Samples Training Tips

Here is a sample of some tips that appear in Guide 7 in Perfect Pronunciation to Trouble Shoot a typical pronunciation problem with the ‘sh’ sound. In this case, when the speaker says the word "sheep" it sounds like "ship". These tips aim to correct this error. © All rights reserved

(7.4) Poor high front vowels after /S/ as in ‘sheep’ and ‘ship’

To make a good /S-Z/ you need to round your lips FORWARD freely and groove your tongue into a deep gutter. The problem is that the high front vowels /i/ (sheep) and /I/ (ship) call for a SIDEWAYS lip movement and a flat, high tongue near the front of your mouth. Native speakers manage to get a fine balance between the requirements of /S-Z/ and /i-I/, thereby ending up with a good compromise between their conflicting needs. But, if your high front vowels sound wrong after /S-Z/ it means you are focusing too much on the FORWARD, grooved /S-Z/ posture and not enough on the SIDEWAYS /i-I/ vowel posture.

TRY

Use a mirror to watch your lips. Spread your lips a little, that is, just enough to feel a definite SIDEWAYS movement. Now, holding this position, produce a /S/ sound several times on its own. It will sound whispered as you are not adding any vowel on the end just yet.

sh sh sh sh sh

Notice how your spread lips seem to force you to make a much shallower gutter with your tongue than is usual. This is as it should be. Try and maintain the necessary rushing sound even though it may sound a little ‘thinner’ and higher in pitch.

Next, relax your lip spread slightly and try again. Listen to how the rushing friction sound changes to a deeper quality. Now spread your lips out slightly once again and make a /S/, trying not to lose the distinct /S/ quality. The friction must not sound like a fuzzy hiss as in an /s/ (sun) sound.

Now practise adding one of the two high front vowels after the /S/ sound (the /Z/ sound does not occur in these sound combinations except in the odd word such as regime). Begin with the slightly lower vowel /I/ as this should be a little easier than /i/. In every case, set up your lip posture into a mildly spread position before you start to say the word. Once you start, focus on getting the vowel quality right and not the /S/. But don’t be afraid to experiment to get the right balance.

Once you have mastered these sound combinations using this approach, all you need do is think of the ‘ee’ vowel quality as you go into a word within spontaneous speech.

There are two further techniques you can try. Use the one that works best for you.

Hitch-a-ride

This uses real words to help you set your mouth up in the right position (explained further in the book). You borrow the /i/ sound from its ‘difficult’ position after /S/ and sneak it into the ‘easy’ initial word position. This technique works by fooling your brain into doing something it thinks is easy. It is therefore important to think the /S/ is at the end of the first word and that /i/ or /I/ is at the beginning of the next one. In practice, you must say the entire utterance in one continuous flow of sound. Do not hesitate or break up the words in any way.

TRY

Learn to say the words correctly using the Step One column. Once you have mastered this, say the same utterances in the same manner reading from the Step Two column. Check you don’t ‘lose’ your good pronunciation of /i/ or /I/ when you move to using the Step Two version of the words. Think /i/ or /I/ before you start the word.

Step One Step Two

/i/ leesh-eep leash sheep

keesh-eet quiche sheet

/I/ dish-ip dish ship

wish-ingle wish shingle

parrish-immer parrish shimmer

We wash sheets on Mondays.

Don’t push sheep through the gate.

I wish she would come home.

Larger-than-life

You may be so busy concentrating on the gutter tongue and forward lips needed for /S/ and /Z/, you are not prepared for the change in tongue and lip direction that the vowel that follows requires. The larger-than-life approach gets you to focus on the /i/ (or /I/) in a word and to forget all the other sounds. You must feel as though the /i/ or /I/ is in the foreground of your thoughts and the rest of the word is in the background. You are aware the other bits are there but you leave them to take care of themselves. (This technique is explained further in the book).

TRY
Say the /i/ sound loudly on its own followed straight away by the whole word. Make both ‘ i ’ sounds equally loud. Make all other sounds in the word soft. Listen only to the ‘ i ’ sounds and try to make both attempts sound exactly the same.

i                   S i t          (sheet)
i                   S i n          (sheen)
i                   S i p I S     (sheepish)

Finally, say the same words again using equal loudness for all the sounds. Don’t forget to hold onto the slightly SIDEWAYS feel to your lips as you go into each word.

Sample from Guide 7

(7.4) Poor high front vowels after /S/ as in ‘sheep’ and ‘ship’

Hitch-a-ride

Larger-than-life