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Master the oral mechanics of spoken English. Refine your phonetics in our Pronunciation Lab, evaluate IELTS Band 9 sample formats, eliminate filler words, and gym-train with speed tongue twisters.
Text-to-speech audio pronouncer is not supported in this browser. You can still read the guidelines and spelling indicators.
Click any phoneme to hear correct speech audio & view tongue directions.
Identify and self-correct typical speech muscle habits unique to Indian speakers. Slide your tongue to natural native anchors using these placement models.
"Place the tip of your tongue on the alveolar ridge (the bumpy gum area just behind your upper teeth), rather than curling it back against the hard roof of the mouth."
Contrast example: Pronouncing words like 'Time', 'Day', or 'Better' with a hard retroflex sound.
Correction Tip: Practice saying 't' and 'd' with your tongue touching your teeth, then slide it back just slightly to the ridge. Avoid curling the tongue back.
"Instead of touching your tongue to the roof of your mouth to make a sharp stop, place the tongue tip lightly between your upper and lower teeth, and blow air smoothly."
Contrast example: Pronouncing 'Three' as 'Tree' or 'Thank you' as 'Tank you'.
Correction Tip: Hold the 'th' sound for 3 seconds: 'th-h-h-ree'. If you can't blow air continuously, your tongue is blocking the air.
"Place your tongue tip under your top teeth. Do not tap and release like a 'd'. Instead, hum with your vocal cords while blowing air past your tongue."
Contrast example: Pronouncing 'They' as 'Day', or 'Mother' as 'Mudder'.
Correction Tip: Place your finger on your throat. Vibrate your vocal cords and say 'th-h-h-ey'. Feel the buzz on your tongue tip and your throat.
"For /w/, shape your lips in a tight circle (like saying 'oo') and glide out without teeth contact. For /v/, rest your upper teeth on your lower lip and make a buzzing sound."
Contrast example: Saying 'vine' instead of 'wine', or 'west' instead of 'vest'.
Correction Tip: Look in a mirror. For 'Water' or 'Wine', your lips must form a small round circle. For 'Video' or 'Very', you should clearly see your top teeth touching your bottom lip.
"Keep your vocal cords vibrating until the very end of the word. Do not cut off the voice early."
Contrast example: Pronouncing 'Cab' as 'Cap', 'Sad' as 'Sat', 'Bag' as 'Back', or 'Buzz' as 'Bus'.
Correction Tip: Lengthen the vowel sound slightly before voiced consonants. 'Sad' should have a longer vowel sound than 'Sat'.
"Short, lax vowel. Made with tongue towards the front, slightly lower than for /iː/."
Example Words (Click to hear):
Focus on delicate sound mappings. Swipe or click next.
Short vs. Long Vowel. Make sure the vowel in 'ship' is short and relaxed, whereas the vowel in 'sheep' is prolonged with lips pulled back.