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Hi! I'm Tom Kelly, a Rachel's English teacher.

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Today's practice tip deals with what some students[br]consider a pretty tricky consonant sound.

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The TH.

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For many students, the TH consonant ends up[br]sounding like an American English D or T consonant.

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For instance, instead of saying "the", a very common word[br]that begins with the voiced TH consonant,

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students will say "duh".[br]It's in the back.

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You can hear the consonant sound "duh-duh".

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We want the TH sound "the - the".

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It's in the back. "In the - in the". It's in the back.

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Here are a few tips to help with your TH sound.

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First off, you want the tip of your[br]tongue to be between the teeth.

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You don 't need to bite the tongue.[br]You can just gently rest the tongue

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between the teeth.

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You also don't need to push a lot of the tongue out.

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It can just be the very tip of the tongue. That's enough.

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Another tip I have for you is to remember that [br]the TH consonant is a very gentle sound.

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And it takes a bit of relaxation to find it.

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A great way to test your TH consonant sound is to see[br]if you're able to hold out the consonant.

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For instance, here is the unvoiced consonant held out.

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TH

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Can you even hear it?

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It's a very quiet, gentle sound. Right?

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All that's happening is air is being pushed[br]past the tip of the tongue and the upper teeth.

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You don't have to hold any tension[br]anywhere in your face for this sound.

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Just rush the air past the tongue and teeth.

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TH

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Think

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Therapy

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For the voiced version of this consonant,

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all you do is add vibration of your[br]vocal cords and use just a little less air.

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You should feel the vibration in your tongue.

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Again, you should be able to hold the sound out easily.

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TH

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Their

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This

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Their

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This

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Here's one last tip to help you work[br]on this challenging consonant sound.

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We always talk about putting the tip of the tongue[br]between the teeth for this consonant sound.

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Or having the tip of the tongue just[br]behind the opening between the teeth.

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But what is the rest of the tongue doing?

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Think of the rest of the tongue being[br]low in the mouth and relaxed for this sound.

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Many students will place the tip of the[br]tongue between the teeth,

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but the rest of the tongue is actually lifted in the mouth

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which blocks the air from flowing easily[br]past the tongue and teeth.

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If you do this, you will end up with that D or T consonant.

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With a low relaxed tongue, "there".

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With a lifted tongue blocking the airflow, "there".

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It sounds like a D consonant - "there"

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because my tongue is blocking the airflow.

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There, there.

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Keep that tongue low in the mouth.

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Don't forget to keep the rest of the tongue low[br]and relaxed when the TH consonant

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comes in the middle or at the ends of words as well.

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Another, father, whether, myth, faith, bath

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Practice this sound by holding out[br]the consonant easily in words.

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This will build up the habit of keeping[br]the tongue relaxed and letting the airflow

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easily pass the tongue and teeth.

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TH

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Therapy

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Whether

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Faith

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You don't really need to hold out the TH that long.

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This is just a way to practice.

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That's all for today's practice tip.

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If you're interested in learning more[br]about taking private lessons with me,

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click here or in the description below.

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I also offer pronunciation evaluations

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where I help you identify and focus on[br]your specific pronunciation challenges.

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Keep practicing, have fun, and[br]thanks for watching Rachel's English!