How to pronounce phonemes

Mouth Moves for Phonemes

Preliminary lessons: turn on your voice; tip of your tongue; back of your tongue; roof of your mouth; touch the back of your teeth; pop your lips open; open your mouth a little, halfway, a lot; lower lip; top teeth; blow air; make a kissy face; etc. Give relevant preliminary lessons before teaching each phoneme. Illustrate the embedded sound analogies with pictures or hand gestures.

For /A/, open your mouth a little to make a sound like the name of letter A: /A/.

For /a/, open your mouth halfway to make a sound like a crying baby: /a/.

For /b/, turn on your voice as you bounce open your lips, like a beating heart: /b/, /b/, /b/.

For /k/, make the back of your tongue crack off the roof of your mouth in the back, like cracking a nut: /k/, /k/, /k/.

For /d/, turn on your voice as you make the tip of your tongue drop down just behind your top teeth, like dribbling a ball: /d/, /d/, /d/.

For /E/, open your mouth a little to make a sound like the name of letter E: /E/.

For /e/, open your mouth halfway to make a sound like a rocking chair: /e/.

For /f/, touch your lower lip to your top teeth and blow air, like a clothes brush: /f/, /f/, /f/.

For /g/, turn on your voice as you make the back of your tongue go off the roof of your mouth, like you’re gulping milk: /g/, /g/, /g/.

For /h/, open your mouth wide and blow air, like a panting dog: /h/, /h/, /h/.

For /I/, open your mouth halfway and make a sound like the name of letter I: /I/.

For /i/, open your mouth a little with the sides of your tongue touching your top teeth and make a sound like you’ve touched something icky sticky: /i/.

For /j/, turn on your voice as you drop the tip of your tongue from the roof of your mouth close behind your top teeth, like a scrub brush:/j/, /j/, /j/.

For /l/, turn on your voice as you flap the tip of your tongue off your top teeth, like a helicopter: /l/, /l/, /l/.

For /m/, turn on your voice as you close your lips to make a sound like “mmm mmm good": /m/, /m/, /m/.

For /n/, turn on your voice as you touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth to make a sound like a motorboat: /n/, /n/, /n/.

For /O/, make a kissy mouth and make a sound like the name of letter O: /O/.

For /o/, open your mouth wide and make the sound the doctor asks you to make when he checks your throat: /o/.

For /p/, hold back some air and then pop your lips apart, like popcorn popping: /p/, /p/, /p/.

For /kw/, make a kissy face and crack the back of your tongue off the roof of your mouth while opening your lips, like a coffee pot brewing fresh coffee: /kw/, /kw/, /kw/.

For /r/, turn on your voice and curl the sides of your tongue between the sides of your top teeth like a chain saw: /r/, /r/, /r/.

For /s/, open your mouth a little and blow air over the top of your tongue, like hair spray: /s/, /s/, /s/.

For /t/, hold back some air and make the tip of your tongue tap off the roof of your mouth, just behind your top teeth, like a ticking clock: /t/, /t/, /t/.

For /OO/, turn on your voice as you make a kissy face to make a sound like a ghost, /U/.

For /yU/ turn on your voice and make a kissy face as you curl your tongue between your top teeth to make a sound like the name of letter U, /yU/.

For /u/, turn on your voice as you open your mouth halfway to make the sound you make when you can’t think of the answer and you’re stalling for time: /u/.

For /v/, turn on your voice as you touch your lower lip to your top teeth to make a sound like an electric shaver: /v/, /v/, /v/.

For /w/, turn on your voice, make kissy lips and then open them, like a washing machine: /w/, /w/, /w/.

For /ks/, make your tongue crack off the roof of your mouth while blowing air over your tongue, like the sound when you’re opening a can of soda: /ks/, /ks/, /ks/.

For /y/, turn on your voice and move the sides of your tongue between your top teeth, like you just saw a nasty mess: /y/, /y/, /y/.

For /z/, turn on your voice and blow air over the top of your tongue, like pulling up a zipper: /z/, /z/, /z/.

For /oo/, turn on your voice as you stick out your lips and make a sound like you’re lifting a heavy weight: /oo/.

For /oi/, make a kissy face, turn on your voice and then open your lips, like a squeaky gate, /oi/.

For /ou/, turn on your voice with your mouth open wide and then close it down to a kissy face, like you just got hurt: /ou/.

For /aw/, turn on your voice with your mouth halfway open like you’re feeling sorry for someone who just got hurt: /aw/.

For /ar/, turn on your voice with your mouth halfway open and curl your tongue between the sides of your top teeth, like a pirate: /ar/.

For /sh/, make a kissy face and blow air over the top of your tongue, like you’re telling someone to be quiet: /sh/, /sh/, /sh/.

For /hw/, make a kissy face and blow out some air while opening your lips, like you’re blowing out a candle: /hw/, /hw/, /hw/.

For /ch/, put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and and then drop the tip of your tongue off the roof of your mouth, like a choo-choo train: /ch/, /ch/, /ch/.

For /th/, put your tongue between your teeth and blow out some air, like you’re peeling tape: /th/, th/, /th/. Sometimes you turn on your voice as you’re peeling tape to make /th/: /th/, /th/, /th/.

For /ng/, turn on your voice with the back of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, like hitting a gong: /ng/, /ng/, /ng/.

For /zh/, turn on your voice while making a kissy face and blow air over the top of your tongue, like you’re sawing wood: /zh/, /zh/, /zh/.