Hello and welcome to our last section in the important sounds for perfect pronunciation course in this
lesson I'm going to talk about two related sounds that are really important in English the S and Z
both S and Z are key sounds in English.
However many English learners often omit these endings or pronounce all endings with an S sound even
though a large number of them should be pronounced with a z sound.
As you probably already know English spelling can at times be inconsistent and confusing.
And unfortunately this can be the case with Asin these sounds.
So I'm going to give you some rules and word list to help you out.
The s and Z sounds are almost identical in English.
There is only one difference and that's voicing.
So if you can pronounce the s you can easily learn to pronounce the Z as well.
Let's take a look at both of these sounds for both S and Z.
The tongue almost touches the front teeth and alveolar ridge but not quite.
Take a look at the picture.
It's not quite touching your front teeth or roof of your mouth but it's almost there.
The size of your tongue are pressed against the upper side teeth and you'll notice that the air stream
flows through the groove in the middle of your tongue.
Now that is where both of these sounds have in common.
Their Mouth position and air flow.
What's different however is that the sound is a voiceless sound which means only air is coming through
your mouth.
You should have no sound coming from your vocal chords.
In English we usually think of the s sound as a sound a snake makes.
Here are some common words that begin with the sound Say system city and center and hear some common
words that end with an S sound.
Price class office and case.
You'll notice that these words could be spelled in different ways.
The ass is not always spelled with an S.
Sometimes it is but you might also see a double s n s e at the end of words or at the beginning of words
C or C i c is also a common end for words.
Now the Z has the exact same mouth position as the s but you'll need to turn your vocal chords on for
this one.
You should hear that little motor vibrating in your throat as you're pronouncing the Z.
And we usually think of this sound as the sound that a bee makes
and you feel the vibration in your throat.
Compare that to ass.
You just hear the ass coming out the air correct.
You don't hear any sound from your vocal chords.
It's uncommon for words to begin with Z but we do have a few that you may see occasionally such as zonin
zoo or zipper.
Sometimes we have a z sound in the middle of words it's most often spelled with an ass but occasionally
you'll see a Z as well.
For example reason visit easy organization and puzzle common words that and an easy sound.
There are very many many many words that end in a z sound in English for example was his please exercise
always freeze jobs and jazz.
And again notice the variation in their spelling.
They can be spelled with a z a double Z which is not very common but occasionally you'll see it a Z
an ass or an MC.
Now let's do a little bit of auditory discrimination practice to see if your ear can pick up these two
different sounds.
Again do you hear the word in column A or B.
Make sure that you find this chart in your workbook before we continue.
I'm just going to say each word once so will go by very quickly but I'm sure you'll need to listen again
and again to make sure you've got them all.
So here goes.
Number one raise
to phase
three price
for fleece
five advise
six chance seven plays eight eyes eight let's do a little bit more auditory discrimination.
This time we're going to do it in sentences.
So in each sentence you'll see a pair of words circle the one you hear now.
Important to note the first one in each pair is said with an S sound.
It's the second one is said with a z sound.
Notice the spelling in the s in Z is not at all helpful and will not at all tell you whether it's an
essay or a Z.
So notice it's the first one of the pair that's an ass.
The second one that's a z sound.
All right.
Number one we're going to dance.
To bring me the sauce.
Three.
I'm tired of the lies.
For we want peace.
5.
What do you think of the violins.
Six.
I don't want a magazine.
Seven.
Police open the door.
As usual you will find the answers to each of these activities in the answer key of your workbook.
Make sure to check your answers.
Listen again.
If there were any you didn't get right.
Thanks for watching and I'll see in the next episode.