least while you’re practising to get used to the feeling. The TH sound comes from the air and the friction. You have got to hear it and should be somewhat loud [θ], like that. If you’re like most people, you may need to work on this a little bit but trust me I know you can do it. Hundreds of my clients who have never produced a TH sound in their lives are speaking English clearly and beautifully, because they’ve learned how to do this. It may help if you look at a mirror and watch your mouth and tongue. See if you can maintain the air flow for three seconds [θ], like that. I know this may feel very strange and uncomfortabl e to do possibly, but soon you’ll get used to it and the small change in your speech is going to really improve how your English sounds. Now the TH sound is a friction sound and it’s not as aloud as other speech sounds. Therefore American speakers stretch them out a little bit we don’t even realize we do this, but this make the sound come out clearer. Let me show you what I mean. Let’s look again at the word Thumb. For practicing purposes, think of the word in two beats: One. Two. [θ]Thumb. You s e e that? Notice how long I’m holding the TH sound. [θ]Thumb. It’s not good enough just to put your tongue between your teeth and say a TH word. Like this~. You see that, my tongue came out. But there was never any air friction. That’s not good. You must s tretch out the TH sound and hear the air friction. Thumb. Like that. Let’s pra ctise some words with TH sounds. First at the beginning of words. Here we go.ThanksThickThunderThursdayThinkNow in the middle of words.AnythingBathmatToothpickAthleticMouthwashNow at ends of words.BathNorthBeneathFourthSouthVery good. Ok now let’s talk about voiced TH sounds. To make a voiced TH sound, all you have to do is take the TH sound that I just showed you and just add voicing [ð]. There’s the voiced TH. You should be able to feel the strong vibration in your throat and on your tongue [ð].Let’s go over some of these voiced TH sounds. This first set of words are some of those the most commonly used words in English and yes they should all be voiced and all made with your tongue coming through your teeth. First at the beginning of words.The (The book)That (That house)They (They came over)Them (Give them water)There (There it is)This (This is my nose)Those (Those boys are good)These (These are my parents)You know, another good way to practise these words is by goingaround your room and naming everything you see using a TH word. For example, the chair, that window, those books, this door, like that. Then go around and name your body parts in some clothing like that shoe, this watch, these feet. Ok. That may be helpful. Let’s look at these voiced TH sounds in the middle of words.Clothing. Notice how my tongue comes out in the middle of the word and the TH sound is pushed out. Clothing.Leather. Same thing. Stick out your tongue and make a very strong vibration. Leather.MotherAnotherWeatherNorthernAnd now at the ends of words.Smooth. Believe it or not. The TH in Smooth is voiced. Most foreign speakers say this word incorrectly. They say Smooth, the unvoiced TH. But it’s voiced. Smooth [ð].Bathe. The word Bath is a noun, with an unvoiced TH. Bath. But when you change it into a verb “to bathe” the vowel changes to an /e/ sound and the TH is voiced. Bathe, like again. Batheing suit.Breathe. Same thing. Breath is a noun. Take a breath, unvoiced. But when you change it into a verb, the vowel changes and becomes Breathe. I am breathing with the voiced TH. Now, let’s do some practice phrases. These all have voiced and unvoiced TH sounds. Repeat after me.This and thatA tableclothWinter clothingAthens, GreeceThat’s the oneHer skin is smoothThirty Day’s noticeA famous authorHere and thereFalse teethThread the needleA thoughtful giftThunder and lighteningThumbs upRepeat these sentences.Thelma arrived in town last Thursday.I’m having trouble threading this needle.I need 33 thick thermometers.The thing they like best about Athens is the weather.This thrilling novel was written by a famous author.He will be through with his work at three-thirty.Now and then, she likes to buy new clothing.They thought they were going to Northern Spain.Which tablecloth shall we use for the party?That was the thirty-third theatre to open.Now, I’d like to talk about THR Blends which is the combinat ion of TH sound and the R sound. Like in the word Thrill or Throw. When producing these blends, I want to be aware that the R is the strongest sound of the blend and it’s louder than the TH. Just like what we talked about in the first session. So when you say a word which begins with THR. First make the TH sound and then strongly push out the R. Let’s practise afew of these.Thread (thread the needle)Throw (throw the ball)Throat (my throat is sore)Thrill (a thrilling ride)Three (three more days)Threw (yesterday he threw the ball)Throne (the king sits on a throne)Ok, now let’s go over this reading paragraph. It has many TH sounds and it might be difficult, but it is a very good paragraph to practise on. You may wanna watch me do this a number of times. Keep your eyes on my mouth and notice how often my tongue comes out. Try to do the same thing. Here we go.Nurse Thatcher was thankful it was Thursday. She knew that on Thursday she had to deliver 33 boxes of thermometers to the North American Athletic Club. They thought that thermometers were necessary for testing the hydrotherapy baths. This was thought to benefit the athletes with arthritis. The athletic trainers required authorization to provide hydrotherapy to the youthful athletes on the three bulletin boards with thumbtacks through out the athletic club. Rather than risk the health of the athletes, they thoroughly checked the thousands of thermometers to insure their worthiness; otherwise they needed to be thrown away.Very good, I h ope that wasn’t too bad. As I said that is an excellent paragraph to practise on. You should review it a few times if you can.Ok, now as I always said English is a crazy language and there are always to be exceptions. Here are a few TH exceptions that I’d like to point out. Although these next words and names are spelled with TH. They’re pronounced as if they were spelled with a normal T/t/, like that. And thesewords are:ThomasThompsonTheresaThailandThames, like the riverEstherThyme, which is a spiceOk, now let’s take a moment and talk about T sounds. The T sound is the unvoiced sound like in the name Tom or the word TV. If you add voicing to a T, what do you get? /t/---/d/, a D. Remember? We went over this in the first session, but I want to tell you is in American pronunciation we like to make things easy. So if a letter T falls between two vowel sounds, which are voiced. So if it falls in the middle of vowels, then the T is pronounced as a D and the whole word is voiced. This is very easy and you may already be doing this correctly. Here are three examples:Water is pronounced as Wader, the T into a D and the whole word is voiced. Water . I want water.Better becomes Bedder. She’s feeling better.And Butter becomes Budder. Please pass the butter.This should be simple. So now that you know that. Practising this poem with me. Remember all the Ts are pronounced as Ds because they fall between vowels.Betty bought a bit of better butter. But, said she, this butter’s bitter. If I put it in my batter, it’ll make m y batter bitter.Again, notice that you do not hear any T sounds /t/. They are only Ds /d/, which are voiced. Go over this poem a few times. It’s also printed in your manual. Once you get good at it, try to speed it up. I’ll do it one moretime for you a little bit faster:Betty bought a bit of better butter. But, said she, this butter’s bitter. If I put it in my batter, it’ll make my batter bitter.Well, that was mouthful. Ok, start by practising it slow and then later get faster. Try to let the wo rds just roll out of your mouth. That’s for today’s session. Try spending some time in front of a mirror and practising these TH sounds like Thumb and Throw. The small change will really improve your English and make yo u a lot more understandable. I’m Paul Gruber with the Pronunciation Workshop and I’ll see you at our next session. Good bye!。