Having troubles pronouncing 'tw' words

[bibi00]

Hi,

I am having problems pronouncing 'tw' words like twenty, twelve, twins and twist.

I have attached a short audio clip of me saying it.
mediafire.com/?delk839dfpxkkop

Please give me some suggestions on what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks!

 

[birdeen's call]

Can you pronounce [t] alone, as in "top" or "ten"?

 

[bibi00]

Yeah. It's just tw.

When I say the tw, my lips close up towards the center and then out into a smiling shape. My tongue is in the middle. I'm sure this is wrong.

I speak English more than my native language, so my habits were developed long ago. I want to correct the more serious pronunciation issues.

 

[Tdol]

Your tongue- could you explain this a bit more? Where's the tip of your tongue? When I say it, the end of my tongue is at the top of my mouth, a bit behind my teeth.

 

[bibi00]

It's just lying there in the bottom not moving. So my tongue is suppose to start by touching the roof behind my teeth, then lower as I speak?

 

[youandcorey]

One great way for improving pronunciation is to use youtube.

Search for certain words or topics that you'd like to target. After watching and listening to them next record your own voice and compare.

Note: By recording your own voice you can listen to your own pronunciation from a new perspective.

 

[birdeen's call]

It's just lying there in the bottom not moving. So my tongue is suppose to start by touching the roof behind my teeth, then lower as I speak?

Yes. Your tongue is supposed to make exactly the same movement as it does when you just pronounce [t]. The letter "t" corresponds to the same sound in both "twin" and "tin". The first sound of either word is [t].

 

[bibi00]

How's this? I tried correcting it, but not sure if it improved.

mediafire.com/?0e7mtje279t52v6

 

[birdeen's call]

How's this? I tried correcting it, but not sure if it improved.

mediafire.com/?0e7mtje279t52v6

Your "tw" is good now! Well done.

 

[sten4556]

I listened to both and you GREATLY improved from the first to the second. Congrats. I think it sounds really good!