How to Pronounce the Letter "L"

In pronouncing the letter "l" sound, you should review the sound of the letter "d". The letter "l" sound is a continuous and voiced sound. So, you should feel your throat vibrating when making the letter "l" sound.

To make the letter "l" sound, you should have your lips and teeth apart and feel the tip of your tongue pushing against the area where your upper teeth and the roof of your mouth meet, just like the letter "d" or "t" sound. But, unlike the letter "d" and "t" sounds, you should only feel the tip of your tongue pushing against this intersection of your teeth and roof of the mouth. This will allow air and vibrations to come out of your mouth through the sides of your tongue. Now, vibrate your throat area or larynx to make the "l" sound.

Things to remember:

1) You should feel your teeth and lips apart and the tip of your tongue pushing against the area where your upper teeth and the roof of your mouth meet. This is very important. Without this pushing movement, the "l" sound will not sound correct.

2) Only the tip of your tongue should be pushing, so that the air and vibrations can come through the sides of your tongue and out of your mouth.

3) The "l" sound is a voiced sound, so you should vibrate your larynx or throat area to make the "l" sound.

Here are words you can practice with.

like	level	loss	location	landscape	Latin
look	low	lay	learning	long	label
life	love	lawyer	lady	length	lawsuit
last	local	little	lean	league	lost
leave	little	leg	lots	lack	literary
let	late	laugh	literature	limited	latter
live	leader	legal	leaf	liberal	likely
large	light	like	lead	legislation	lifetime
lot	less	labor	lip	land	lover
long	land	lot	lunch	lower	lie
little	love	lack	limit	live	loose
line	look	light	last	living	license
lose	listen	leadership	largely	list	load
law	less	lesson	locate	lab	leather
later	likely	living	loan	lucky	lawn
least	letter	lift	link	library	limitation
learn	language	limit	launch	layer	lifestyle
lead	lie	luck	long-term	later	loud
leading	list	light	late	link	laboratory
lock	left	literally	line	lake	lemon

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

How to Pronounce the "Ng" Sound (Part 1)

In this first part of discussing the pronunciation of "ng", I will be concentrating at how to pronounce the "ng" sound when "ng" is at the end of a word. When the "ng" is at the end of the word, it is a nasal sound just like the letters "m" and "n".

As a nasal sound, the way to make the "ng" sound is very close to the way you make the "g" sound.  So that you direct the vibrations from your throat to your nose, you need to close the opening from your throat with the back of your tongue. With the back of your tongue closing the opening from your throat, you vibrate your throat area or larynx. These vibrations are then sent to your nose because the air and vibrations can't leave through your mouth.

When the "ng" is at the end of a word, then it is a complete nasal sound. But, when the "ng" is in the word itself, then it will sound differently. This sound will be explained in a future post.

Things to remember:

1) Have your lips and teeth apart.

2) When the "ng" is at the end of the word, it is a pure nasal sound, so the sound is made through your nose.

3) You should feel the back of your tongue covering the opening from your throat to trap the vibrations and air.

4) The "ng" sound is a voiced sound, so you should vibrate your throat area or larynx to make the "ng" sound.

Here are words you can practice with.

thing	feeling	teaching	wedding	shopping
something	song	belong	leading	hunting
during	hang	being	saving	surprising
bring	spring	ring	marketing	working
young	evening	thinking	amazing	shooting
long	sing	hearing	parking	exciting
among	painting	setting	spending	dining
nothing	interesting	rating	king	depending
anything	along	long	increasing	ongoing
morning	beginning	wing	ring	standing
everything	willing	opening	engineering	bombing
including	understanding	fishing	swing	manufacturing
along	living	living	testing	operating
strong	growing	warning	drawing	lung
according	learning	funding	gang	running
building	following	housing	developing	fighting
wrong	finding	existing	ceiling	cooking
meeting	writing	regarding	advertising	swing
training	reading	remaining	clothing	killing
changing	meaning	planning	string	recording

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

How to Pronounce the Letter "N"

The letter "n" sound is a nasal sound and very much like the letter "d" sound. You should feel your tongue pushing against the area where your upper teeth and the roof of your mouth intersect. This will create a seal and prevent the air and vibrations from escaping through your mouth. This formation of the tongue against your upper teeth and roof of the mouth is just like the formations for the letter "d".

Just like the letter "d" sound, the letter "n" sound is a voiced sound. This means that you use your throat area or larynx in making the sound. You should feel your throat area vibrating when making the letter "n" sound. Since your tongue is blocking the air and vibrations from escaping your mouth, the air and vibration is sent to your nose and this is how you make the nasal sound of the letter "n".

Things to remember:

1) Have your teeth and lips apart.

2) Feel your tongue pushing against the area where your upper teeth and the roof of your mouth meet. This will prevent the air from escaping your mouth.

3) To make the letter "n" sound, vibrate your larynx or throat area because this is a voiced sound.

4) Direct or send the vibrations and air to your nose, because your tongue is blocking your mouth.

Here are some words you can practice with.

not	near	negative	normally	needle
now	natural	next	newly	noon
new	name	neck	naturally	nonprofit
no	note	northern	net	necessity
need	network	nod	not	nominee
never	nice	novel	neither	northeast
number	nationwide	notion	nowhere	nest
night	necessary	nose	nerve	near
next	notice	neither	narrative	neutral
national	nor	nurse	naked	notebook
name	newspaper	now	nut	nasty
nothing	none	necessarily	nomination	neat
nation	naval	narrow	nonetheless	neighboring
need	neighborhood	noise	norm
news	nobody	negotiation	northwest
north	nine	numerous	net
nearly	nuclear	nervous	nail
nature	normal	nearby	nightmare
nutrient	native	negotiate	notice
note	neighbor	nevertheless	nearby

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

How to Pronounce the Letter "M"

The letter "m" is one of the nasal sounds. This means that the sound is created by using the nose and not the mouth. The previous letters discussed used the mouth to create the sound, but the letter "m" is a nasal or nose sound.

Making the letter "m" sound is just like making the letter "b" sound, but because the letter "m" sound is a nasal sound, you will use your nose to make the sound. So, just like the letter "b" sound, you will have to keep your lips together when making the letter "m" sound. With your lips together, you make the letter "m" sound by vibrating your throat area. This makes the letter "m" sound a voiced sound, just like the letter "b" sound. But, unlike the letter "b" sound, the letter "m" sound is not an explosive sound, but a continuous vibration of the throat area with the sound directed or sent to the nose. 

Things to remember:

1) The letter "m" is a nasal sound, or the sound is created by sending the sound to the nose.

2) Keep your lips together when making the letter "m" sound.

3) The letter "m' is a voiced sound, so you should feel your throat area vibrating. Because of your throat area vibrating, you will also feel your lips vibrating.

4) The letter "m" sound should be sent or directed to your nose. This will allow the vibration and air to exit your nose.

Here are words you can practice with.

my	member	meeting	mission	minority
make	meet	message	mountain	mark
me	much	manager	middle	male
more	minute	main	Ms	meal
man	morning	memory	mostly	muscle
many	moment	management	marry	museum
may	maybe	maintain	measure	matter
most	music	measure	murder	mix
much	market	manage	move	meat
mean	major	mention	mistake	manner
might	mind	middle	mean	motion
most	military	method	moral	meanwhile
move	model	magazine	medicine	mirror
Mr	matter	marriage	male	master
million	movie	machine	map	mean
must	material	Mrs	metal	minister
mother	medical	modern	mental	multiple
money	myself	mouth	meaning	match
month	movement	majority	mom	merely
massive	media	milk	married	mass

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.