Hi again and welcome back to Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast.

My name is Mandy and this is our 183rd episode.

The S sound and S-H sound are both unvoiced fricatives that often cause problems for non-native English speakers.

It's the similarity between these sounds that causes the trouble, both in a British accent and in an American accent.

A little practice and muscle memory building can go a long way toward helping you create

both of these sounds clearly and accurately.

To practice comparing individual sounds, minimal pairs are very helpful.

Minimal pairs are two words that have the same pronunciation except for one sound. For instance, SOC and SHOC are minimal pairs.

The only difference between the sounds is the first sound, an S sound in SOC and an SHOCH sound in SHOC.

Before we practice minimal pairs, though, let's talk about how to

create these sounds. Both sounds are created by forcing air between the front section of

the tongue and the tooth ridge. The tooth ridge is that bony area behind your top front teeth.

The S sound is created with the tongue farther forward, and the tip of the tongue is closer to the top front teeth.

A narrow stream of air passes over the tip of the tongue through a front to back groove along the front of the tongue.

It sounds like S.

Say that sound after me.

S

C.

Sign.

Mass.

The S-H sound is created with the tongue back slightly farther in the mouth.

The tongue is flatter, causing the air to pass in a flat stream between the front of the tongue,

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