This post is all about the “th” sound in English. I noticed that my Brazilian students had difficulties with “th” sounds, so I did some research. The first video below gives a good explanation of the two types of “th” – voiced and voiceless. The second link is to a webpage with some excellent tongue twister to practice the sounds. For additional English practice, look up unfamiliar vocabulary and try to make sense of the tongue twisters as a whole!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag4qoNzEH4w tutorial on "th" sounds
http://evaeaston.com/th-practice.html riddles and tongue twisters
The two types of ‘th’ sounds are the voiced and voiceless.
The voiced ‘th’ is the more common of the two because it includes most articles and pronouns. Some examples are: the, that, these, them, they etc.
One way of determining if a ‘th’ word is voiced is to say it out loud and put your fingers lightly on your throat. Does your throat vibrate? If it does, it’s a voiced ‘th’.
Here are some examples of voiced ‘th’ words: this, these, they, that, those, there, them, the, mother, father, brother, rather, other, either, gather, seethe, breathe, smooth. “That mother can’t breathe.”
Stick your tongue between your teeth. Don’t be shy! Push the air out.
For voiceless ‘th’ words, follow the same routine – stick your tongue between your teeth and push the air out. However, there will not be a vibration in your throat.
Here are some examples: thick, think, thought, thunder, thank you, throat, something, healthy, nothing, both, mouth, math, path, teeth, cloth, bath, faith. “I will eat anything healthy.”
Now look up and define the new words from these lists. Practice saying them. If you’re unsure of the pronunciations, go to http://dictionary.reference.com/, type in the word and click on the button that looks like a speaker. It will pronounce the word aloud for you.