T

• Hard T: Tiny tigers tiptoed through the tangled trees, trying to taste the tender tulips.
  • Sound: Voiceless alveolar stop: t
  • Words: tiny, tigers, tiptoed, tangled, trees, trying, taste, tender, tulips
• Soft T: Betty bought butter but the butter was bitter, so Betty bought better butter to make the bitter butter better.
  • Sound: Voiceless alveolar stop: t
  • Words: Betty, bought, butter, bitter, better, make

    TH

• Voiceless TH: I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn’t have thought I thought.
  • Voiced vs. Voiceless TH: Thirty-three thankful brothers thrust that thick leather feather through their mother’s leather couch.
    • Voiceless TH
      • IPA: θ
      • Sound: unvoiced “th” (like “think”)
      • Words: thought, thirthy, three, thankful, thrust, thick, through
    • Voiced TH
      • IPA: ð
      • Sound: voiced “th” (like “this”)
      • Words: the, brothers, that, leather, feather, their, mother, leather

        L vs. R

• Laura Aurora learned to lure the reluctant rabbit to race around the rugged rocks.
  • L
    • IPA: l
    • Sound: clear L
    • Words: Laura, learned, lure, reluctant
  • R
    • IPA: ɹ
    • Sound: English R
  • Words: Aurora, rabbit, race, rugged, rocks

    G vs. K

• Gary the goofy kangaroo greeted the giggling geese while kicking kaleidoscopes.
  • G
    • IPA: ɡ
    • Sound: voiced velar stop
    • Words: Gary, goofy, greeted, giggling, geese
  • K
    • IPA: k
    • Sound: voiceless velar stop
    • Words: kangaroo, kicking, kaleidoscopes

      R

• Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural brewery.
  • Sound: English R: ɹ
  • Words: Rory, warrior, Roger, worrier, reared, wrongly, rural, brewery

    SH vs. S

• She sells seashells by the seashore and the seashells she sells are seashore-shells.
  • SH
    • IPA: ʃ
    • Sound: voiceless “sh”
    • Words: she, sells, seashells, seashore
  • S
    • IPA: s
    • Sound: voiceless “s”
    • Words: sells, seashells, seashore, shells

      TS vs. ST

• Persistent dentists insisted on assisting tourists despite the protests of the dentists’ assistants.
  • TS
    • IPA: ts
    • Sound: t + s combination
    • Words: dentists, tourists, assistants
  • ST
    • IPA: st
    • Words: persistent, insisted, assisting, protests

      L

  • IL: Will the shrill drill skillfully fill the grill with dill until it’s still on the hill?
    • IPA: ɪl
    • Words: will, shrill, skillfully, fill, dill, still, hill
  • OIL: The foil oiled with oil gave me an ill toil.
    • NOT EWWWWWW (with lips)
    • IPA: ɔɪl
    • Words: foil, oiled, oil, toil

      KS vs. SK vs. X

• He asks his eccentric ex for an X-ray of the axe’s axis.
  • KS
    • IPA: ks
    • Words: asks, ex, X-ray, axe
  • SK
    • IPA: sk
    • Words: asks, skill
  • X
    • IPA: ks
    • Words: ex, X-ray, axe’s, axis

      SHUN vs. JEAN

• A special decision of a musician caused confusion and visions at the fashion session.
  • Voiceless “Shun”
    • IPA: ʃ or ʃən (unvoiced, like a quiet “shh”)
    • Words: special, musician’s, fashion, session’s, explosn (the final sound)
  • Voiced “Jean”
    • IPA: ʒ or ʒən (voiced, like a buzzing “zh”)
    • Words: decision, confusion, vision
  • Voiceless SHUN
    • IPA: ʃən
    • Sound: unvoiced “shun”
    • Words: special, musician’s, fashion, session’s, explosion
  • Voiced JEAN
    • IPA: ʒən
    • Sound: voiced “zhun”
    • Words: decision, confusion, vision

      I

  • Short ɪ: Tim’s little pig, Willis, flips six big tins in a quick trip.
    • Sound: Keep your jaw relaxed, tongue forward, and lips loose—do not stretch into a smile for any of these words.
  • aɪ: My wife and I went live on a hike and tied five hives with a knife.
  • Long iː: We freed a breed of zebras and bees who feed on seeeds and guee.
  • ɪ, iː, and aɪ: Tim and Lily leave a little living chick to hear a live gig in the city.
    • Short ɪ
      • Sound: Relax your lips and tongue; keep it short and crisp.
      • Words: Tim, Lily, little, living, chick, gig, city
    • Long iː
      • Smile widely and stretch the sound slightly longer.
      • Words: leave
    • Diphthong aɪ
      • Sound: Open your mouth wide (“ah”) and glide up to “ee”.
      • Words: live (in-person)
    • The Story: Tim and Lily leave their small, living baby chicken behind so they can go watch an in-person music show in the city.

      F vs V

  • F: My Friends and wife had a rough cough in the forest, and the farmacy was stuffed with coffee-flavor flowers and phosphorous.
  • V: Viviparous vipers are very venomous, have vivid colors, are voratious, and make high level vocalizations.
    • IPA: v
    • Sound: voiced labiodental fricative
      • Common mistake: “B” (with lips)
    • Words: Viviparous, vipers, very, venomous, vivid, voratious, level, vocalizations
  • F vs V: Fie! O foe of five wives, the fever of the favela!

    IRL

• A whirlwing hurled a pearl to a curly-haired girl and an earl curled the world.

IPA Quick Reference

Sound	IPA	Example
T	t	top
K	k	cat
G	ɡ	go
S	s	see
SH	ʃ	she
Voiceless TH	θ	think
Voiced TH	ð	this
R	ɹ	red
L	l	light
SHUN	ʃən	nation
JEAN	ʒən	vision
X	ks	box
OIL	ɔɪl	oil
V	v	viper
I	ɪ	gig
	iː	leave
	aɪ	strive