As you might have guessed, /h/ is a voiceless sound.
It is a fricative, which means, you may feel some friction or airflow on the back of your tongue.
You make the /h/ sound by relaxing the back of your tongue and releasing air.
You will feel the air between the back of your tongue and the soft palate. Like this, /h/.
Some English learners will find that they make the /h/ sound a bit further back, so it sounds more like this, /h/ or this, /h/.
In this case, you'll want to move the sound forward and relax the back of your throat a bit more.
So think about sighing, like this.
And then take away the vowel, /h/.
Another challenge comes into play depending on the vowel sound that follows the /h/ .
Sometimes, when it's followed by a /u/ or /ʊ/ sound, it can be a bit more challenging.
And the reason for this is that the consonant /h/ is placed closely to these two back vowel sounds.
So let's try practicing the /h/ sound in relation to the /u/ sound and the /ʊ/ sound.
Your challenge is to gently release your breath on the /h/ and then add the voice of the vowel sound.
So try this with me.
/h/, /u/, who.
/h/, /u/, whose.
/h/, /u/, hoot.
/h/, /u/, hoop.
/h/, /ʊ/, hook.
/h/, /ʊ/, hooked.
Can you feel the /h/ before the vowel?
Now, for an extra challenge, let's try the /h/ before the yu sound.
First, let's try the combination together.
/h/, yu, hu, /h/, yu, hu, /h/, yu, hu, /h/, yu, hu.
And now let's try a few words.
Human.
Huge.
Humane.
Humility.
Humor.
Keep up your practice on EnglishCentral and good luck!
