【音频讲解】

Hi! I want to talk about some common problems I noticed in listening to your recordings. I will discuss three pronunciation problems for you to practice. They are:

• The "w" sound in the phrase "How are you"
• The "th" sound in the word "this"
• Long vowel sounds

The "w" sound in the word "how" needs to be strong and clear. "w"…"How"…"w"…"How"…To practice, try saying the word very slowly and emphasizing the "w" sound: "How are you". It might also be helpful to imagine you're putting an entire apple into your mouth. You need a lot of space to pronounce the "ow" sound, and then the mouth comes to a close.

The "th" sound in "this" is different from the "th" sound in the words "thanks" and "thick". To make the "th" sound in "this", you need to stick your tongue out between your top and bottom rows of teeth and force air through to make a vibration. If you say the word "this" correctly, you should feel vibrations on your tongue.

Finally, long vowel sounds occur in words like "need", "great", "tired" and "looking". A long vowel sound needs to be longer and extended so that the sound is emphasized. Practice exaggerating long vowel sounds to get more comfortable with extending the sound.

Well that's all for this lesson, and remember to use these suggestions in future exercises. Nice work.