Improve Your English Pronunciation: How the Human Voice Works

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My name is Emma, and in today's video I am going to help you with your pronunciation.

So, in this video, I am going to teach you the first step to learning how to pronounce

different English sounds.

We have many different sounds of English, and by knowing about the different body parts

we use when we pronounce these sounds, it can really improve your pronunciation.

So, let's get started.

The first thing I want to do is I want to teach you some of the different body parts

we use when we pronounce English sounds.

So, I have here a face.

I hope it's not a scary face.

I'm not the best artist, as some of you might know, but this is my art.

And so, in this face, we have the eyes, the nose, the lips, the teeth, and the tongue.

So, let's look at each of these parts that we actually use when we pronounce different

I know it looks kind of like a silly nose, but this is a nose.

So, this is this part of your body.

A lot of people are surprised to find out we actually use our nose when we pronounce

some sounds in English.

We use our nose when we pronounce the "m" sound, so: "ma".

And you can actually feel your nose vibrate.

"Ma".

The "n" sound, so like "no" you actually use your nose.

And the "ing" sound, so anytime you hear, like "ing" words, like: "swimming", you use

your nose as well.

The other parts of the body we use for different sounds is we often use our lips.

So for our top lip is the top part, so this is the top lip.

It's the lip that's more up.

So, the upper lip is also the top lip; here it is.

And we also have the bottom lip, which is at the bottom of your face.

So top lip and bottom lip.

So, you can also call the bottom lip your lower lip.

It's another word that means the same thing.

So, for your lower lip, we often use your lower lip when we're pronouncing sounds like

the "f" sound, so for example: "fan", you'll notice my teeth touch my lower lip.

"Fan".

And the "v" sound, so for example: "van".

So, it's important to know what parts of your body you're using, and a mirror can really

help with this.

We also use our teeth.

So, these are our teeth.

We use our teeth when we pronounce things.

So, for example, the "th" sound in English is a sound many people have trouble with,

and so if you say: "Thank you", you'll notice my tongue touches my teeth.

"Thank you", so I'm using my teeth to pronounce the sound.

Sometimes we use both our lips when we pronounce sounds, so for example, we will use our top

lip and our lower lip together.

So, when we make a "b" sound, we use our lips.

"Ba".

Or when we use a "p" sound: "pa".

When we use the "sh" sound, like in "shoe", you notice my lips are circled.

"Shoe", we're using both lips.

The "ch" sound, like: "choose".

And the "w" sound, like: "wonderful".

So, sometimes when we're using our top and lower lip, our lips might be in a circle.

So, for example, with the "o" sound.

So: "whoa", you notice my lips are in a circle, like this.

Other times when we use our lips, our lips might retract or they might spread out, so

for example, like this.

You might get: "e".

Notice my lips?

They're pulled apart.

"E".

So, a lot of your face is used when pronouncing sounds.

Now we're going to learn about what types of body parts we have inside our mouth that

also help us to make different sounds.

Okay, so I've made another very scary picture for you.

I hope you like my art; it's an Emma original.

So, this, can you guess what this is?

If you said it's the eye, the nose, the lips, the teeth, and the tongue - you're right.

This is the inside of somebody's face-okay?-from the side.

So, if you're looking in a mirror and you're looking at the side, and you could see through

your skin, you might see something like this.

Probably not like this, because this is a bad drawing, but you get the point.

So, what are some of the parts of our body we use when we're thinking about the inside

of our mouth when we pronounce English sounds?

Well, first of all, this is your nose.

So I told you before, when you make the "m" sound like: "ma", "na", the "n" sound, we

use...

Air comes up through the back of your...

The back of your mouth, and it goes up into your nose, into your nasal area, and so that's

where that sound comes from.

We won't spend too much time on that, because the point of this is to teach you some of

the different body parts we use.

We also use the tongue a lot when we're making sounds.

So it's important to know what your tongue is doing.

For some sounds, we use the front of the tongue; and for other sounds, we use the back of the

So, for other sounds, we use the middle of the tongue.

So it's good, when you're learning a new sound, think about: Where should your tongue be?

For example, if you're learning the "th" sound, your tongue...

We use the front of the tongue, so for example: "Thank you".

The front of my tongue moves forward.

If we're practicing our "k" sound or our "g" sound, so for example: "go", our tongue...

The back of our tongue is actually being used.

So, always know where your tongue should be when you're learning a new word and a new

The other area of our mouth that's very important when we're making a new sound is to know what

this part is called.

So, the top of your mouth is called the roof of your mouth.

So, if you think about a house, the top part of the house is called the roof.

It's the same inside your mouth; we call it the roof of the mouth, and this is how we

spell that word: "roof".

So, we often use our tongue to touch the roof of the mouth or to go towards the roof of

the mouth when we produce a sound.

Now, this area is very important, and it might be hard to see - this little bump.

But in your mouth, if you use your tongue and you feel your teeth, and then you go behind

your teeth, behind your teeth you will find a little bump.

That bump is called the alveolar ridge.

So, this is a science word.

If you ask a regular speaker of English, they're not going to know this word, but it's a good

word because it lets you know that there is this area and it has a name, and we use that

area a lot when we're pronouncing words.

So, we need to know this area because when we're pronouncing sounds, like the "ta" sound

or "t" sound, the "da" sound...

If you feel it: "da", you're actually touching your tongue against this bump, which is the

alveolar ridge.

We use it for our "r" sound and our "n" sound.

So, although a lot of people might not know this word, it's a good word when you're learning

about pronunciation.

So, I've talked about the roof, the alveolar ridge, the back of the tongue, and the front

The other part that we use when we're pronouncing sounds is actually in your neck.

So, I want you to feel your neck for a second.

If you're a man, you're going to feel a bump, and that bump is called the Adam's apple.

In women, it's harder to feel, but you also have an area, and we can call that your voice

So, this area we use a lot in English when we're making sounds.

For example, if you touch this area and you make a "z" sound, so: "zz", like a bee, and

you feel-"zzz"-you'll feel a vibration there.

If you make a sound like an "s", like a "ss" sound and you feel-"sss"-there's no vibration.

So, this is really important, actually, when we're learning about English grammar because

this lets us know when we're using the past tense, for example, "ed", sometimes we pronounce

"ed" like a "t", a "da", or an "id", and part of that actually has to do with this area

So, it's very important to know what is happening in your voice box or your Adam's apple when

you're learning English pronunciation.

So, in this video, we're not teaching you specific sounds; instead, what I'm teaching

you is the vocabulary you need when you're learning pronunciation, because this will

help you when you're reading pronunciation books, when you're looking online for tips,

as well as just giving you something to think about when you're practicing pronunciation.

So, now we're going to do a small activity where I'm going to ask you to point to a part

of your body that I've covered in this video.

So, for example, if I say: "Nose", I want you to point to your nose; if I say: "Lower

lip", I want you to point to your lower lip.

So, let's get started.

Okay, so let's get started.

I want you to point to your teeth.

Point to your teeth.

So you should have pointed to your teeth.

Now I want you to point to your lower lip.

Point to your lower lip.

Should point to here.

Point to your top lip.

If you pointed up here, you're correct.

Point to your nose.

So that's maybe an easier one to do.

Okay, now we're going to get a little bit harder.

I want you to point to your voice box.

Point to your voice box.

So that's over here.

The area that moves when you speak.

And I should have said this before: Men can also use the term "voice box".

So, both men and women can call this their voice box; men can also call this area their

Next question for the men out there: Where is your Adam's apple?

Point to your Adam's apple.

It's right here, for men.

Okay, so now let's go inside the mouth, and you might want to use a stick; or if you've

washed your hands and they're clean, you can also use, you know, your finger, if you have

a glove on it maybe.

Point to the front of your tongue.

So, that is right here.

Point to the roof of your mouth.

So, point to the roof of your mouth.

So, if you pointed, and you take your finger or your stick, or even just pointing like

this and you put it at the top of the mouth, so just right there, that is the roof.

Okay, now the hardest one of all: Point to your alveolar ridge.

Point to your alveolar ridge.

So, remember I said that's just right behind your teeth, that bump, right here?

That is your alveolar ridge.

You can find it with your tongue.

So, if you make a "da" sound, like "dad", your tongue touches your alveolar ridge.

"Da".

All right, great, so you've learned a lot of new words about the different body parts

we use when we practice pronunciation and when we make different sounds in English.

So, I hope you've enjoyed this video, and I invite you to take our quiz at www.engvid.com;

there, you can find many other resources, as well as you can practice what you've learned

from this video today, especially the vocabulary.

I also invite you to subscribe to my channel; there, you can find a lot of different resources

on pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, writing, and many more topics.

So, until next time, thank you for watching and take care.