we're going to learn how to make the N consonant sound.

To make this sound, the jaw drops a little

and the lips part.

Nn-- The front flap part of the tongue goes to the roof

of the mouth.

Make sure to keep you tongue wide as you do that.

The soft palate is lowered.

Air comes up through the nasal passages.

This makes it a nasal consonant.

You can feel the vibration in your nose.

Nn--

There are only 3 nasal sounds in American English.

Nn-- Ng-- Mm--

It's very important that the tongue be relaxed.

If there is tension in the back of the tongue, it will sound somewhat like the NG sound,

ng-- even if the front of the tongue is in the

right position.

One thing that will help relaxation is to think about keeping the tongue really wide.

Nn-- nn--

Let's look up close and in slow motion.

The N sound.

Lips relaxed, tongue wide and lifted to the roof of the mouth.

If you see any darkness on the sides of the tongue when you practice,

that means there is tension in the tongue.

Try to release that tension and keep the tongue wide.

The word 'no'.

Tongue soft, relaxed, and wide.

The word 'snag'.

Front of the tongue to roof of mouth.

The word 'on'.

Wide tongue to the roof of the mouth to finish the word.

The N consonant sound.

No

Snag

On

Example words.

Repeat with me.

Nice.

Nn-- nice.

One.

Nn-- one.

Number.

Nn-- number.

Woman.

Nn-- woman.

Win.

Nn-- win.

Any.

Nn-- any.

End.

Nn-- end.

This video is one of 36 in a new series, The Sounds of American English.

Videos in this set will be released here on YouTube twice a month,

first and third Thursdays, in 2016 and 2017.

But the whole set can be all yours right now.

The real value of these videos is watching them as a set, as a whole,

to give your mind the time to take it all in and get the bigger picture.

Most of the materials you'll find elsewhere just teach the sounds on their own in isolation.

It's a mistake to learn them this way.

We learn the sounds to speak words and sentences, not just sounds.

Move closer to fluency in spoken English.

Buy the video set today!

Visit rachelsenglish.com/sounds

Available as a DVD or digital download.