In this video, I'm going to focus on two consonant sounds.
The sounds /f/ and /v/.
So the ‘f’ sound and the ‘v’ sound.
They may sound similar but they are actually quite different.
And they are very important sounds in the English language
so I really want you to be able to hear the difference
and pronounce them correctly.
Let's take two example words.
The first word is the word ‘fan’.
Can you hear the /f/ sound?
‘fan’
The second word is ‘van’.
Can you hear the /v/ sound this time?
‘van’.
So ‘fan’ and ‘van’.
I know guys.
They sound really similar, but they are different.
And we're gonna practice together.
By the end of this video, you will be able to pronounce them correctly.
I promise.
So keep watching.
Before learning about the /f/ and /v/ sounds in English,
you need to focus on the IPA spelling.
It's very useful.
You can also watch how I move my mouth, and obviously you need to repeat after me in this video.
I know you can make those sounds guys so let's do it together now.
First, let's produce the /f/sound in English.
What you're going to do is - you're not going to use your voice.
It's a voiceless sound so no vibration in your throat.
You are going to place your teeth against your bottom lip
and you're going to push out some air through your teeth and your bottom lip.
So, okay, please watch my mouth and repeat after me.
/f/
Let's practice with the word ‘fan’.
Repeat after me.
fan
Good.
As for the/v/sound, it's exactly the same as the/f/sound.
But this time, you are going to use your voice.
It's a voiced sound so you are going to feel some vibration.
Okay
So /v/.
Can you please repeat after me.
/v/
Let's practice with the word ‘van’.
Please repeat after me.
van
Good.
Let's now practice with minimal pairs.
Words that sound very very much alike but the sounds are actually different.
They are very useful if you really want to hear the difference between the two sounds.
First, let's practice producing the sounds themselves.
Please repeat after me.
First, the/f/ sound.
/f/
Now the/v/ sound.
Repeat after me.
/v/
Let's now do both.
Repeat after me, guys.
/f/ /v/
Let's now take our words.
Repeat after me.
fan
van
fan
van
fan
van
Good, guys.
Okay, guys.
Let's now go through minimal pairs together.
Please watch me and how I move my mouth.
And repeat after me.
Let's do this.
belief
believe
calf
carve
fail
veil
fast
vast
fat
vat
fault
vault
fear
veer
fee
V
feel
veal
feign
vein
fender
vendor
ferry
very
file
vile
fine
vine
foul
vowel
grief
grieve
leaf
leave
life
live
proof
prove
safe
save
serf
serve
staff
starve
strife
strive
surf
serve
waif
waive
Great, guys.
Okay, students.
Let's now practice with a few sentences containing these consonant sounds.
The first sentence is, ‘The vendor sold me a new fender.’
Please repeat after me.
‘The vendor sold me a new fender.’
The second sentence.
‘Live a fast and vast life.’
Please repeat after me.
‘Live a fast and vast life.’
Good.
And finally, ‘Save your money in the safe.’
Please repeat after me.
‘Save your money in the safe.’
Good.
Let's move on.
Let's now move on to listening practice.
I'm now going to show you two words.
I will say one of the two words and I want you to listen very carefully and
to tell me if this word is ‘a’ or ‘b’
Let's get started.
So you have two words, ‘a’ and ‘b’.
Now which one do I say?
‘a’ or ‘b’?
Listen.
belief
One more time.
belief
Was this ‘a’ or ‘b’?
It's ‘a’, guys – ‘belief’.
‘b’ would be ‘believe’.
save
‘a’ or ‘b’?
It's ‘b’, ‘save’.
‘a’ is ‘safe’.
carve
It's ‘b’, ‘carve’.
‘a’ would be ‘calf’.
Now listen to me.
feel
It's ‘a’, ‘feel’.
‘b’ is ‘veal’.
fender
'a' or 'b'?
It's ‘a’, ‘fender’.
‘b’ would be ‘vendor’.
Listen to me, guys.
very
It's ‘b’, ‘very’.
‘a’ is pronounced ‘fairy’.
vine
It's ‘b’, ‘vine’.
‘a’ is ‘fine’.
starve
‘a’, ‘b’ - what do you think guys?
It's ‘b’, ‘starve’.
‘a’ would be pronounced ‘staff’.
strife
It's ‘a’, ‘strife’.
‘b’ is ‘strive’.
And the last two words surf
surf
‘a’ ‘b’?
It's ‘a’, surf.
‘b’ would be ‘serve’.
You now understand the difference between these two consonant sounds.
The /f/ sound and the/v/sound in English.
Of course it takes a lot of listening and speaking practice to master these sounds,
but you can do it.
So keep practicing to be able to pronounce them correctly
and to train your ear to hear the differences between the sounds.
Also make sure to watch my other pronunciation videos
if you want to improve your English skills.
So see you next time.
Thank you so much for watching, guys.
If you've liked it, show me your support.
Click ‘like’, subscribe to the channel, put your comments below and share this video.
See you.