Finn:  Hi Jean. 
 
Jean:  Hi Finn. 

How do you say length correctly?

 
Finn:  (blows raspberry)
 
Jean:  Yuck, what are you doing that for? Finn 一上来就冲我吐舌头。Gross.
 
Finn:  Oh sorry Jean, I was just practising for later.
 
Jean:  For later? 莫名其妙… Anyway, we have a programme to get on with.
 
Finn:  Yes, this week's question comes from Tim, who has trouble pronouncing 'th' sounds.
 
Jean:  我们这位中国听友Tim他说有一些英语单词后面带th 的发音他总是发不好，像 length, 尤其是这样单词的复数形式，就是 th 后面还加个 s的时候，lengths.
 
Finn:  Length. Lengths. It's not easy. Jean, have a go.
 
Jean:  Length. Lengths. 
 
Finn:  Tim – I sympathise with you – I know these sounds don't exist in Chinese. But the 'th' sounds in English are really common, and so are very important to learn. So how about a simple technique to practise our pronunciation?
 
Jean:  Finn 说他很同情he sympathises Tim所遇到的这个困难，因为这样的发音在汉语里是完全不存在的，那么今天 Finn 就会为我们特别教授一下掌握这个英语发音的方法和诀窍。
 
Finn:  But first, as I'm sure you know, there are two different 'th' sounds in English. One sounds like this:
 
Insert
 
Th, thing, thousand, author, length.
 
Finn:  And the other sounds like this:
 
Insert
 
Th, the, this, brother, smooth.
 
Finn:  We're going to learn to make both sounds. Now listen again. Do you know what the difference between the two sounds is?
 
Insert
 
Th, thing, thousand, author, length.
 
Insert
 
Th, the, this, brother, smooth.
 
Jean:  这两个 th 的发音拼写是完全一样的，但是听起来就很不同。I know the difference, Finn…
 
Finn:  Well I know you do the difference Jean, but I was asking the audience. 
 
Jean:  But I know!
 
Finn:  Ok Jean, you tell us, what's the difference?
 
Jean:  这两个发音一个是轻音一个是实音。像刚才听到的第二组单词 the、this里面的 th 都是发声的，而第一组的单词里面的th 发音时声带不振动，只是把舌尖碰在上下牙齿之间的轻声。
 
Finn:  That's right. And of course whenever you learn a new word which has 'th' in it, it's really important to learn which kind of pronunciation it is. Is it 'th' or 'th'? And the dictionary will always tell you which it is. 
 
Now we're going to move on to the technique and we'll learn how to make both sounds. Jean – do you have a mirror?
 
Jean:  Erm, let me see. Here you go.
 
Finn:  No, you if hold that please. Look at yourself.
 
Jean:  So pretty. Hang on, let me just… good.
 
Finn:  Now, don't be embarrassed…
 
Jean:  Yes?
 
Finn:  I'd like you to stick your tongue out.
 
Jean:  把我的舌头伸出来。Ok…
 
Finn:  No, not so far. Just hold it between your teeth.
  
Jean:  (with tongue between teeth) 把舌尖放在上下牙齿之间… Like this? 
 
Finn:  That's it. And blow out please.
 
Jean:  吹气? Blow. Ok, here goes: th, th. 这最好是自己在家着这镜子练，否则让外人看了容易吓着。  Th, th.
 
Finn:  That is the noise for 'th' as is thing, thousand and length. Now, we've done that one, that's sound number one. Let's learn sound two – 'th' as in the, this, brother. Is your tongue still sticking out?
 
Jean:  Yeth.
 
Finn:  This time try to buzz your vocal chords.
 
Jean:  Thry tho buth... just a minute, 这次是声带要发声的实音。Here we go: th, th.
 
Finn:  Like this: th, th.
 
Jean:  Th, th.
 
Finn:  And again. Th.
 
Jean:  Th, th.
 
Finn:  That's really nice. Perfect Jean, thank you. That was 'th' as in the and brother. Now the next bit is I want you to keep doing that and put your fingers on your throat.
 
Jean:  Th, th. 
 
Finn:  Feel anything?
 
Jean:  Yes, it buzzes. 当我们发实音的时候把手放在喉咙上就能感觉到声带的震动，不过在发轻声的时候声带就不会震动… th, th… it doesn't buzz.
 
Finn:  That's right, there's a difference isn't there? Now, how about we give Tim, that's our listener, some help with pronouncing the 'th' with no buzz followed by an 's' – lengths.
 
Jean:  Lengths.
 
Finn:  It's not easy, is it? Acutally Tim, even native speakers 英文为母语的人  often have problems with making this sound, but if you really want to learn it, then my advice is very simple: just to keep practising. Try this, say the 'th' sound, and then say 's'.
 
Jean:  Th, s, th, s
 
 
 
 
 
 
Page 4 of 4
 
 
 
Finn:  Once you feel you cn do this, just try and do it quicker and quicker till the gap between the sounds is very small. So Jean can you do it and gradually speed up please.
 
Jean:  Th, s, th, s… ths, ths. 
 
Finn:  Beautiful, very, very nice. Not bad, eh?!
 
Jean:  Not bad, yes!
 
Finn:  Now, when you're practising 'lengths', just try length… s, length… s, length… s, length… s, gradually getting quicker. Now how about this for a sentence: Three fifths of moths wear thick clothes for three months.
 
Jean:  Three fifths of moths? But Finn, it doesn't make any sense!
 
Finn:  Jean, no excuses please! Try again.
 
Jean:  Three fifths of moths wear thick clothes for three months. 倒是挺练发音的，不过这句话的意思根本是莫名其妙嘛。当然，今天我们的节目主题是学习 th 在不同单词里的两个不同的发音th 和  th，希望大家已经有所收获…
 
Finn:  Yes… remember to stick your tongue out in front of a mirror!
 
Jean:  而th 后面加个 s确实更加深了发音的难度，像“长度”的复数 lengths，我建议大家在练习的时候把这个词先慢慢的发音出来，确保发音准确了再把语速提高，其实这样的词就是英国本国人也是不容易总能发音准确的，所以大家也不要怕。 
Finn:  Yes, we hope Tim has learned something from today's programme. If you have any other questions about pronunciation or the English language in general, what do we do, Jean?
 
Jean:  Email us!
 
Finn:  Absolutely – chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. Bye!
 
Jean:  Bye. 

Do you ever have problems like the one our listener Tim mentioned above?

He has trouble pronouncing the /ths/ sound at the end of the word 'lengths'.

Don't worry if you do have trouble with this sound, as Finn says in the programme even native speakers sometimes have problems with it.

And, in the programme you can learn a good way to make this sound, plus the other /th/ sound which occurs in common words like 'the', 'this' and 'that'.

But be warned, you need to stick your tongue out.

Do you have a question about the English language?

Then email us at chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

欢迎你把问题通过电子邮件发给我们：chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

If we like your question, we may well make a programme about it.

Send your questions now.