The /w/ sound is considered a glide or a semivowel sound by speech-language pathologists. In other words, /w/ sounds a lot like a vowel and sometimes even acts like one, even though it is technically a consonant. To make a /w/ sound, form a tight circle with puckered lips brought out and away from your face. With your lips in this position, produce …
How to Teach the B Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
The /b/ sound is a bilabial sounds, which means the lips are pressed together while producing the sound. It is also a voiced sound, which means that the vocal cords are vibrating when the breath is released from the lips. This is different than the unvoiced /p/ sound, for example, which gets its sound simply from the release of air. …
How to Teach the K Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
The /k/ sound is very similar to the /g/ sound because they both use the same mouth position. Both are stop consonants, which means the airflow while producing the sound is first stopped, and then released. /K/ is different because it is an unvoiced sound – the only sound you hear when making it is the sound the air makes when you release …
How to Teach the G Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
The /g/ sound and the /k/ sound are very similar and use the same mouth position. So what makes them different? The /g/ sound is a voiced sound and the /k/ sound is unvoiced. That means that your vocal cords are vibrating as air is passed through the mouth to make the /g/ sound. Position the back of your tongue at …
How to Teach the D Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
The /d/ sound is made in almost the same way as the /t/ sound is made. Place the tip of your tongue on the little ridge on the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth, then release the tounge, allowing air to rush through your mouth. The air is temporarily stopped by your tongue in this position, which means both /d/ …
How to Teach the T Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
The /t/ sound and the /d/ sound are very similar because they are both made with the same positioning of the mouth. To say either sound, simply put the tip of your tongue on the small ridge just behind your teeth. Both sounds are stop consonants, which means that they are produced when air that is pushed through the mouth is stopped by …
How to Teach the NG Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
The /ng/ sound is a single, distinct consonant sound, even though it is spelled with two letters and sounds similar to /n/. Like the /n/ sound, /ng/ is a nasal sound. This means that the air passes through the nasal passage instead of through the mouth when making the sound. To make this sound, lift the back of your tongue against the soft …
How to Teach the F Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
In order to make the /f/ sound, all that is required is to rest your front teeth lightly on your bottom lip and blow. The /f/ sound is a voiceless sound, so you are simply passing air through your mouth. You do not need to vibrate your vocal cords at all. Children usually master this sound by age four, so if your …
How to Teach the Y Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
The /y/ consonant sound is made by placing the tip of the tongue just behind the lower front teeth and raising the middle of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth. The sides of the tongue actually come in contact with the top of the mouth, but the middle of the tongue does not touch the roof, creating a passageway for air …
How to Teach the R Sound by Chicago Speech Therapy
The /r/ sound is a particularly tricky letter to teach because the way your mouth produces the sound changes depending on the other letters it is combined with. In fact, there are 8 different vocalizations of the letter /r/: /ar/, /air/, /ear/, /ire/, /or/, /er/, /rl/, and the simple /r/ by itself. Furthermore, the sound of each vocalization is affected by its placement …