Hadar Shemesh breaks down how to pronounce TH before R in words like three, thrill, and through. The lesson covers tongue placement, avoiding a trilled R, prolonging the sound, and lip rounding for non-native speakers.
Welcome to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar and this is how to Pronounce Friday, where we take a confusing word or word pair. We learn how to pronounce it and how to use it with confidence. Let's get started.
Today we're going to talk about the vicious, an evil combination th and the r, as in the word three, thrill and through. First of all, these two consonants are really difficult for non native speakers. Most non native speakers. Sorry if that's not difficult for you. So it's usually difficult for most non native speakers. But also people who do know how to pronounce the th and then the r, they get this weird middle sound like a trilled r in the middle like three and throat. So today we're going to talk about how to make this transition and how to avoid the trilled R when making this transition. So to make the th sound you already know, I hope that the tongue needs to be outside and the air has to pass between the tongue and teeth in order to create this friction sound. Same quality as an F or an s, but you need to create this quality of sound while the tongue is outside touching the top teeth. F. If your tongue is going to be inside or it's going to be pressed tightly against the teeth, it's going to sound like a t. And then the word three will sound like tree. So the tongue has to be out, and then you need to shift to the R sound. Right? And to make the R sound, the tongue has to be in the middle of the mouth. So basically, the tongue is standing there in the middle of the mouth, pointing up but not touching anything. And the sides of the tongue touch the insides of the upper teeth and the lips round. Now think of the transition from the th to the R. Visualize your tongue. You start with the tongue out and then you need to pull it in to the middle of the mouth. The thing is that a lot of people just bring the tongue up and in, and then on the way in and up, it touches the upper palate because it's just waiting there for you. So instead of hearing three, you may hear three. Three, you're flapping your tongue against the upper palate instead of pulling it down and in for a pure r Thur, th. And again, visualize your tongue coming down and in. Hold out the R thur. And then continue with the word three, Not thrill, thur. So bring the tongue in round your lips for the r thur and finish it up with the oo, as in food through. Think like there was an extra W there at the end through. Okay, so the key here is to prolong the R, to take it slowly, and to know exactly what your tongue is doing in every step, step of the way. That's the only way to overcome old habits and acquire new habits, like the pronunciation of the th and the R.
Okay, that was your how to Pronounce Friday episode. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you like the podcast, then consider subscribing to the podcast. And if you feel really crazy, you can even rate and review the podcast. And you can find me at Hadar Accentsway on Instagram, where you can DM me and ask for all the crazy, fancy, confusing words that you'd like to know how to pronounce. Have a beautiful day and I'll see you next time.
