Allow Me Introduce You to Your Mouth

In the last lesson we learned that you make vowel sounds by allowing air to flow unobstructed through the vocal tract. 

In contrast, you make consonant sounds when there is blockage or constriction of air in the vocal tract.

These blockages occur when you move articulators (tongue, lips, teeth) in close contact with other parts of your speech organ. So, we classify consonant sounds by the physical circumstances that go into making them.  

The three most important physical features that determine any consonant sound are:

• Place of articulation (where)
• Manner of articulation (how)
• Phonation (voice)

I know that may sound a bit scientific, but it’s straightforward once you look at these in the context.

This lesson will be helpful to you as a language learner since consonant sounds will be a big challenge in mastering the flow/accent of a foreign language.

Ever have that one sound in your target language that you could never quite get? Well I promise you that you CAN indeed say the sound if you know how to train it right. 

The first step in training is understanding the physiology behind the creation of that sound.

So without further adieu, allow me to introduce you to your mouth…