The 3 Most Difficult Sounds To Pronounce In English

hey there’s something that students tell

me all the time in the comment section

via emails and even in person

teacher Tiffany we can understand you so

much but how can we can’t understand

other native English speakers you know

and I realized that students like you

are interested in pronunciation so I

said let me teach a lesson on

pronunciation so today I’m gonna teach

you the three most difficult sounds to

pronounce in the English language but

before I start I need you to do

something for me you see my mission my

goal is to help 1 billion students

around the world speak English with

confidence and you can help me

accomplish this goal all you have to do

is like share subscribe that’s right

like the video share the video and also

subscribe to this channel so once again

like share subscribe come on I said like

share subscribe last time I said like

share subscribe I’m teacher Tiffany

let’s jump right in

[Music]

all right so the three most difficult

sounds to make in English they are the S

sound the W sound and the th sound now I

have taught thousands and thousands of

students over my time as a teacher and

these three sounds have been the most

difficult sounds for so many of my

students to make but today I’m gonna

give you the keys you need to make them

properly and sound like a native English

speaker so let’s get started with the

first sound the first sound is the F

sound how to master the F sound now the

F sound let’s describe it the F sound is

a very common sound in the English

language it is made by placing the front

teeth on the bottom lip so let’s

practice real quick alright so the F

sound again front teeth I brushed my

teeth really good this morning

all right front teeth on your bottom lip

so after me F you got it come on let’s

do it again F great job now last time

here we go F excellent you did it very

well

now that’s how to make the sound now

this sound why is it so hard you see the

F sound causes English learners a lot of

stress this is because the F sound

requires speakers to control their

bottom lip and top teeth at the same

time so again I showed you how to make

the sound but think about it the S sound

requires you to pull your front teeth

out and pull your bottom lip back so F

now when you’re doing it right now it

probably seems a little bit easy right

but when you start combining this F

sound with other letters and other

sounds it starts to get a bit tricky a

bit tricky so I want us to look at it

visually alright alright so what we’re

gonna do is we’re gonna look at a visual

explanation we’re gonna see a drawing

that shows how to properly make this

sound so we’re gonna go to our drawing

right now now

for those of you that are in my Academy

you’ve seen me put on this glove

whenever I draw on my iPad so we’re

gonna go to the iPad and we’re gonna

check out how to make this sound so

again the sound again is the F sound

front teeth on the bottom lip so if

we’re looking at the iPad let’s say we

have our mouth right here alright got

some red lipstick on now

when we bring the teeth down right kind

of big teeth right here bring the teeth

down we have the bottom lip right here

so what’s happening is I’m gonna change

the color real quick what’s happening is

this portion right here this section

becomes very very important why because

you are actually on top of your bottom

lip okay

on top of your bottom lip that is the

main thing you need to remember on top

of your bottom lip I think you guys may

not be able to see the bottom part of

the word lip but the bottom part of your

lip that’s the important thing your top

teeth and your bottom lip must connect

if you say hive my teeth and my bottom

lip never connected so again the

important thing is top teeth bottom lip

connecting F alright so I want us to

look at some example words and I want us

to practice and see if we can actually

make these sounds following the steps

that I showed you so let’s go back to my

screen here we go

alright so we’re gonna practice remember

touching your top teeth to your bottom

lip alright here we go

left front fix forever five first found

four alright now we’re gonna do it as

you’re watching me so do it with me so

after me here we go left

good job front excellent fix there you

go

front teeth bottom lip forever good five

excellent first good found good rumor

that ound so found excellent last one

four very good so again the first

difficult sound in English is the F

sound front teeth on your bottom lip now

let’s continue and look at the second

sound now the second sound is the W

sound now this sound right here is very

tricky let me describe it so the W sound

is a bit of a tricky sound in the

English language it is made by bringing

all sides of the mouth in and then

moving the lips up and down so let me

show you alright so again it’s made by

bringing all sides of the mouth in then

moving the lips up and down so watch

this w right wah wah so all of my every

side of my mouth is in and then I’m

moving my lips up and down wah wah water

Oh wish want you see what happened right

now why is this sound so difficult for

English learners well here’s the reason

you see the W sound almost seems

impossible to make for some English

learners this is because the W sound

requires speakers to contract almost 90%

of their lower facial muscles while at

the same time controlling the movement

of the other 10%

so again contract right bringing in

right bringing in right so 90% of your

facial muscles right on the bottom part

you have to contract right and bringing

them in controlling them then I’m saying

while you’re controlling them I want you

to move 10% of the other part that’s why

it’s so tricky alright so I want us to

look at this kind of in a more

descriptive way we’re gonna go to our

drawing okay so we’re gonna go back to

my glove alright and I’m gonna show you

on the iPad alright now here we go I’m

gonna put my glove back on and I want to

show you some

sis where we’re gonna play some emphasis

on our facial muscles but I need to

erase this first thank you so much for

the first drawing we appreciated that

about the F sound now we’re gonna go to

this one let’s use black this time all

right so nope I want to stick with red

actually okay so we’re looking at the W

now let’s give a little bit more for

this space so we have the lips right

here again we got some red lipstick

right and we’re bringing the lips down a

little bit and the mouth is a little bit

open right let’s give you let’s give the

nose all right let’s give the nose right

here all right got a nose right here now

here’s the thing we’re talking about the

facial muscles being pulled in so let me

change the color to blue all right so

what’s happening so right here the

muscles are going in right this right

here so we’re pulling everything in

pulling in pulling in pulling in again

you see both sides right even the top

drops down and drops in now that’s the

focus for the sides but something

happens now look at this right here this

right here goes in right but then we

tell our mouth we say okay now what I

want you to do is this top portion and

this bottom portion of the lips right I

want you to do this whoa so again you

see I’ve drawn everything in but now the

top and the bottom what what so that’s

what I need you to practice again it’s

difficult because you’re telling

yourself 90% of your facial muscles on

the bottom need to contract and pull in

and then the other 10% needs to move so

I want to tell you this this is

something funny that I told my students

when I taught in South Korea I said hey

guys the easiest way for you to remember

how to make the W sound is to think

about kissing what it’s through so even

for you think about if you’re married of

course your husband your wife boyfriend

a girlfriend - or even if you’re younger

your parents when you go to kiss someone

you don’t say

you draw your mouth in and you move your

lips

mwah mwah right okay so the same thing

goes or the same thing applies for the W

sound now I forgot to tell you guys this

story about the F sound so I’m gonna go

a little bit back with the F sound you

know I had a student and she was in my

class when I was in South Korea and she

was having a hard time with the F sound

I mean that sounds tricky

what she did was so I told her to

practice about two weeks later she came

back and she was making the F sound

perfectly to the point where I was blown

away

I was shocked so I pulled her to the

side and she was an older lady I said I

have a question for you I know that you

said you were gonna practice but how in

the world were you able to fix your

pronunciation so quickly

she said tip you know what I did when I

was at work I would sit at my desk while

I’m typing I would say she said

throughout the day what happened was she

was training her facial muscles she was

training her teeth and her mouth and her

bottom lip to actually get used to that

F F that formation of her mouth and that

amazed me so you can do the same thing

with the F sound I wanted to tell you

that story and I forgot

now with the W sound it’s it was just

funny whenever I taught my students

about kissing because now I do remember

this story so one day I was in class and

I was teaching them a word and I was

heating in some vocabulary and I

realized that none of them were

pronouncing the W sound properly so like

I say water right they were saying otter

I said what what did you guys say they

said otter I said ah okay otter is an

animal right but water right that’s the

liquid so I said okay guys everyone stop

and I had men and women in my class

everybody stop I want you all to think

about kissing teacher teaching everybody

got real shy some people turn red I said

don’t don’t worry relax I said show me

what you do when you kiss someone and

they were a little shy but then one

student said I said exactly you see how

your lips pop

like that and you squeeze them that’s

how you make the W sound and they left

but they started making the W sound

properly so again you could take the

same way again we have 90% look at our

drawing again 90% pulling in and

contracting and only the top and bottom

of the front of your lips moving up and

down Walter what you see it right okay

so now let’s get some practice in let’s

go back to my screen and we’re going to

get some practice in alright so think

about kissing and the motion you make to

kiss the person you love all right water

good we’re good

wish good what good weather good with

good white good and finally weight

excellent now what I want you to do is

repeat after me I’m gonna have you look

at me at the same time here we go water

yeah we’re good wish

excellent want excellent weather good

with good you caught that th don’t you

worry it’s coming up white excellent and

wait good job excellent job so now we

understand how to make the W sound

properly and the F sound properly now

this third sound in English we is a

little bit tricky it’s hard

so the third sound in English that is

really difficult for many students is

the th sound now the th sound let me

explain what this is so the th sound is

the hardest sound in the English

language it is made by placing your

tongue through your teeth now I say this

is the hardest sound to make in English

because out of the thousands of students

I’ve had I don’t remember too many of

them who made the th sound perfectly

from the very beginning almost all of my

students struggled with this sound so

the th sound is made by placing your

let me swallow and repair your tongue

through your teeth so again watch uh the

sir so you see that’s kind of OOP real

quick popping out going back in popping

out going back in uh you got it right so

that’s how you make the th sound but why

is this sound so difficult well the th

sound is incredibly difficult for the

majority of English learners this is

because the th sound requires speakers

to move their tongue quickly in and out

at the correct speed now let me show you

something the reason I said correct

speed because sometimes students as they

learn the th sound they’ll do this the

right kind of putting too much emphasis

or fair for it’s supposed to be real

quick

therefore the really kind of like

popping out and going right back in but

that motion first having to stick your

tongue through your teeth and do it

quickly it’s very difficult for many

students alright so now what we’re gonna

do right now is I want to show you

visually and I want to show you the

parts of your tongue the parts of your

mouth that you should focus on so we’re

going to jump to my screen and we’re

going to look at the iPad yo alright so

let me put on my glove and we’re gonna

get right to it so again the th sound as

we mention is made by doing what that’s

right putting your tongue through your

teeth so let’s draw that really quickly

alright really quickly I’m gonna change

this to red alright so again we’re

drawing let’s do a face this time so

let’s say right here is the mouth

hopefully you can see this alright there

you go now what we’re doing is we’re

gonna give this individual some teeth

right giving them some teeth now what

happens is the tongue let’s say this is

the tongue right got a big tongue now

the tongue has to come out all right has

to come through right there through the

teeth now let’s look at the emphasis

points all right so

let’s go here and let’s highlight some

important areas all right so this right

here the exit point right here is very

important but it’s also important to

look at the back because your muscles

the muscles you’re using right here

you’re using the back of your tongue

your tongue muscles to push your tongue

out but in the front area the very front

where your tongue comes through you must

put your tongue through your teeth your

tongue must come through your teeth that

is very very important now what happens

is you have to remember that this quick

motion so you’re not putting your you’re

not putting your whole tongue oh some of

you may be curious so on my tongue there

are lots of dots it’s kind of like a

birthmark

my dad has it and my sister I was sure

you’re gonna be curious about that so

yes it’s kind of a birthmark all right

so you’re going to have to put your

tongue through your mouth but you only

need to put let me see let me change the

color really quickly I’m gonna highlight

you only want the tip of your tongue

okay so the tip of your tongue let’s see

I can get this on the screen there we go

the tip of your tongue so not this but

this therefore though you see what

happened right all right so let’s

practice some words let’s go and

practice some words that use the th

sound okay so I’m gonna take you back to

my screen and we’re gonna look at these

words right now

okay so again as you’re studying

remember that the tongue must go through

your teeth and you need to practice this

throughout the day and quietly say word

so for example there next that next the

next they next this Thanks there for

thought

alright now let’s practice while you’re

looking at me here we go

they’re good that again out in the it’s

kind of like air is coming up got it

next they next this there you go thanks

good there for excellent thought

you got it excellent job now again you

can practice making the sound throughout

the day whether you’re at work or at

home whatever you’re doing now you don’t

have to be loud but you can just sit

there for that thought practicing and

giving your tongue the opportunity to

kind of get used to sticking out and

coming back in kind of like when you

were a kid we used to do that as kids

right alright so now I hope you guys

enjoyed this lesson remember I do have a

part two where you can download audio

files listen to personal stories and

also download the PDF for this lesson

that’s right

part two is always amazing and it’s

always available for students in my

Academy if you’re not a member of my

Academy yet go right here to this link

let’s jump right in calm right and you

can join us and you can join our family

and you can watch part two and have the

audio files that will help you as you

practice making these difficult sounds

now I really hope you guys enjoyed this

lesson I always enjoyed teaching you

guys English remember my goal is to help

1 billion students around the world

speak English with confidence and you

can help me by doing what you got it

liking this video sharing this video and

subscribing to this channel guys thank

you so much for joining I can’t wait to

talk to you next week but as always

remember to speak English

[Music]

you know what time it is it’s story time

hey I said it’s story time

all right guys today’s story time now

you know that I really enjoy telling you

stories hold on I have something to get

real quick hold on now

you can’t see it but I got to see it so

for today’s story time I want to tell

you a real quick story about my time in

Korea so when I first arrived in Korea

right you know I was getting adjusted

getting used to life in Korea you know I

didn’t know any of the language at that

time I only spoke English and I knew

some Korean letters but I could not

speak in English for all of my Korean

students and Yazzie oh all right but I

couldn’t speak Korean then so I wanted

to get some food one day and I was

hungry I said you know what I felt like

cooking I said I’m gonna cook a big meal

but I needed to go to Costco now I’m

sure some of you have heard of Costco

but Costco is a very popular chain here

in America they sell wholesale items so

you can buy things in bulk right so

instead of one can of beans you can buy

10 cans of beans in one package so I

said let me go to Costco and just buy

you know a lot of food so I can use the

food over a two or three month period so

I got the taxi got in the taxi right and

again I’m like I don’t speak Korean so

I’m just trying to you know say things

clearly so I got in the taxi and he said

uh-huh I said um yes

Costco he said I said Costco now again

he was using body language because I

couldn’t understand him then now of

course you said whatever

hey what I want which means what did you

say I said Costco he said huh so I

started to say Costco and I pointed to

the area he said ah cus to co I said

what now I did say what to him I wasn’t

going to be rude but you see what

happened right as an American we say

Costco right but in Korea they say

costaq oh and I was wondering wait a

minute

I said it correctly but he couldn’t

understand me because I didn’t say it

the way that he was used to so at that

moment I realized how important how

important pronunciation is so I taught

my students hey guys when you go to

America

please don’t say caustic oh because

people are not going to know what you’re

saying

just like the guy driving didn’t know

what I was saying so it was a very quick

story guys but just a reminder to try to

pay attention to your pronunciation

because it makes a big difference and I

don’t want you to get frustrated or

discouraged when someone doesn’t

understand you all right guys I will

talk to you next week again remember to

check out part two in the Academy I’ll

see you next time