Welcome to the next consonant
sounds lecture. This lecture is
focusing on three sounds because they're
so similar.
The first one is /m/ as in 'some'. The second sound /n/ as in 'sun'. And the third one //
as in 'sung'. So as I said, there are three
sounds we're focusing on in this lecture
because they're quite similar and it's
easier to cover them at the same time
and to compare them as well. The first
sound /m/ as in some. Notice the shape of
the lips. The lips are closed and the air
is coming through the nose this time. So
this is quite a unique sound. The sound
actually comes out of the nose /m/
Can you hear that? And it's voiced. It's a voiced sound. You can touch your
throat and test /m/ it's a voiced sound. Some. The second sound the /n/ sound
is very very similar because /n/ the air
is also coming out of the nose but this
time we're not using our lips to block
the air from our mouth
we're using our tongue inside the mouth.
The lips are open but the tongue is
blocking all the air from coming out of
the mouth so the air comes through the
nose instead /n/ as in sun /n/ sun. This is also voiced just like the first
sound /n/ you can feel your throat again
/n/ sun.
So the first two sounds are very very
similar in that sense. Now the third one
// sung sung is also producing air through
the nose. It's a voiced sound // you can
feel your throat again // //. So what is the difference?
The difference is we are blocking the air
through our mouth just like the first
two, but we're using the back of our
tongue. The back of our tongue
raises up and blocks the air // sung
// //. The mouth is also very slightly
open. The mouth is not closed, it's
open // sung. So that's the
difference between the three sounds.
They're very similar but there are subtle
differences in the shape of the mouth,
whether it's open and closed, and the
position of the tongue. So they're all
producing air through the nose rather
than the mouth but the position of the
tongue and the mouth is different for
each one. Let's look at the first
sound's target practice word list. The
first sound is /m/
Remember, lips closed and produce air
through the nose. Listen and repeat after
me. Me. Mile. Muffin. Remember. Woman.
Summer. Kingdom. Welcome. Motorbike. That was sound number one. Two more to go.
Now the second sound remember /n/.
Remember how to produce it.
/n/ as in sun. The mouth is open and
the tongue /n/ is blocking the air
coming through the mouth. The tongue is
towards the front of the mouth /n/
sun. This is how we produce the sound. So let's go through the target sound
practice words. Repeat after me. No. Nice.
Nose. Money.
Many. Nanny. London. Garden. Snow. Let's move on to the third sound. This sound //
Remember // very similar to /n/ the
second sound because we're using our
tongue, but this time we're using the
back of our tongue. The back of the
tongue comes up, blocks the air and the
air comes through the nose // as in
sung. So focus on your tongue and
your mouth. Remember your mouth is open as
well // just slightly open. So listen and repeat
after me once again. Wing. Ring. Nothing.
Hang. Wrong.
Singing. Angry. English. Swimming. If this
is a bit challenging and they sound so
so similar, don't worry. You can go back
and practice the words again but the
next part may well clear up any
confusion for you. We're going to look at
the minimal pairs. This time we're going
to do two sets of minimal pairs. The
first set we're going to compare the
sounds /m/ and /n/. So listen to each pair
and repeat after me. Rum, run. Meat, neat. Same, sane. Some, sun.
Simmer, sinner. Mine, nine. Now we're going to move on to the second set of minimal
pairs. This time we're going to compare
/n/ and //. Remember the difference
/n/ use your tongue towards the front of
your mouth and // use the back of your
tongue to block the air. So listen
to each pair and repeat after me once
more. Ran, rang. Sun, sung. Thin, thing. Sin, sing. Ban, bang.
Win, wing. OK, I hope that's cleared
up any confusion or doubt about these
sounds. Now let's move on to the target
sounds in use. So let's look at sentence
one, focusing on the /m/ sound, many many instances of /m/ in this sentence.
Listen, focus on the shape of your mouth
and repeat after me.
My mum makes amazingly yummy muffins. Sentence two we're looking at the /n/ sound.
Remember use your tongue to block the
air and leave your mouth slightly open.
I often enjoy a nice nap in the afternoon.
Sentence three we're focusing on the
third sound //. This time use the back of
your tongue to block the air and leave
your mouth slightly open. An angry man
called Mr Lang banged on the door this
morning shouting angrily. Well done.
We did three sounds in this lecture so
fantastic. Don't worry if it's a bit too
much. Slow down take your time. Go back
and review the exercises we did in this class.
Also, don't forget to download the extra resources.