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