BeDistinct:TheVoicedandVoiceless/th/

Thislessonisaboutthe/th/soundsthatarefrequentlymadeinerrorbynonnativeEnglishspeakers.
TheyareimportantsoundstomasterbecausetheyarefrequentlyusedinEnglish.

/th/sound

//:TheIPAsymbolusedtoexpressthevoiced/th/soundasinthe,that,there,those,etc.

//:TheIPAsymbolusedtoexpresstheunvoiced/th/soundasinthink,thank,theft,thick,etc.

Theonlydifferencebetweenthesetwosoundsisthevoicing.Tomakethissound,thetongueprotrudes
slightlybetweenyourteeth.Thetonguetouchesthebottomteethandairisblownoverthetongueand
throughthemouthcreatingafricationsoundduetosomeobstructioninthemouthopening.Airflowis
continuous.Frequently,thesoundthatfollowsthe/th/colorsthewayinwhichitsounds.

Herearesomecommonmistakes:

Voicelessth:/s/,/t/,/f/,/b/substitutionsoreliminatedcompletely

Voicedth:/z/,/d/,/f/substitutionsoreliminatedcompletely

Sometimesthevoicingisnotpresentalthoughthe/th/soundiscorrectlymade.

Payattentiontothewayinwhichyousayit.Watchyourselfinthemirror.Areyoustickingyourtongue
outslightlybetweenyourteethorisyourtonguebehindyourteeth.Istheairflowcontinuousorare
youstoppingtheairflow?

Letslearnthesound.Workthroughthisworkbooktakingataskadayatatime.Donotmoveforward
onthelessonuntilyouhavemasteredthelevel.Spend510minutesdrillingthesound.Onceyouare

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throughthisworkbook,keepdrillinguntilyounoticethesoundsbeingmadeautomaticallyinyour

speech.Ifyouseethissymbol, thereisanaudiotolistento.

TheSpeechLadder
TargetSound:
Voiced/th/or//Voiceless/th/or//

ComplexConversation_____
RoutineConversation_____
Reading_____(Day8)
Sentences_____(Day7)
Finalsoundinwords_____(Day6)
Medialsoundinwords_____(Day5)
Initialsoundinwords_____(Day4)
Contrast_______(Day3)
Soundinisolation_____(Day2)
Discrimination_____(Day1)

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Day1:Listentothewordpairsontherecording.Canyouhearthedifferencebetweenthe
words?WriteSameorDifferentbelow.Checkyouranswersattheendofthebooklet.Ifyou

gotanywrong,pleasestayhereandlistenagainbeforemovingon.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Dothesewordsuseavoicedorvoiceless/th/?
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Day2:Makethesoundinisolation.Movebackandforthfromvoicedtovoiceless/th/.Place
yourhandonyournecktofeelthevibrationofthevoiced/th/.Ifyoucantfeelit,youprobably
arentsayingitcorrectly.Watchyourselfinthemirrortomakesurethatyourtongueissticking
outbetweenyourteethalittlebit.

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Day3:Compareandcontrastthesewordpairs.Saythefollowingwordliststocontrastthe/th/

withcommonlysubstitutedwords/sounds. (Youcanalsolistentotherecording.)

Thinksink Thingting Batthat

Missmyth Thinkfink Tiethigh
Soughtthought Zenthen Taughtthought
Facefaith Zeethee Thatdat
Trucetruth Sinthin Thenden
Themeteam Tanksthanks theda

Rememberthatitmightnotbejustatthebeginningofthewordbutthemiddleofwordsandendings
toohave/th/soundsandmaybemispronouncedaswell.

Contrastthevoicinginthese/th/words:

That=say,/at/vs/at/
These
There
The
Though
Through
Think

Day4:Saythelistofwords,voicedandvoiceless(initialpositiononly).Listentotheaudiosof

bothsounds.(Seebelow.)

Day5:Saythislistofwords(medialposition).Listentotheaudioofbothsounds.

Day6:Saythislistofwords(finalconsonant).Listentotheaudioofbothsounds.
WordList//

Initial Medial Final

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Theme athlete bath
Third author booth
Thirst bathtub breath
Thorns ethical length
Thirty empathy death
Thought everything mouth
Thumb faithful math
Thing marathon south
Think hypothesis tooth
Thigh ruthless warmth
Thanks Timothy wreath
Thunder youthful youth
Thursday Nathaniel beneath
Thirtyone mathematics birdbath
Thirtytwo pathologist blacksmith
Thirtythree SouthDakota Kenneth
Thirtyfour sympathetic locksmith
Thirtyfive amphitheater Macbeth
Thirtysix authenticity mammoth
Thirtyseven Catholicism zenith
Thirtyeight Ethiopia eightieth
Thirtynine hydrotherapy ninetieth
Thoroughly SouthAmerica underneath
Thermometer SouthCarolina wisdomtooth

/d/

hundredth
breadth

/n/
Anthem
Anthony
Enthuse,enthusiast
Menthol
Monthly,month
Unthinking
Unthankful
Samantha
Parenthesis
Tenth
Eighteenth
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Millionth

/ng/
Lengthen
Strengthen
Halflength

/r/
Threaded
Threefold
Thresher
Thrifty
Thriller
Throaty
Throbbing
Throughout
Thrower
Threatening
Anthrax
Bathrobe
Bathroom
Drivethrough
Spendthrift
Arthritic
Arthritis
Overthrow
Philanthropist
Arthur
Bertha
Birthday
Earthly
Earthquake
NorthPole
Northward
Worthless
Worthwhile
Orthodontics
Orthopedic
NorthAmerica
Childbirth
Rebirth

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/l/
Filth
Stealth
Health

Wordlist//

Initial Mother
Than Neither
That Other
The Rather
Thee Rhythm
Their Seething
Them Smoother
Then Smother
These Teething
This Weather
Those Withdraw
Thus Another
Thy Otherwise
Therefore Together
Thereafter
Final
Medial Bathe
Although Breathe
Bather Clothe
Bathing Lathe
Bother Loathe
Breather Scathe
Breathing Seethe
Brethren Smooth
Brother Soothe
Clothing Swathe
Either Teethe
Father Tithe
Feather Wreathe
Gather Wrath
Heathen
Leather
Loathing

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/d/ /r/ /z/

Bathed Farther Bathes
Breathed Farthest Breathes
Clothed Further Loathes
Loathed Northern Seethes
Scathed Worthy Smoothes
Seethed Furthermore Soothes
Sheathed Noteworthy Teethes
Smoothed Worthy,unworthy Tithes
Swathed Nevertheless Wreathes
Teethed writhes
Tithed

Day 7: Make up sentences using words from the above word lists. Be creative! Write them
down!(Dontworryiftheydontmakeperfectsense!)

1. _______________________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________________
4. _______________________________________________________________________
5. _______________________________________________________________________
6. _______________________________________________________________________
7. _______________________________________________________________________
8. _______________________________________________________________________
9. _______________________________________________________________________
10. _______________________________________________________________________

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Day8:Readthefollowingtwoparagraphs.Repeatthemasoftenaspossible.

//Reading:

ALutherannamedTheodoreandaMethodistnamedKathywereplanning
theirweddinginBethesda,Maryland.Althoughtheirviewsontheologydidntalwaysagree,theywere
expectingtoworkthroughtheirdifferencesandfaithfullylivethroughafiftiethweddinganniversary.
TheyplannedtogetmarriedinaCatholicchurchwithabreathtakingcathedral.Thecathedralwas
mammotheventhoughKathyandTheodoreonlyinvitedonehundredandthirtyguests.

Onthedayoftheirwedding,bothKathyandTheodorewereveryenthusiastic.Unfortunately,there
weredistantthunderstormslurkinganditlookedlikeitwasthreateningtorain.Butnothingcouldkeep
theseventythreeguestsfromcoming.Thedayendedupperfectlydespitethethreatofrainandaslight
windfromthesoutheast.Thetouchofbabysbreathinallthedecorations,thefantasticfoodthat
fulfilledanysweettooth,andtheyouthfulenthusiasmmadethedaywonderfulandworthwhile!Every
guestleftverythankfulthattheyhadcome.KathyandTheodorehappilyleftontheirhoneymoontothe
KlamathFallsexcitedtobegintheirnewlifetogether.

*Notevery/th/soundinthispassageisavoiceless/th/.Trytofindallthevoiced/th/soundsinthis
passage.
Answerthefollowingquestionswithfullsentencesusingwordsfromthequestioninyourresponse:

1. WhatwerethedominationsofKathyandTheodore?
2. Wheredidtheydecidetogetmarried?
3. Howmanyguestswereinvited?
4. Whateventthreatenedtheirday?
5. Doyouthinkpeoplefromdifferentreligiousdenominationsorreligionscanbehappilymarried?

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//Reading:

MyfamilyenjoyedcelebratingMothersandFathersDayinveryspecialwayseachyear.Mybrother
oftenmadeithisgoaltobealtogetheronthesetwodaystohelpmakemymotherandfatherfeel
appreciated.Itisnoteworthythatmyparentswereveryworthyofthispouringofaffection.Often
times,mybrotherandIwouldgatherinthekitchentomakeabreakfastwhiletheywerebreathing
deeplyintheotherroom.Wemadesoothingteaorcoffeeandlight,featherypancakes.Weserved
themwhentheywoke.Neithermymothernorfathereverappearedtoknowthattheyweregoingto
beservedinthismannereventhoughwedidthesamethingforthemyearafteryear.Aftermy
mothersbreakfast,shebathedinawarmbubblebaththatsoothedhermuscles.Myfather,onFathers
Daywouldrathergotoaconcertsomewheretolistentotherhythmsofhisfavoriteband.Ifthe
weathercooperated,wemightgoonapicnicorahikelateronintheday.Bytheendoftheday,both
mymotherandfatherwerethankfulforthespecialdaythathadbeengiventothem.

*Notethatnotall/th/wordsinthispassagearevoiced.Canyoufindthevoiceless/th/sounds?

Answerthefollowingquestionswithfullsentencesusingwordsinthequestiontorespond.
1. WhataresomeofthethingsthatweredoneformothertomakeherfeelspecialonMothers
Day?
2. WhataresomeofthethingsthatweredoneforfatherthemakehimfeelspecialonFathers
Day?
3. Whataresomespecialtraditionsyoudowithyourmotherorfather?
4. Ifyouareafatherormother,whataresomespecialthingsthatyourchildorchildrenhavedone
foryou?
5. Doesyourfamilyeverygettogethertodothingsonaregularbasis?Arefamilytraditions
important?

Day9:Answerthequestionsabouttheparagraphsusingcompletesentencesandwordsfrom
theparagraph.

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Day 10: Incorporate these words into your speech. Make up sentences you would use in
conversation.Herearesomecommonwordsyoumayusewiththe/th/sound:

These,those,them,there,the,father,mother

Think,thank,thought,through

ThethwordsthatIusefrequently:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Toincorporatewordsintoconversation,makeupsentencesusingthesewords.
1. ______________________________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________________________________
5. ______________________________________________________________________________
6. ______________________________________________________________________________
7. ______________________________________________________________________________
8. ______________________________________________________________________________
9. ______________________________________________________________________________
10. ______________________________________________________________________________

Areyounoticingthatyouareusingthesewordsinconversationalspeech?Hasanyoneelsecommented
you?Greatwork!Keeponpracticinguntilyounolongerhavetothinkaboutit!

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10AdditionalWaystoPractice:

1.
Askafriendtohelp/mentoryouandadviseyou.
2.
Readbookstoyourkids.(Try,Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose byDr.Seuss)
3.
Readbillboardsonthewaytowork.
4.
Printoffamemofromacolleagueandreaditoutloud.
5.
Readthenewspaper,amagazine,orabookoutloud.Taperecordyourspeechandlistentoit.
6.
Taperecordyourendofaphoneconversationandthenlistentoit.
7.
Readarecipeorsomethingthathaslotsofordinalnumbers(seventh,eighth,etc.)toafriend
andletthemwriteouttheinstructions.Didhe/sheunderstanditcorrectly?
8. Alwayspracticeyourspeechwhenyoutalktooneperson.Chooseonepersonthatyouwilltry
toyournewspeechskillson.
9. Alwayspracticeyourspeechataregulartimeeachday.
10. Writeoutkeyphrasesthatyouwanttouseinapresentationandmasterthembyrepeating
overandover.Besurethesephrasescontainthesoundyouwanttomaster.

Answerkey:Sameordifferent?
1. thinksink
2. thoughtthought(SAME)
3. mossmoth
4. betBeth
5. threadtread
6. oathoath(SAME)
7. closeclothe
8. ratherrazzer
9. seedseethe
10. daythey

Dothesewordsuseavoicedorvoiceless/th/?
11. Though(voiced)
12. Teething(voiced)
13. Worthy(voiced)
14. Third(voiceless)
15. Threw(voiceless)
16. Mother(voiced)
17. Thanks(voiceless)
18. Both(voiceless)
19. Then(voiced)
20. Nothing(voiceless

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Goodluck!Congratulations!Youhavedoneagreatjob.
Letmeknowhowyouaredoing!

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