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Learn About Our Individual Speech, Accent and Voice Sessions
Individual sessions will focus on ear training; you will learn to hear the difference between your pronunciation and that of Standard American English (neutral, mainstream, unaccented).

You will be instructed in the placement of your articulators - your lips, your teeth and your tongue - to facilitate easy production of your new sounds.

Through the use of carefully crafted drill sheets, you will practice the new sounds in words and sentences. You will be provided with immediate feedback and correction, so that you can gain confidence and consistency in producing your new sound.

Learn more about methods used to alter speech.

Accent Reduction Tips for Non-Native Speakers: How Do You Pronounce The /th/ Sound?

One of the most frequently occurring sounds in the English language is the /th/ sound.  The /th/ sound occurs in Standard American English, in certain forms of Spanish and in specific Greek dialects, but no other languages use the /th/ sound.  Therefore, when most non-native speakers attempt to produce the English /th/, they often substitute a sound that is familiar to them in their native language.

 

The Voiceless and The Voiced /th/

There are two /th/ sounds – the voiceless /th/ and the voiced /th/.  It’s important to understand the difference between the production of the voiceless and the voiced /th/ sound.  When you make a /th/ sound, your tongue tip is resting against the lower portion of the back of your upper teeth and the tongue tip protrudes slightly between your teeth.  When you produce the voiceless /th/, you are simultaneously blowing out a stream of air but you do not feel a vibration of your vocal cords.  Conversely, when you produce the voiced /th/, you do not produce a strong stream of air and you do feel a vibration of your vocal cords.  You can feel this vibration by placing your fingertips on the front of your throat.  In some cultures, it is embarrassing or rude to protrude your tongue while speaking, but in Standard American English, this is a perfectly acceptable occurrence.

Typical Errors Made By Non-Native Speakers

What are the typical errors that non-native speakers make when producing the /th/ sound?  Most non-native speakers will stay within the appropriate sound category so they will substitute the voiceless /t/ or /s/ for the voiceless /th/, and they will substitute the voiced /d/ and/z/ for the voiced /th/.  This can lead to the following erors and confusion in articulation:

  • Mouse for mouth
  • Tree for three
  • sink for think
  • Bat for bath
  • Dare for there
  • Ladder for lather
  • Bat room for bathroom

 

TH is The Most Consistent Sound in English

For the most part, /th/ is one of the most consistent sounds in English.  When you see a /th/, you pronounce a /th/.  However, since English is not a phonetic language, there are exceptions to this rule.  So words such as “Thailand”, “Thomas”, and “Thames”, are pronounced by using a /t/ instead of the /th/ in the initial position of these words.  Also, there are times when the /th/ is really a cluster of two consonants and is not pronounced as a /th/.  This occurs in the following words: lighthouse, anthill, knighthood, and lightheaded.

Work With a Speech Pathologist/Dialect Coach to Improve /th/

Working with a Speech Pathologist/Dialect Coach can help make production of this sound clearer and easier for you.  Consistently producing an accurate /th/ sound, particularly in the frequently used words “the, their, them, that, those, these, and this” will make you sound much more articulate and will decrease listener confusion.  When I begin working with my clients, we always start by correcting the /th/ as changing this one phoneme, makes a tremendous difference in the way that you sound.  Begin your journey to accent reduction and improved speech by producing a reliable and consistent /th/.

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2 comments to Accent Reduction Tips for Non-Native Speakers: How Do You Pronounce The /th/ Sound?

  • Thanks for the great tips for reducing an accent. We have a foreign exchange student living with us, and he wants to improve his English. I’ll have to tell him that working with a speech coach is a good idea.

    • susan

      Thanks for your comments, Ridley. Working with a speech coach can make a big difference. Your ear needs to be trained to hear the difference between the way in which you are speaking and Standard English. Having someone to provide immediate feedback, modeling, and correction can be a really big help.

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