Mastering Tricky English Sounds
Lesson Goals
- To hear the difference between Khmer sounds and new English sounds.
- How to correctly make the /f/, /v/, and /th/ sounds.
- To build confidence in your English pronunciation.
Welcome! Some English sounds are new for Khmer speakers. Practicing these sounds helps people understand you clearly. Let's learn three important sounds!
1. The 'F' Sound (/f/)
In Khmer, you don't have the /f/ sound, so it's common to use a /p/ sound instead. Let's learn the correct way.
[Image of pronunciation mouth position f sound]How to do it: Put your top teeth on your bottom lip. Blow air out like a candle. No voice (quiet).
Practice words:
- Five
- For
- From
- Coffee
2. The 'V' Sound (/v/)
The /v/ sound is the "brother" of /f/. The mouth position is the same, but it is loud.
How to do it: Top teeth on bottom lip. Turn on your voice box! You should feel a "buzz" or vibration in your throat.
Practice words:
- Very
- Have
- Drive
- Video
3. The 'TH' Sound (/θ/)
This is unique to English. Be careful not to say 's' or 't'.
How to do it: Put the tip of your tongue slightly between your top and bottom teeth. Blow air out gently.
Practice words:
- Thank you
- Three
- Think
- Mouth
Tip: Voiced vs. Unvoiced
The main difference between /f/ and /v/ is vibration.
- Unvoiced (/f/, /th/): Only air. Touch your throat—no vibration.
- Voiced (/v/): Uses vocal cords. Touch your throat—you feel buzzing!
Practice Activity: Listen & Choose
Listen to the audio explanation. Which word do you hear in the examples?
- Fan vs Pan
- Very vs Berry
- Sink vs Think
- Face vs Pace
- Vine vs Fine
Vocabulary List
- Coffee (noun) [កាហ្វេ] - A popular brown drink.
- Video (noun) [វីដេអូ] - A moving picture recording.
- Think (verb) [គិត] - To use your mind.
Your Mission 🎙️
Use your phone to record these sentences. Listen back—did you make the sounds correctly?
- I have five cups of coffee.
- Thank you very much.
- I think it is video number three.