/s/ is a voiceless consonant sound.
You should feel some friction and air flow between the tip of your tongue and the gum ridge.
You make the /s/ sound by raising the tip of your tongue toward the gum ridge, but not touching.
You should feel a whoosh of air between the tongue and the gum ridge.
/s/
/s/ can also be made with the tip of the tongue down by moving the top of the front of your tongue toward the gum ridge like this.
/s/
A common challenge with the /s/ sound is what's called a sibilant S and that means...
...your S could be very whistley and often this has to do with placement.
Making the /s/ sound with the tip of your tongue up is helpful in preparing for consonant combination sounds.
You'll need a chopstick to help you with the exercises that we are going to do together.
In these exercises you'll feel the tip of the tongue press up against the chopstick for for the /t/ sound and release for the /s/ sound.
Try these along with me.
Pete, seem, seem.
Can you feel the placement of the /s/?
Let's do a few more together.
Pit, sick, sick.
Pet, sell, sell.
Pat, sack, sack.
Make sure to try some more /s/ practice on EnglishCentral and good luck!
