SPEECH SOUNDS
Everyone produces sounds, but only a few are used when speaking with people. English has sounds that are shared by many languages around the world, such as /b/, /m/ and /t/. There is even an international phonetic alphabet (IPA: http://www.ipachart.com/) where linguists have identified all the speech sounds used in all of the languages of the world. Speech sounds are important for you to learn and develop as a child so you can speak with others.
*** The speech sounds below can be found in this order: P B M N W H F V K G T D R L S Z CH J SH TH ZH/NG VOWELS |
Speech Sound Disorder:
"Most children make some mistakes as they learn to say new words. A speech sound disorder occurs when mistakes continue past a certain age. Every sound has a different range of ages when the child should make the sound correctly. Speech sound disorders include problems with articulation (making sounds) and phonological processes (sound patterns)."
~ American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/speechsounddisorders.htm
~ American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/speechsounddisorders.htm
IPA charts and definitions:
IPA chart and definitions on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet
<> English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English
<> Spanish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish <> Chinese (Mandarin): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Mandarin |
<> Arabic (Mondern Standard): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Arabic
<> Russian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Russian etc... |
Focus |
How to |
Materials |
Videos |
Ppay, peace, pie, poke, pool, pack, pet, pit, pot, puck, cape/steep, hype/hope, group, cap, step/hip, hop, cup, spade, apes, shaped
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Bring your lips together, build up some air behind them, then let the sound "pop" out. There is no voice (or vibration of your throat) in this sound.
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Bbay, bee, bye, boat, boom, bag, bet, big, boss, bug, Abe, cab/web/fib, job, cub, ribs, cubed
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Same as the /p/ sound, but with a humming or "AAAH" sound from your throat.
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Mmay, meet, might, moat, moose, mad, met, middle, mock, muck, aim, team, time, comb/boom, slam, hem/limb, palm, hum, smack, games, named
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Close your lips together and hum, or vibrate sound from your throat
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N
name, neat, night, no, noose, gnat, net, knit, not, nub, wane, bean, line, own, balloon, can, den, fin, gone, Oregon, snail, canes, band
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Bring your tongue to the top of your mouth behind your top teeth. Make sure no air can get out through your mouth, and then hum, or vibrate sound from your throat.
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Wwade, weak, why, woe/woo, whack, wet, whip, wash/won, owe, dew, cow, sway, owes, mowed
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Bring your lips together, but don't close them. As you slowly open your mouth, make an "AAH" sound from your throat.
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Hhail, heal, hike, holy, hoop, have, heavy, him, hall, hug
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Let air come out your mouth, just like breathing out. There is NO humming or an "AAH" sound from your throat.
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Ffate, feet, five, photo-food, fat, fence, fig, fox, fun, safe-beef, life-loaf-roof, half-chef-if, off, stuff, raft, laughs
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Gently bite your bottom lip, and show your upper teeth, then just blow air out through your upper teeth.
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Vvein-veal, vine-vote-voodoo, van, vent, visit, vault, save, leave, alive, stove-move-have, active, Kiev-suave-love, waved, paves
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Same as /f/, but when blowing out through your upper teeth, make a humming or an "AAH" sound from your throat.
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Kkale, keel, kayak, coat, cool, cap, kent, kid, cost, cub, bake, greek, bike, woke-Luke, pack, deck, wick, sock, duck, wax, smacked
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Bring the back of your tongue up, like when you are about to cough. Build up some air pressure behind the tongue, and then quickly let it out (like punching the air out).
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Ggate, geese-guy, goat, goof, gab, gecko, give, got, gum, plague, egg-big, dog, bug, leagues, bagged
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Same as /k/, but now add a humming or an "AAH" sound from your throat. Make sure it's really "punchy."
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Ttame, teak, time, tote, tool, tap, tell, tip, talk, tub, eight, beat, might, moat, loot, gnat, wet, pit, pot, cut, stay-strand, aced, dates, fatal, melt-melts, raft, shaped, baked, crunched, washed
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Bring your tongue to the top of your mouth, making sure no air can get out. Build up some air pressure, and only let the air come out through the tip of your tongue.
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Dday, deal, dime, dome, dew, dad, debt, dim, dot, done, made, feed, hide, mode, food, had, bed, did, sod, mud, amazed, pads, cradle, mailed, loved, cubed, bagged, caged, named, band
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Same as /t/, but adding a humming or an "AAH" sound from your throat.
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Rray, read, rye, row, room, rash, red, rib, rob, rub, air, fire, or, ear, earth, car, pray, braids, tray, drain, fray, crate, gray
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There are a few ways to produce /r/. Ask your local speech-language
pathologist for help. One way is to make "square lips" while showing both top- and bottom-rows of teeth closed together, like when producing “ch.” Make sure the back part of the tongue is up and the front is down! Now try to growl or say the word “chair,” with extra voice on the /r/. |
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Llay, leak, light, low, loom, lap, let, lit, law, love, bale, eel, mile, bowl, tool-pal, fell, Phil, tall, able, play-blue, clay-glue, sleep-fly, fatal, cradle, bolt, wheels
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Bring the tip of your tongue up behind your upper teeth, or even touching your teeth. Now add an "AAH" sound from your throat.
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Ssay, see, side, so, Sue, sad, sell, sick, sock, sub, ace, peace, ice, gross, moose, pass, mess, miss, boss, us, aced-last, beast-pest, iced-fist, almost-lost, boost-bust, spade, sway, scale, smack, snail, sleigh, stay, awaits, eats, fights, oats, boots, bats, bets, hits, pots, guts, cakes-axe, beaks-flex, bikes-fix, jokes-fox, dukes-ducks
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Produce a /t/ sound, and then stretch the sound out slower and slower, until you can keep the air flowing. This sound is very "high" pitched.
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Zzany-zebra-Zion, zone-zoo, Zack-zed, zip-zonk-Zucker, ablaze, bees, eyes, chose, crews, has-says-fizz, laws, buzz, lobes, ohms, Anne's, whales, bags, saves, maids, beads, hides, codes, foods, adds-bids, beds, clods-buds, dazed-sneezed, sized-closed, fused
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Same as /s/, but also add an "AAH" sound from your throat.
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CHchain, cheese, China, champ, check, chicken, chalk, beach-coach, pooch-batch, fetch-ditch, watch-touch, switched, matches
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Similar to /s/, but the sound is not as "high" pitched, and often your lips are more "square." It helps some people to bring the tip of the tongue back a little, inside the mouth.
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JJay, gene-giant, joke-juice, jab, gel, gym, job, jug, age, *squeegee, fridge, lodge-budge, wedged, villages
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Same as /ch/, but also add an "AAH" sound from your throat.
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SHshade, she, shy, show, shoe, shack, shed, ship, shop, shunt, patient, Amish, wash-gush, washed, rushes
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Same as /ch/ but you will stretch the sound out slower and slower, until you can keep the air flowing.
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ZH / NG*Asia, *garage, *Persian, bang, bring, long, lung
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ZH is the same as /sh/, but add an "AAH" sound from your throat.
NG is the same as /m/, but you cut of the air flow with the back part of your tongue, at the back of your mouth, instead of the lips like /m/. |
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TH
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To produce voiceless TH, put your tongue between upper and lower teeth, and blow air. For "voiced" TH just add voice or vibration from your throat...
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Vowelsable, each, ice, oak-oops, add, edge, if, otter, under, pay, bee, pie, go, moo, *bat-*bad, *chess-*fez, *hip-*fib, law, *some-*sun, boy, cow
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you produce the vowels by saying "AAAA" with your throat, and then changing the shape of your lips/cheeks, where your tongue is, and how "open" or big your mouth is...
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Tongue Twisters
...Quick List
1. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
2. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick? 3. Frivolously fanciful Fannie fried fresh fish furiously. 4. A loyal warrior will rarely worry why we rule. 5. Drew Dodd's dad's dog's dead. 6. She sells seashells by the seashore. https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/tongue-twisters-english/ |
1. Thirty-three thousand feathers on a thrushes throat.
2. A really leery Larry rolls readily to the road. 3. Send toast to ten tense stout saints' ten tall tents. 4. If you must cross a course cross cow across a crowded cow crossing, cross the cross coarse cow across the crowded cow crossing carefully. 5. Brisk brave brigadiers brandished broad bright blades, blunderbusses, and bludgeons — balancing them badly. https://www.mondly.com/blog/2019/08/23/71-best-tongue-twisters-to-perfect-your-english-pronunciation/ |
...SUPER LIST (3,705 twisters in 118 languages!!!)
...Bonus
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The German language does not use /th/.
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