Week 4 · Workshop 4

TH, V and W, L and R

Pronunciation Workshop — the sounds that cause the wrong word, not a fuzzy one.

~35 min

Three sounds, chosen for you

2 minutes

This workshop covers TH, V and W, and L and R. These are the three that most often make a Nepali or Chinese speaker mishear a word entirely, rather than just find it unclear.

In a group, you have no time to work a word out from context. So the sounds that cause a wrong word — not a fuzzy one — are the expensive ones. That is these three.

TH is two sounds, and neither is T or D

6 minutes

English has a quiet TH (think, three, both) and a buzzing TH (this, that, mother). Both are made with the tongue tip between the teeth.

Word	What the mouth does
think	the tongue comes out, no voiceθ
this	the tongue comes out, with buzzð
three	TH straight into R — the hardest cluster in English
with them	two TH sounds in a row

For listening, the thing to know is that TH sits inside the most common words in the language — the, this, that, they, them, there, with. Those words are almost never stressed, so the TH is often barely there at all. Expect a soft blur, not a clear TH.

Watch: mixing up V and W

6 minutes

Mixing Up the V and W SoundsRachel's English · Tap to play. Pause and replay as much as you want — replaying is the method, not cheating.

Short and very direct. She names Germany and India as the places where this happens most — and the same pattern runs through Nepali. Bottom lip to the top teeth for V. Lips in a tight circle for W.

Watch: L and R

8 minutes

How to Pronounce R and L Sounds — ComparisonRachel's English · Tap to play. Pause and replay as much as you want — replaying is the method, not cheating.

She shows the two tongue positions side by side. For L the tongue tip goes up and forward and touches. For R it pulls down and back and touches nothing. Watch her mouth, not the words.

Your language, your three

6 minutes

For Nepali speakers

V and W are your pair. In Nepali they collapse together, so vet and wet, vine and wine, verse and worse arrive as the same word. In a group there is no time to work out which was meant.

TH is second. Nepali has dental sounds close to English TH, so you are closer than most learners — but if TH comes out as a clean t or d, thin becomes tin and they becomes day.

Listen to these pairs ten times each, without saying them: vet / wet · vine / wine · V / we · thin / tin · they / day

For Chinese speakers

L and R are your pair, and if your home dialect also merges n and l, that is a third. Rice and lice, right and light, collect and correct — these are different words, not different accents.

TH is second. Mandarin has no TH, so it usually comes out as s or f — think becomes sink, three becomes free.

Listen to these pairs ten times each, without saying them: rice / lice · right / light · road / load · think / sink · three / free

General

Work through all three: TH against T and S, V against W, and L against R. Listen to the pairs many times before trying to say them.

Say them badly, on purpose

5 minutes

Record yourself reading this. Exaggerate — push the tongue right out for TH, bite the lip hard for V:

“I think these three are the very worst. We were right, and they really loved it.”

Play it back. You are not listening for beauty. You are listening for whether the three pairs sound different from each other. Save as “Week 4 — Workshop 4”.

Next: Session 3 Back to Week 4