Lessons Unit 1, lesson 35
θ as in thin
One consonant, on its own page. Hear it, watch where it sits in each word's sheet, then say the words yourself.
What do the marks mean?
Want the full walkthrough? Read the map explains every mark, with practice.
θthe th in thin
Put the tip of your tongue gently between your teeth and blow air: th. No voice, just air. If it sounds like s or t, check that your tongue really touches your teeth.
Now say it yourself
Read each word from its sheet, out loud, three times. Where there's a play button, listen first and copy what you hear. Slow is fine — speaking clearly matters more than speaking fast. Tap a word's microphone to record yourself and see which sounds landed.
Check your pronunciation, on this device. The first use downloads a small AI listener (about 40 MB, one time, then it's cached). Your voice is analyzed here in your browser — it never leaves your device.
The tongue-between-teeth sound
θ is rare across languages, which is why it feels awkward at first. The tongue tip has to poke gently between your teeth, not behind them, and stay there while air hisses out — no voice, just breath.
Say thin or thumb in front of a mirror and check that you can actually see a sliver of tongue between your teeth. If you can't see it, your tongue probably retreated behind them.
Don't swap it for t, s, or f
The three most common substitutes are t (think becomes tink), s (thin becomes sin), and f (bath becomes baf). Each one changes the word into a different real English word, so it's worth the extra care.
A quick self-test: say thin, then tin, then sin. If all three sound the same, slow down and put your tongue tip actually between your teeth for the first one, and hold it there for a beat.