Thanks for watching!

Yes, correct - I think the airflow is stopped further back in the mouth because if I were to stop it in the "d" tongue position, it would be harder to be ready for the "th." I am always hesitant to label it a glottal stop because I think if we truly stop the air at the glottis, it sounds different

@@SpeechModification May I ask you something? If you have deep voice genuinely is it also possible to mistake those sounds? I have been immigrant in the United States for so long and most of the "th" are not silent, due to the deep voice I mentioned. Should I lower my voice, or should I keep the flow of breath contained between my top teeth? Also is it possible natives also commit those mistakes with the "th" sound?

@Devil Raise Hi, are you saying that you tend to use the voiced TH rather than the voiceless TH? If so, it's a matter of turning your vocal fold vibration off in time for the TH sound. You can learn more about that here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mbqZZMtespvQk4U.html and here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nbaGp7afvKrIlnU.html For most German speakers, the voiced and voiceless sounds are challenging because the rules of when to voice and not are different in German and English. With my German-speaking clients, I focus on learning to turn the voice on at the start of words (and sometimes the ends), as well as being able to turn it off sooner or in the middle of words as needed.

@@SpeechModification The problems is I'm not German-speaking. I'm eastern European speaker! And most such speakers have this strong "r" sounding usually when I speak the content of the sentence helps a lot but I find certain words difficult like; wreath, writhe, thwart or any other similar. Can you give me advice with those "r" powered soundings?

@@CthRage8946 sorry, there was another commenter with a similar name who was German, my mistake. I agree, words with R and Th can be challenging - here are a few videos which you might find helpful: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/n9pibLCIz7GWpnk.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pdR6m6-ikrGwnnk.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jeCjhLqent3WcXk.html

Yes, I often find myself answering the same questions, but it's because the words are challenging!

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks for your support!

Glad to help!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for your suggestions, I will cover them in Sunday's Member class: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/q5N8q9Klt6iwc2w.html

Thank you!

Thanks for watching!

Thank you!

Thanks for watching!

You're welcome, thank you for your support!

Thanks for watching!

Hi, as far as I know, there's not a pattern for wɪθ vs. wɪð - it's probably something that varies by region or even just by person. I think many people use the voiced th in words like "within" and when linking to a vowel (as in "with a, with any," etc.). For whatever reason I almost always use voiceless th, but I suggest you do whichever comes mostly easily to you. Most important is to avoid it sounding stopped like a /t/ or /d/.

@@SpeechModification All right! Thank you very much.

@@SpeechModification I have another question. When we talk about the pronunciation of the word "breathe" => /briːð. For me as a native German speaker it sometimes sounds that the word is pronounced like "breed" You can check that here. (Choose US) dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/breathe (The UK version of the word sounds different) But if I go on www.dict.cc/?s=breathe there the first example "to breathe" (choose AM = American) sounds others like the UK version before. Do we have here the same case like with the word "with" that it depends on the region where people live and how they pronounce the word "breathe"? Which version is more common in American English? dictionary.cambridge.org/de/worterbuch/englisch/breathe => (US) www.dict.cc/?s=breathe (choose AM = American) Best regards from Germany

Hi, in this case, I hear the /ð/ in the Cambridge recording as well, it's just a little weird sounding, like while the voicing is there, the air is a little bit stopped, and then he finishes with a /θ/. What typically happens with voiced consonants at the end of a word is that the vowel sound is held longer (so the vowel in "breathe" is slightly longer in duration than the vowel in "breath"), and then the consonant is very light and short. So "breath" has a strong /θ/ and breathe has a weak /ð/, which sounds a little like a very weak /θ/. But in connected speech, for example "breath in," the voicing is clear because we link to the vowel. So it sounds like /briðɪn/, no break in the voice. Same as in "breathing." I think you hear the /ð/ as a /d/ because your brain recognizes the voicing but not the continuance in that recording. Also it's just a somewhat weird sounding recording. So, to sum up, "breathe" should always have /ð/, not /d/. With the exception being some dialects of American English where /d/ is used (some New York, Chicago, and southern accents.)

@@SpeechModification Ok, thank you very much. In school we learnt British English. At university we mainly had American English. I think my writing skills in English are fine, but the pronunciation of the words is the most difficult part to learn.

Hi, with can be either θ or ð. I tend to use voiceless in my speech, though I should have pointed out that it can be either, thanks for mentioning it. www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/with?q=with

Yes, you are correct, some people use voiced TH /ð/ and some use voiceless TH /θ/ on the word "with."

Hi, they sound almost exactly the same. The vowel is a little longer in duration for "wider," but they both use a flap sound for the t/d in the middle. It's the same as in the words liter and leader, which I cover here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fNWXYJmXvNivqH0.html

Glad it helped! Yes, voice recognition has some limitations. My phone can't tell whether I'm saying we'll or will, for example.

Thanks for watching!

Yes, the TH sounds are challenging. Here's some more help for TH: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iseXdpSSs57PZIE.html and another video: kzfaq.info/sun/PLJXFLCasjYl6y4EZt5fR-uajcdgKIHgPS and our full playlist for TH: kzfaq.info/sun/PLJXFLCasjYl6y4EZt5fR-uajcdgKIHgPS

Hi, not sure what you're referring to. I use /er/ "air" in this words, which is pretty typical for native speakers of American English. I use the term "accent error pattern" to refer to patterns which typically result from having a different language background. So when I speak languages other than English, I have accent error patterns in those languages because I don't hear and produce the sounds in the same way a native speaker of the language would.

@@SpeechModification no, that is NOT standard pronunciation, but a pronunciation phenomenon known as vowel merging. This type of pronunciation is more common in the Western half of the country and it shouldn't be presented as if it's standard pronunciation. An example is when people pronounce cherry and cheery similarly. You use this merged vowel pronunciation while people in the Eastern part of the country preserve the "correct" vowel pronunciation - ie. non-merged. The reason for my comment is that I help several English learners and one of them asked me to pronounce "American" after watching your video (I'm a native speaker from the east coast). He noticed that your vowel pronunciation was different and that you pronounced "Amer.." as if it rhymed with snare. The correct pronunciation is /əˈmer.ɪ.kən/.

@@christinamarie3021 sorry, /er/ is the vowel in "snare" and "American." "eeer" as you write in your first comment would be the vowel in "sneer" and "mere." The vowel /er/ is realized differently in some East coast accents, actually tending towards /ær/ in some areas. I teach about vowel merging for people who do and don't have the caught/cot merger, since there are minimal pair words that are differentiated by this merger, but I also teach them where it might and might not matter to use or not use the merger. My goal is to help people be understood when speaking English. It's fine to teach people in your area the accent you have, but before you criticize or call something "standard" or not standard, you should probably take a step back and recognize that there is no one "standard" English, American or otherwise. I wanted to respond to you and get more information about why you made your comment, because I try to encourage comments and discussion, but I also try to encourage kindness and understanding in the comments on my channel. Here's more information for those who are interested about the /er/ vowel in "snare" www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snare and "American": www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/American. www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/snare_1?q=snare. www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/american_1?q=american

@@SpeechModification I wasn't being unkind and I apologize if it came off that way. I was curious about the term accent error pattern because there are many native speakers who don't completely release the air when quickly pronouncing words like with and breath, especially in connected speech. I wanted to know if the merged vowel phenomenon that I notice in your pronunciation also falls into that category. I agree that one should not teach their regional pronunciation as standard or make blanket statements like "in American English, we don't pronounce the T in mountain". I see many doing this. In general, east coast pronunciation preserves the original pronunciation of the A and E sounds in many words, whereas in other parts of the country, the pronunciation has changed. Mechanic has become something more like mecheenic. No distinction is made between very and vary etc. That's why it's referred to as a phenomenon because it deviates from the "standard" and it should not be taught as if it's the norm in American English. I'm adding 2 links below that demonstrate what is considered to be the standard American pronunciation of "American". dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/american www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/American