English pronunciation

1. The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday. 2. I thought a thought. But the thought I thought Wasn’t the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought, Had been the thought I thought, I wouldn’t have thought I thought.

3. Something in a thirty-acre thermal thicket of thorns and thistles thumped and thundered threatening the three-D thoughts of Matthew the thug – although, theatrically, it was only the thirteen-thousand thistles and thorns through the underneath of his thigh that the thirty-year-old thug thought of that morning. 4. Thirty-three thousand feathers on a thrushes throat.

To correctly pronounce the W sound, form your lips into a small, tight circle. It is important to hold your lips correctly. Imagine whistling or blowing out a candle. Use the same shape to form the letter W. Your jaw should be mostly closed to make the sound, but your teeth should not touch.

Let's Practice You should practice the W sound in front of a mirror to make sure you are holding your lips correctly. This is not a natural sound for many non-native speakers to make. There are three common ways to make the W sound: w, wh, and qu.

The most common way to spell the W sound is with a W. The W can be at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. 1) wow 2) woman 3) wife 4) now 5) flower 6) know 7) sweet 8) win

9) rewind 10) row 11) flow 12) towel 13) winter

Wh = /w/: The W sound is also sometimes spelled with the letters WH. 1) why 2) where 3) when 4) while 5) what 6) white

Important note: Not all WH words are pronounced as a W sound. When the WH is followed by the OO sound or the Long O sound, it is usually pronounced as an H only (like in the words her and him). Examples: (say these words with an H sound.) 1) who (WH + OO) 2) whom (WH + OO) 3) whole (WH + Long O)

Qu = /kw/: The qu spelling is a K sound followed by a W sound. 1) quit 2) quick 3) quite 4) quiet 5) queen Here two more words that have the W sound that do not follow the spelling rules above. The W sound is in bold print. 1) one 2) choir

Listen carefully! listen The W sound is very similar to the OO sound in English. They sound almost the same! The only difference is that the lips are a little more closed when forming the W sound. Let's practice the W sound and OO sound side-by-side.

W sound OO sound won moon quick noon now flu flower rude why balloon

Now say these sentences out loud (the W sounds are bold): 1) Quick! Where is my wife? 2) I saw the queen in the winter. 3) We will win now. 4) Will the woman be quiet? 5) Now, what is that white flower? 7) William won the quick race. 8) I know he quit the choir. 9) Where is the wonderful queen? 10) Why doesn't this one taste sweet?

These tongue twisters will help students practice sound W: 1. I wish I were what I was when I wished I were what I am. 2 Why do you cry, WIlly? Why do you cry? Why, WIllie? Why, Willie? Why, Willie? Why? 3. Wayne went to Wales to watch walruses. 4. If two witches would watch two watches, which witch would watch which watch? 5. While we were walking, we were watching window washers wash Washington's windows with warm washing water. 6. Who washed Washington's white woolen underwear in warm water?