"Hello my name is Hope and I'm from Guangxi. I think I have problems with the sounds / ∫ / and /ʒ /. Can you help me? When I say "It's my pleasure." native English speakers always correct my pronunciation of /ʒ /. Thank you very much."
Hope, from Guangxi
What problems do Chinese learners of English usually have when they pronounce /∫/ and /ʒ / ?
Today, Finn and Wang Fei explain how to pronounce /∫/ and /ʒ / well.
/∫/ 和 /ʒ / 对部分中国英语(论坛)学习者来说是比较困难的两个发音。如何发好这两个音呢?在今天的节目中你可以边听边练。
Here are some examples for practising /∫/ and /ʒ / sounds. Practise your pronunciation while you are listening to the programme.
Some beautiful seashells
She sells seashells on the sea shore.
It's my pleasure.
I usually wear casual clothes.
Do you have a question about Learning English? 你有没有英语学习上的问题?
Then email us at chinaelt@bbc.co.uk
Pronunciation 两个辅音/∫/ and /ʒ /
Wang Fei: She sells seashells on the seashore, and the shells…
Finn: (clear throat) Wang Fei, it's time to do the recording.
Wang Fei: Oh, yes! 大家好我是王飞。欢迎收听本周的《你问我答》节目。
Finn: And I'm Finn. Wang Fei, what were you saying just now? She sells what? She sells sea shells …
Wang Fei: Oh. I was practising my English pronunciation. I used to have a problem with the /s/ sound and the /∫ / sound.
Finn: That's interesting! Well, today's question from our listeners is about the sounds /∫/ and /ʒ /.
Insert
Hello my name is Hope and I'm from Guangxi. I think I have problems with the sounds " ∫ "and "ʒ ". Can you help me? When I say "It's my pleasure." native English speakers always correct my pronunciation of "ʒ ". Thank you very much.
Wang Fei: 我们的听友 Hope 觉得自己的两个发音/∫/ 和 /ʒ / 不够准确,她想知道如何发好这两个音。她特别对 "It's my pleasure." 这个句子感到头疼。
Finn: The /ʒ / sound is a difficult sound for some Chinese learners isn't it?
Wang Fei: Sure, I heard some learners say "It's my pleasure." as "It's my /plerə/."What's the problem there?
Finn: Well, what they did was they pronounced / ʒ / as /r/. The problem is that you should raise their tongues up a bit to a position close to the roof of the mouth.
Wang Fei: 原来他们把/ ʒ / 发成了 /r/. Finn 解释说这是因为他们的舌头没有抬起来。舌头应该提高到快接触到口腔上腭的位置。下面 Finn 读正确的发音,我读错误的发音。你们注意听一下区别。
Finn: It's my pleasure.
Page 2 of 3
Wang Fei: It's my /plerə/.
Finn: I usually wear casual clothes.
Wang Fei: I usually wear casual clothes. 希望你们听出区别来了。另外,我还听到有些中国学习者会把"It's my pleasure." 读成 "It's my /plezə/."
Finn: Yes! They pronounced / ʒ / as /z/. The problem here is that they didn't raise their tongues up and didn't stick out their lips either.
Wang Fei: Finn 解释说这是因为他们的舌头没有抬起来,另外嘴唇也没有往前突出。下面 Finn 读正确的发音,我读错误的发音。你们注意听一下区别。
Finn: It's my pleasure.
Wang Fei: It's my /plezə/.
Finn: It's a good measure.
Wang Fei: It's a good measure. 希望你能听出正确的和错误的发音之间的区别。那我们来说一说另外一个音/∫/.
Finn: /∫/ and / ʒ / are indeed two sounds that puzzle many English learners. One is a voiced and one is an unvoiced consonant.
Wang Fei: Finn 说 /∫/ and /ʒ / 是一对清浊辅音。也就是说它们的发音部位是一样的,清辅音 unvoiced sound 在发音的时候,声带不振动,浊辅音 voiced sound 在发音的时候,声带则是振动的。
Finn: Wang Fei, what problem did you have before with the /∫/ sound?
Wang Fei:I pronounced it like this: She sells sea shells.
Finn: I see. She sells sea shells. The problem is that you didn't raise their tongue up towards the roof of your mouth.
Wang Fei: 是的。Finn 说得很对。我以前没有发好 /∫/ 这个音,就是因为舌位不够高,发这个音的时候,舌尖要往后移,舌头应该提高到快接触到口腔上腭的位置。
Finn: And your lips should go forwards, not backwards.
Wang Fei: 你的嘴唇要往前突出一点,而不是往后。
Finn: Ready? /∫/
Wang Fei: /∫/
Finn: Very clear! Now how about this? She sells seashells on the seashore.
Wang Fei: She sells seashells on the seashore.
Page 3 of 3
Finn: When you are reading this sentence, you should feel your tongue going up and down in your mouth.
Wang Fei: 在做这个练习的时候,你能感觉到舌头在口腔里上下移动的。
Finn: Now, let's quickly go over the key elements of pronouncing /∫/ and / ʒ / well. First, the tip of your tongue go backwards a bit, then raise their tongue up almost touch the roof of your mouth, and stick your lips out.
Wang Fei: 有三个步骤,首先舌尖往后移一点儿,然后舌头抬起靠近口腔上腭位置,最后嘴唇要往前突出。
Finn: Ready? /∫/
Wang Fei: /∫/
Finn: / ʒ /
Wang Fei: / ʒ /
Finn: Very good.
Wang Fei: Thank you Finn.
Finn: It's my pleasure Wang Fei. Shall we finish the programme now?
Wang Fei: Yes! 听众朋友,如果你也有发音或者语法方面的问题,请给我们发电子邮件。如果你把你的录音发送给我们,您就会有机会得到BBC 英语教学专家的指导。
Finn: We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Both: Bye bye!