| FIX PROBLEM | ENGLISH SOUND | - | COMMON ERROR | - | PRACTICE MATERIALS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Move front of tongue a little higher. | /e/ | "set" | /æ/ | "sat" | Minimal Pairs /e/ or /æ/ practice |
| Tongue low central. Lips relaxed. | /ʌ/ | "bud" | /ɜ:/ | "bird" | Minimal Pairs /ʌ/ or /ɜ:/ practice |
| Tongue more central. Lips relaxed. | /ʌ/ | "cup" | /æ/ | "cap" | Minimal Pairs /æ/ or /ʌ/ practice |
| Weak endings: e.g. "London" "England" | /ə/ | "the" (schwa) | Practise the neutral vowel /ə/ using spoken dialogues |
||
| Back of tongue high. Lips rounded but relaxed. Short. | /ʊ/ | "full" | /u:/ | "fool" | Minimal Pairs /ʊ/ or / u: / practice |
| Tongue low, back & fixed. Jaws together. | /ɔ:/ | "bought" | /əʊ/ | "boat" | |
| Mouth more open. Make sound longer. | /ɑ:/ | "cart" | /ʌ/ | "cut" | |
| Back of tongue high. Keep lips tightly rounded. | /u:/ | "tool" | /ʊə/ | "tour" | |
| Start with tongue low front. | /aɪ/ | "buy" | Minimal Pairs /eɪ/ or /aɪ / practice |
||
| Start with tongue low & back. | /ɔɪ/ | "boy" | |||
| Tongue central. Then tightly round lips. | /əʊ/ | "note" | /ɒ/ | "not" | Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ or /ɒ/ practice |
| Tongue central. Then tightly round lips. | /əʊ/ | "bone" | /ɔ:/ | "born" | |
| Tongue from centre front. Draw back to centre. | /eə/ | "bear" | /eɪ/ | "bay" | |
| Voiced. Vibration. Trap air with lips. | /b/ | "rib" | /p/ | "rip" | |
| Tip of tongue behind top teeth. | /d/ | "made" | /t/ | "mate" | Minimal Pairs /t/ or /d/ practice |
| Voiced. Friction with top teeth & bottom lip. | /v/ | "vet" | /w/ | "wet" | Minimal Pairs /w/ or /v/ practice |
| Voiceless. Friction. Tongue between teeth. | /θ/ | "thin" | Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /ð/ practice Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /t/ practice Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /d/ practice Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /s/ practice |
||
| Voiced. Friction. Tongue between teeth. | /ð/ | "clothe" | /θ/ | "cloth" | Minimal Pairs /θ/ or /ð/ practice |
| Voiced. Friction. Tongue between teeth. | /ð/ | "they" | /d/ | "day" | Minimal Pairs /ð/ or /d/ practice |
| Voiceless: tip of tongue behind top teeth. Friction. | /s/ | "rice" | /z/ | "rise" | Minimal Pairs /s/ or /z/ practice |
| Voiced: tip of tongue behind top teeth. Friction. | /z/ | "rise" | /s/ | "rice" | Minimal Pairs /s/ or /z/ practice |
| Unvoiced: Tip to alveolar. Front to palate. | /ʧ/ | "watch" | /ʃ/ | "wash" | |
| Quickly push air from throat out of mouth. | /h/ | "hot" | "ch" in "loch" | Minimal Pairs /h/ or silent "h" practice |
|
| British /r/ is weaker & sometimes silent. | /r/ | "sir" | "sirrrr" | ||
| Contact. Brief "schwa" after release. | /ɫ/ | "tall" (dark l) | |||
| Lips tightly together. Nasal. | /m/ | "home" | |||
| Tongue touches alveolar ridge. Nasal. | /n/ | "sun" | |||
| Back of tongue to back roof. Nasal. | /ŋk/ | "think" | /ŋ/ | "thing" | Minimal Pairs /ŋ/ or /ŋk/ practice |
| Voiced stop: back of tongue to back roof. | /ŋ/ | "thing" | /ŋk/ | "think" | Minimal Pairs /ŋ/ or /ŋk/ practice |
| Start with lips tightly rounded. Unround & glide. | /w/ | "west" | /v/ | "vest" | Minimal Pairs /w/ or /v/ practice |
Many thanks to Oliver Fortune for feedback used to amend this table.
EXTERNAL LINK: Non-native pronunciations of English: Turkish L1
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