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I have lots of examples that many make mistakes when they want to pronounce it:
check them they are interesting
ballet
pizza
sew
sunbathe
finite ..........
did you pronounce it correctly or not?
can you add to my list?

ah yes i have also examples:

recipe
bear
equator
occur
............

hi to every one,
I fundamentally believe that pronuciacion is very important in using english effectively and purposefully. however, I come across some difficult examples in many occasions. in this case, I want to ask for help if it is possible. I assure you that I've cheked in many dictionaries but in vain. I also asked many teacher and colleagues but I still worried about that problem. any way, I want you to help me pronounce these words:
[strengths, deaths, months, youths, mouths, moths, depths, ....etc] so the "s" at the end is pronounced "s" , "z" or ",« θ » or « δ ».
thank you for help

abdelmottalib wrote:hi to every one,
I fundamentally believe that pronuciacion is very important in using english effectively and purposefully. however, I come across some difficult examples in many occasions. in this case, I want to ask for help if it is possible. I assure you that I've cheked in many dictionaries but in vain. I also asked many teacher and colleagues but I still worried about that problem. any way, I want you to help me pronounce these words:
[strengths, deaths, months, youths, mouths, moths, depths, ....etc] so the "s" at the end is pronounced "s" , "z" or ",« θ » or « δ ».
thank you for help

here's my 3 seconds research from google, looking for 'pronunciation plural -th'. hope it helps.

http://www.peridore.com/pdffiles/122pluralpronun.pdf

How about CHOIR....?
heheheh

Go to:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/
Select a word and listen to the correct pronunciation.

My Best Wishes to all of you,
Graziela Peleteiro
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

http://getenglishlessons.com

Minimal pair work is a good way to help students overcome specific pronunciation problems.

Read the article on Minimal Pairs in the ICAL wiki to learn what they are and how you can use them.

Usually if a word ends with "th" and there is an "s" you must pronounce it as a soft "s"....just try to pronounce it with a "z" sound and you will find it difficult!! That is the purpose of the different "s" pronunciations...for comfort!!

Same situaltion with the "ed" pronunciation

fashouri wrote:I have lots of examples that many make mistakes when they want to pronounce it:
check them they are interesting
ballet
pizza
sew
sunbathe
finite ..........
did you pronounce it correctly or not?
can you add to my list?

Hi colleagues! I find it is interesting to add one : ewe .

Good pronunciation is important for effective communication. However, it's been my experience that students place far too much emphasis on this aspect.

Teachers can and should encourage clear pronunciation with drills, reading aloud, and pair work in the classroom. Teachers should also have students listen and repeat to pre-recorded CDs and podcast exercises as self-study, as this will improve prosody. On the student side of things, they should record their own voices while reading a monologue to listen for weak/trouble spots. This serves as a cautionary flag, which then allows students to address the problem(s).

Yet as a teacher of pronunciation courses, I often find students in greater need of practice with grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and accuracy.

In short, I think teachers should consider pronunciation as one aspect of speaking, and incorporate short asides to improve pronunciation/intonation over a long period of time. Students should realize that this isn't the magic bullet to effective communication.