LEARNING AND EDUCATION VIDEOS

But for now, concentrate on the consonants we just looked at.

Now listen and practice! Listen wherever you can (or listen in our book) to the different pairs of voiced and unvoiced consonants. Then make them yourself.

P and B

K and G T and D

This lesson is taken from the book, “Word Power” which contains sound files that let you hear the vowels and consonants and practice their pronunciation. The voiced and unvoiced consonants.

• In this section we will try to clarify the difference between the voiced consonants and the unvoiced consonants.
• If you want to master English pronunciation you have to able to distinguish between these two types of consonants. This is necessary for you to learn the proper pronunciation when you learn new vocabulary. And more importantly you need to know the difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants to be able to pronounce the words of English correctly. What makes one consonant be voiced and another not?
• A consonant is voiced when it makes the vocal cords vibrate. It is voiceless when it is pronounced without vibrating the vocal cords.

• The sound of the letters "p" and "b"
• For example, the sounds indicated by the letters "b" and "p" differ only in their vocalization (voicing). The are both "bilabials", that is, they are produced by closing both lips. But the "b" is voiced and the "p" is unvoiced. In this article, we will follow common practice and indicate the letters of the alphabet with quotes (“b” and “p”) and the sounds with slashes (/b/ and /p/)