In this English Pronunciation tutorial, you're going to learn a really really important
difference between 'N' as in thin and /ŋ/ as in thing.
These two sounds can be very very difficult to tell the difference between.
This video was a request from Tomasz from Poland so thank you Tomasz for requesting this video.
It's a really really useful and important difference to know in English and
once you start pronouncing 'thin' and 'thing' clearly, it's going to
make a huge huge difference to the quality of your English speech.
So I'm gonna get straight into the video. I'm gonna start by comparing both sounds, showing you how we correctly make
both the /n/ and the /ŋ/ sound in English. I'm then going to give you some exercises that will help you to
actually learn to pronounce both of them clearly, if you're struggling with them at the moment.
I'm then going to put both sounds into words and compare the difference between words when the
only difference is this sound at the end of the word, this is very important, and then finally I'm
going to give you a super difficult exercise at the end of the lesson to really stress test your
capabilities to pronounce and tell the difference between these two sounds.
And if you really are committed to speaking English clearly and with good pronunciation then this exercise is going
to be invaluable for your English pronunciation.
So let's dive straight in. Thumbs up if you liked the video
and subscribe for English Pronunciation tutorials that come out like this on a weekly basis.
So we're going to start by looking at the 'N' sound as in 'not,' okay. /n/.
So the first thing to know is that both sounds aren't nasal sounds, they come out your nose. So if I say either sound /n/ or /ŋ/
and I pinched my nose, look what happens.
mmm
Okay, airflow stops. So the first thing that you must know is that all the airflow in both sounds coming out your nose.
The second thing is that both sounds of voiced, so if you put your hand on your throat and you say
/n/ or /ŋ/, /ŋ/.
You're gonna feel your voice box vibrating, okay. The only difference between these two sounds is where the tongue is in
the mouth, okay. So we're going to be really focusing 100% on tongue position here.
So 'N.' The tip of my tongue for 'N' is right behind my teeth. It's not touching the teeth it's just above.
So above the back of my teeth is a part of the mouth called the 'alveolar ridge,' and if I go right to the camera like that
you should be able to see just here, is the alveolar ridge. My tongue-- the tip of my tongue is
touching that Ridge for 'N,' okay. It's in exactly the same position as when I make the start of the
'L' sound in English as in 'long,' okay. So let's start by putting our tongue in that position
having airflow coming out the nose having our voicebox vibrating and making the 'N' sound like this:
Okay, practice along with me if you want to get the most from this tutorial.
To test if you're doing it correctly, put your hand on your throat and feel if it's vibrating.
/n/
it should be if it's not you'll be hearing this:
There'll be no sound and lots of airflow coming out your nose.
The second test to make sure that you're making it correctly is make the sound and then pinch your nose.
If the sound stops you're making it correctly like this:
okay, that's correct. If you're hearing this:
Then it's wrong, okay. So you really want airflow to stop when you pinch your nose.
And the third test to make sure you're doing it correctly is simply to record yourself, like I'm recording myself now,
and then look in the mirror afterwards, or what's the recording back, and make sure that your tongue
is in the right position like this:
/n/
Okay.
That's the 'N' sound.
Just one final exercise it can be really useful if you're still having difficulty making this sound is this:
We're going to go between the 'L' sound and the 'N' sound, okay. And if you're finding it difficult getting your tongue in this
position, then going between the two of these is really going to help. So just follow along with me now, okay.
We're going to start by saying 'L' I'm going to go straight into the 'N' sound like this:
/l/, /n/
Okay, I really hope you can hear the difference there.
And the main difference between those two sounds in this exercise is airflow, for /l/
if I pinch my nose there's no difference to the sound it stays the same because 100% of the air is coming out of my mouth.
For 'N' airflow stops, okay. So practice that exercise again
/l/, /n/
and that's gonna make a really really big difference, okay.
Let's move on to step two and look at the /ŋ/ sound, okay. So the only difference, as I said, is the tongue position
for /ŋ/ look at my mouth and tell me what you see.
/ŋ/
Where is my tongue? Well for starters,
/ŋ/
The tip of my tongue is loose and it's down the bottom of my mouth
/ŋ/
Okay.
The bit of the tongue that you want to be aware of is the back of the tongue, there.
If you actually do that, it'll make you want to-- feel like-- feel a bit weird, okay.
The back of the tongue touches the back of the mouth there okay.
So look at- I'll make it again:
/ŋ/
can you see the back of my tongue coming up to my mouth?
Okay.
It's exactly the same tongue position as the two plosive consonants /k/ and /g/, okay.
So just as we did a moment ago with that first exercise, we can do exactly
the same here to get comfortable putting your tongue in this position like this
/ŋ/, /k/
If you were paying attention you might have noticed that right before my tongue
makes the /k/ sound it moves slightly in my mouth. The reason for that is, because /k/ is
a plosive vowel sound when the airflow stops coming out of my nose and then starts to come
out my mouth to make the /k/ sound but it's blocked, that then pushes my tongue
even more okay. But the tongue position is exactly the same let's go again.
/ŋ/, /k/
Alright. It really is as simple as that,, okay.
So step one is to practice both of these sounds and exercises until
you are comfortable making both of these sounds correctly. Now if you're from--
if your native language doesn't have both of these sounds in to begin with don't worry. It might take
a while, but it's fine you're gonna learn it it's it's doable and I promise that you will get it if you practice.
Let's now move on to the next part of actually integrating this sound, now that we've learnt, it into our English speech.
As I said I'm gonna give you five examples of both sounds, sorry, at the end of words
and then you can see exactly how they compare. So example one 'walk-in,'
as in 'I'm going to walk into the doctor surgery'
'walk-in'
that's the 'N' sound and now the
/ŋ/ sound is going to be the continuous tense of
'walking'
Okay
'We are walking together,' 'walking together.'
Alright, example number two:
'Eat-in'
So 'instead of going out to a restaurant let's eat-in tonight,' right. 'Let's eat in.'
Okay, pay special attention to the tongue there:
'Let's eat-in,' alright. And that compares to
'We are eating together.'
If I just compare the two:
'eat-in,' 'eating'
Alright.
Practice that and then move on to the next one.
If you find this video useful, give a thumbs up and let me know what difficulties you're having with it below okay and that's going to enable me
to see your comments and then respond.
The next example is going to be 'jump in,' okay. 'let's jump into the swimming pool together,' okay.
'Jump in'
Okay, that compares to:
'We are jumping into the swimming pool.'
Alright, comparing the two:
'Jump in,' 'jumping'
Alright.
Just a side note: in making this video now, I'm actually feeling a bit of tension here in the very bottom of my
mouth, okay. So if you're feeling tension - that may well mean that you're doing things correctly.
So well done!
Example number four is going to be:
'Thing'
and 'thin'
So 'the girl is thin,' okay. 'The girl is thin,' okay.
'this pen is a thing'
'Thing'
Alright.
'Thin,' 'thing'
Alright, simple as that. And example five is going to
build on example four here, okay. A bit more tricky but you can do it
We're going to say, 'let's put the thing in the box,' so we're going /ŋ/ to /n/, okay. So this is the next step in actually developing your
awareness of the two sounds.
'Let's put the thing in the box.'
Alright.
So there were five examples. I'm going to end the video now by giving you one really really
useful invaluable exercise for now going between the two of these in a really intense situation okay.
The sentence is this, and I'm gonna hold my notes up behind the camera here so I can actually see what I'm saying:
'This thin thing is thinking about eating in
Alright, there you have it. Now I'm gonna give you one final useful tip here before we go, okay
and that's this: Do not make the /g/ sound at the end of /ŋ/.
So a really common mistake that I hear people making is they'll say
'thinking' 'thinking' or 'this thing' 'this thing,' okay.
That's a really good example of bad English. You do not want to make that pronunciation mistake it sounds very
unprofessional it doesn't sound nice to listen to at all, okay. If you're doing it what you're doing
there is you're making a 'G' sound at the end of /ŋ/. So what's happening is the airflow is going from
there to your mouth and you're making that /g/ sound at the end /ŋg/, /ŋg/. Okay. and we really really
want to avoid that the /ŋ/ sound it all comes out the nose and airflow stops once we've finished
making that sound, but all through the nose, okay. It's as simple as that.
Thumbs up if you've liked this video. This is a really really really valuable and important thing to know if you want to speak
clear English with good pronunciation. So do the work, practice it yourself until you're comfortable
and it's going to make the world of difference for you, okay. If you know anyone that is trying
to improve their English Pronunciation or could benefit from speaking English more clearly and
it would help them to enjoy a better quality of life, then please tell them about the channel here
please tell me about my tutorials. My vision is to help as many people as possible get
the benefits of good English Pronunciation and I really really want to spread the message,
because I know it makes such a big difference to people's lives.
So thumbs up and I look forward to seeing you next week
for another super useful and practical English Pronunciation tutorial.
I'll see you next week!