The Tip of the Iceberg
What is the difference between "J," "CH,'"? How about between "V," "F," and "B"?
Your tongue doesn’t do much when you are pronouncing English vowels, but it has a lot more to do when you start using consonants. Some consonants are so difficult that you really have to concentrate when you say them—and you need to make sure your lips and jaw are doing their parts.
For example, it’s easy to confuse the sound of the letter “J” with the sound of the letters, “CH.”
For both the “J” and the “CH” sounds, your tongue is on the roof of your mouth behind your front teeth and your teeth are together. If you hold a piece of paper in front of your mouth, it should move whenever you say “CH” (because you have to use a little breath to make it sound just right.) On the other hand, if you say “J” correctly, it will be a little softer than the “CH” because you don’t need more air to say it right.
“V” is a that sounds a lot like a “soft” “F.” When you say “V” or “F", your lips actually never touch each other. Instead, the tip of your tongue is against your lower front teeth, your upper front teeth are on top of your lower lip, and as you say “V”, your mouth opens to let the sound escape, and your tongue and lips get ready to say the next letters in the word. “F" is an unvoiced sound, so all you do when you make the sound is to release the air in your mouth.
"Bs" and "Ps" are simple to say, but difficult to become accustomed to saying. All you do to say a "B" is to put your lips together (cutting off the air flow), keep your teeth slightly apart and then release the lips while you make the voiced sound. You say the "P" the same way, but because it is an unvoiced letter, so all you do is release the lips while releasing the air to make the sound.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out more posts for more hints!
Resources with audio:
