This speaking lesson focusses on skills related to 

  • English pronunciation
  • The English consonants
  • Voiced and Unvoiced Consonant sounds

English consonant sounds are formed by complete or partial closure of the vocal tract during pronunciation. They are formed by blocking or restricting the flow of airwith the lips, mouth, front and back of the tongue, or the throat.

  Symbol Examples
1 [p] pit
2 [b] bit
3 [t] tab
4 [d] dab
5 [k] cab
6 [g] gab
7 [f] fan
8 [v] van
9 [s] sad
10 [z] zoo
11 [m] man
12 [n] not
13 [h] hot
14 [l] lad
15 [r] red
16 [w] wed
17 [θ] thought
18 [ð] them
19 [ʃ] shy
20 [ʒ] treasure
21 [tʃ] chime
22 [dʒ] jam
23 [j] yum
24 [ŋ] sing

Voiced vs. Unvoiced Consonants

All consonants are formed by the restriction of air by different parts of the mouth; however, there is another aspect of pronunciation that separates consonants into two types:

  1. Unvoiced consonants: formed without vibration of the vocal chords - e.g. [c]; [ʃ]
  2. Voiced consonants: formed without vibration of the vocal chords - e.g. [m]; [ð]
1. Unvoiced Consonants
  Symbol Examples
1 [p] put
2 [t] put
3 [tʃ] cheat
4 [k] chicken
5 [f] flower
6 [θ] theory
7 [s] song
8 [ʃ] shower
2. Voiced Consonants
  Symbol Examples
1 [b] bed
2 [d] bed
3 [dʒ] generation
4 [g] beg
5 [v] violin
6 [ð] they
7 [z] zed
8 [ʒ] treasure
9 [m] man
10 [n] man
11 [ŋ] song
12 [h] hot
13 [l] lot
14 [r] rot
15 [w] watt
16 [j] yacht
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