Mastering The "TH" Consonant Digraph in English: Sound Notes
Mastering The "TH" Consonant Digraph in English: Sound Notes
Digraph in English
Sound Notes
To make either sound, place the very tip of your tongue lightly
between your teeth and blow air through. This naturally makes
the unvoiced /th/ sound. Add your voice, the vibration of your
vocal cords, to create the voiced /th/ sound. The /th/ sound is one
of the trickiest sounds to learn, especially the voiced version.
▪ Verbal Cues
Begin practicing a single sound by saying it slowly and clearly a
few times.This helps you understand what sound to focus on.
Practice the sound by itself until you are able to master it. There
are some great youtube channels that focus on the TH sound. Feel
free to listen to these native speakers saying the sound. Then,
gradually add vowels to form simple syllables: “the, the, the”, “tho,
tho, tho”, “thu, thu, thu”. Try changing the position of the sound
as well, such as in “eeth, eeth, eeth” or “ath, ath, ath”,to see where
in a word you will be most comfortable with the sound and where
they have more trouble using it. Sometimes recording yourself
during this exercise and listening to your efforts yields excellent
results!
▪ Visual Cues
The way we position our mouths to make the /th/ sound is
completely visible, which really helps people to understand what
is happening to produce the sound. Without making the sound,
place the tip of your tongue between your teeth. A mirror is great
for this activity, so you can check your reflection to make sure you
look like the native speaker example. The screen shot keyboard
shortcut is a great way to freeze helpful videos and try to match
your own face to the native speakers’.
▪ Tactile Cues
When the air is pushed through the mouth to make the /th/
sound, a little puff of air results right in front of the lips. In
addition to checking the mirror for the accuracy of your mouth
position, also put your hand slightly in front of your lips to feel
this small blast of air to make sure you are doing it right. To
transition from the unvoiced /th/ sound to the voiced/th/ sound,
feel your throat as you make the voiced /th/ sound. Feeling the
vibration of the vocal cords is a distinct tactile marker for us to
know if you are correctly producing the voiced sound, and to tell
the voiced from the unvoiced. Have a loved one feel your throat
during this exercise to see if they can feel the vibration.