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In this American English pronunciation video, we´re going to go over the difference in the words "six" and "sex"

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This minimal pair has only one differerent sound and it´s the vowel sound

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Since "sex" can be a sensitive word, this is probably a minimal pair you want to master

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Thanks so much for the suggestion

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The two vwel sound are the "i" as in "sit" vowel and the "e" as in "bed" vowel

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For the "e" vowel like in "sex" the jaw drops more

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The tongue tip is forward and down, lightly touching the back of the bottom front teeth

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The front middle part lifts towards the roof of the mouth and the middle of the tongue should be wider as it lifts

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The "i" vowel like in "six" has less jaw drop.

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The tip is in the same place , but the front part arches up, towards the roof of the mouth

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The tongue is closer to the roof of the mouth in this vowel.

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Let´s take a look at a picture comparing the two sounds

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Notice how the jaw is more dropped for the "eh" vowel like in "sex"

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The tongue is closer to the roof of the mouth for the "i" vowel like in "six"

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Practice with me

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Eh Ih Eh Ih

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now let´s look at the two words up close and slowmotion

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The corners of the mouth pull wide for the s

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The jaw drops more for the eh in sex

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The front part lifts towards the roof of the mouth for the ih vowel in six

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Again from the front

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Compare the jaw drop

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Six

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Sex

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I hope this video has made the difference in these two words clear

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If there´s a word comparison you´d like to see, put it in the comments below

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Also I´m very excited to tell you that my book is now on sale

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If you liked this video there´s a lot more to learn about american english pronunciation, and my book could help you step by step

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You can get by clicking here or in the description below

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That´s it and thanks so much for using Rachel´s English!

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If you liked this video, be sure to suscribe, either click here or in the description

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But don´t stop there!

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Keep learning with my american english and real life playlist, my Ben Franklin playlist or my word of the week series

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Click on me to check out my channel where there´s a hundred of great videos

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