Pronouncing TH Lesson

• Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 1

Good afternoon

Welcome

Today's Lesson

- Pronunciation (saying 'th')

Pronunciation

Why do other languages find English pronunciation difficult?

Mouth movements & positions.

American vs British vs other accents

• Dutch doesn't have the 'ð' or 'θ' sounds so they might pronounce it as a 't' or a 'd'.
• German doesn't have this sound either but is more likely to pronounce it as a 'z'.
• Japanese doesn't have an 'l' sound so they might pronounce the 'l' as an 'r'.
• Russian tends to use a hard r and a 'w' instead of a 'v' or 'f' sound.

Saying 'th'

Voiced  (ð)

Structure words starting with 'th' (this, those, there)

'th' between two vowels (mother, weather)

'th' followed by a silent 'e' (bathe, breathe)

Saying 'th'

Voiceless (θ)

Words starting with 'th' (thistle, thorn, thought)

'th' at the end of a word or before a consonant (myth, truthful, throw)

These

1. voiced
2. voiceless

Thunder

1. voiced
2. voiceless

Toothbrush

1. voiced
2. voiceless

Something

1. voiced
2. voiceless

Themselves

1. voiced
2. voiceless

Oath

1. voiced
2. voiceless

Name a word with a voiced 'th' sound (ð)

Minimal Pairs

Write down what word English people would get confused if a Dutch person said 'd' instead of 'th' for the following words:

1. There. 2. They. 3. Math. 4. Thumb. 

5. Those. 6. Breathe. 7. Though. 8. Bath.

Key

1. Dare
2. Day
3. Mad
4. Dumb
5. Doze
6. Breed
7. Dough
8. Bad

Speaking Activity

Everyone will get to see a tongue twister containing 'th' sounds.

Try to attempt to say it 5 times and test your own pronunciation.

The tongue twister:

"He threw three free throws."

Word Chain

End of Lesson

- Have a nice day!