How to Pronounce TH in English — Both Sounds (θ and ð)

The 'th' sound is considered the hardest in English, as most of the world's 7000+ languages don't have it. Mispronouncing it can lead to saying entirely different words, like 'dirty' instead of 'thirty' or 'sink' instead of 'think'. Common mispronunciations include substituting 'th' with 's', 't', or 'f'. There are two distinct 'th' sounds: one that is air-only and one that adds a buzz or vibration.

The secret to correctly pronouncing both 'th' sounds is to place the tip of your tongue slightly between your teeth, with your teeth gently resting on it. For the voiceless sound, you simply blow air out. This is an air-only sound with no voice box vibration. Practice with words like 'think', 'three', 'bath', 'nothing', and 'health', exaggerating the 'th' sound initially. A difficult tongue twister for practice is: '33 thankful thieves thought things through'.

For the voiced 'th' sound, maintain the same mouth and tongue position as the voiceless sound, but activate your voice by making your voice box vibrate. Practice this with words like 'this', 'that', 'mother', 'brother', and 'breathe'. A challenging phrase for the voiced 'th' sound is: 'These brothers bother those fathers'.

Avoid common pitfalls such as substituting the 'th' sound with 's' (e.g., 'sink' instead of 'think'), 'd' (e.g., 'day' instead of 'they'), or 't'. It's also crucial to distinguish between words with similar spellings but different 'th' sounds, like 'breath' (voiceless) and 'breathe' (voiced). Practice saying 'breathe breath' quickly to differentiate them. The ultimate test to check mastery of both 'th' sounds is the sentence: 'The three thieves thought that they were through'.

To summarize: for the voiceless 'th', stick your tongue out and blow air; for the voiced 'th', vibrate your tongue and activate your voice box. Remember not to substitute 'th' with 's', 'd', 't', or 'f'. Practice these sounds quickly and regularly to achieve native-level fluency. The video concludes by encouraging viewers to subscribe, leave comments, and ask questions for further assistance.