DO YOU WANT TO STOP TALKING LIKE TARZAN?

Oh, hi, this is Scott. No, I don’t have a sore throat. I’m fine, actually.

But those of you who saw my video on the correct pronunciation of the final “-ed” will remember that knowing whether the last sound of a word is voiced or unvoiced will help you know whether you need to pronounce the “-ed” with a 1=/t/ or a 2=/d/ sound.

Well, this same idea will help you with the other big pronunciation problem I hear from many students, which is how to pronounce the final “s”. Once again, there are only 3 possibilities, and one of the keys is knowing whether the previous sound is voiced or unvoiced.

Just like with the final -ed, the final “s” is critical to helping others understand you when you speak. Do you want to improve your pronunciation? Do you want to sound more professional and educated when you speak? Do you want to avoid embarrassment when you speak? Then you definitely should be spending your pronunciation time on these two things!

If you want people to understand you better, you could walk around all the time like this ……… OR you could watch my videos, and then practice the final -ed and final “s” regularly – just 2 or 3 minutes, most days – for a short time. After a couple of months, it will become automatic, and you can release your fingers!

Happy learning!