my pronunciation problems..zoo as joo

[reenamma]

hi

i am an indian. i live in the UK. i have problems with my pronunciation . my friends say my pronunciation of Z(zoo), p (pin), v (vet)and W(wet) are wrong. they say I pronounce them as 'joo', 'bin' etc.... how can i practise the correct pronunciation.???...I would like to get some games...i know myself as a kinesthetic learner...rather than a visual or auditory....i love to get some physical games or exercises... pls...


pls help me

[David L.]

You need someone to help you with the position of your tongue and teeth for the j -oo sound versus z-oo sound, so that kinesthetically you can feel the difference and practice it.
eg for 'j', the teeth are fully clenched, not so for 'z'

then practice 's' ; and then feel how it is changed into a 'z' by changing the position of the tongue and lips

[BobK]

Originally Posted by reenamma

hi

i am an indian. i live in the UK. i have problems with my pronunciation . my friends say my pronunciation of Z(zoo), p (pin), v (vet)and W(wet) are wrong. they say I pronounce them as 'joo', 'bin' etc.... how can i practise the correct pronunciation.???...I would like to get some games...i know myself as a kinesthetic learner...rather than a visual or auditory....i love to get some physical games or exercises... pls...


pls help me

Put your fingers on your Adam's apple (voice-box, larynx, the bit that sticks out more prominently on a man's throat than on a woman's) and feel the difference as you change from /s/ to /z/; your tongue stays in the same position, and the difference between the sounds all (well, largely) comes from the voice-box.

Do the same with the sounds /f/ and /v/. The major difference between the sounds of "fat" and "vat" is in the voicing of the first consonant (I would have said 'fet' if there had been such a word!) Your "v" should be just an /f/ with voicing turned on. In contrast, in /w/ no part of the mouth is in contact with any other (it's called a "frictionless continuant"), so if you can feel any friction in your mouth while you're saying "w" you need to get a teacher (face-to-face) to put you right.

The /p/ - /b/ difference isn't quite so simple. There's a voicing difference, but there's also a tiny puff of air after the /p/ (of varying strengths, depending on the context). Most English speakers aren't conscious of this, and it would be a mistake to make a conscious effort to copy it (you'd almost certainly go too far ) - but it's why English slang uses the word 'plonk' to mean 'cheap wine'; it's due to a mis-hearing of the French blanc (WWI British soldiers I think - but possibly earlier).

Generally, feeling your voice-box as you change consonants is a useful exercise. It works best with fricatives, because you can keep up a continuous stream of sound: fffffffffffffffvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvffffffffffffffff ssssssssssssssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzssssssssss ....

b