The Secret To English Fluency? REMOVE Your TONGUE

Sounds painful, or uncomfortable, but getting rid of your tongue is going to help you sound more natural in American English. And at the end of the video, we’re even going to show you a technique that no other pronunciation channel really discusses. Oh, don’t worry, you don’t have to use these but at least try to keep your tongue out of the way.
Otherwise, your tongue blocks your breath. Every time you raise it to pronounce a T, or a D, or a Z, or a S, or a N, or a L….wait, those are a lot of sounds you were taught to say with your tongue high.
And you were taught this because, it’s possible. You can pronounce English sounds with your tongue up here. But, what tends to happen is these higher positions can also raise your placement. It’s like the difference between “pain” and “pain”—that second one sounds tighter, with less air flow, and projects sound up here. How do you fix this? I’ll tell you, but first more about the problem.
The problem with so many of these consonant sounds is that we can easily go back to our first language. Your first language probably has a T, or a D, or a Z, or a S, or a N...(ok, I got lazy editing and just stole that from earlier). And it sounds similar in both languages, right! But similar doesn’t mean the same.
T/D/Z/N (first time high placement, second time low placement)
And when your consonant uses a high placement, it can make entire words have a high placement.
Pain/days/sale
I know, you still want the solution and the secret technique, and we’re about to find out what they are. But first, see if you can hear a difference.
Pain/pain days sale
Could you hear a difference? Both are understandable, but that second has more breath and much lower placement.
How’d I do it? Well, here is the big secret. I got my tongue out of the way.
There are a couple of techniques for this.
The first is to use the mid-front of your tongue to pronounce sounds against your top teeth—not the very tip. The tip of your tongue actually presses your bottom front tooth down here.
T / tight N/nine Z/zoos (read twice, high then low)
The second strategy goes a bit further—limit the contact with your teeth completely. If that’s hard, curl the tip of your tongue down so it presses against the bottom of your mouth. I’ll show you—notice that the sound is going to become more muffled and softer. That means this will be especially great for reductions and quick phrases.
T / tight N/nine Z/zoos

#fluentamerican #americanenglish #pronunciation
And third, you can use….just kidding. *This video does not condone the use of applying scissors to any body part*
Warning: from this point on in the video, the tip of my tongue will never touch my top tooth. See if you can repeat what I say with your tongue down
Six friends / too little / bath soap / number one / regularly late/ didn’t investigate
There’s too little bath soap left
The detective didn’t investigate the six friends
The number one problem is I’m regularly late
But what about the secret technique? I’ve really put it here because I’m nervous. I know that this will go against…everything you have heard from other American English teachers online, but having these lower tongue positions also makes it possible to say these sentences… with your mouth mostly closed.
There’s too little bath soap left
The detective didn’t investigate the six friends
The number one problem is I’m regularly late
Try for yourself and let me know if it’s hard! There’s actually a trick to make this easier Focus less on the consonants in these words and more on the vowels. Not sure how? Try this video.

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Who am I? My name is Geoff Anderson. I got my MA in Teaching English as a Second Language in 2012, and have been teaching since 2010. I've studied Italian to around level C1-C2. I was also an IELTS examiner for the speaking/writing tests for 3 years.

[tonyccchan]

You are teaching people the essence of American accent! Not too many people realized this, and they are wasting time on other non-essential techniques. You are an outstanding teacher!

[meiliu]

Your channel is absolutely a gem! Definitely underrated.

[maryelcoaching]

Very interesting, Geoff! I always give this advice for the vowels because I've noticed a tendency for some people to close the vowels by keeping their tongue high in the back, but never noticed it for the consonants. Cool observations!

[nikmohamed]

HONESTLY IT'S MIND BLOWING so much difference it made!!
my childhood language is chinese and that accent carried over to very tense cheek muscle, and overly-active tongue tip which is totally opposite of American English accent

[fmehfiz]

it's crazy how different english is from other languages when it comes to pronunciation

[Kiolp]

Sensei... With your help I understand techniques that in the moment, I couldn't imagine

[duykhanhhuynh]

Should I curl my tongue down (tip of my tougue press against the bottom of my mouth and the middle front of my tongue raise against the drige) or should I let the tip of my tongue and the middle front of my tongue down against the bottom of my mouth when applying this technique in speaking every English words?

[johnconor]

This video is exactly what I have been looking for. This is diamond.

I have a few questions if you don't mind me asking.
1. So it's ideal that I don't touch even my bottom teeth with my tongue tip, right? if that's hard to do. I can touch the bottom of the mouth where the bottom gums are located with the tip right?
2. How do we pronounce "th" with the tongue tip down behind the bottom gums tho? for "th" do we need to slide the tip out a little over the top of the bottom teeth? or do we use the front-middle part of the tongue? like push the front-middle part against the upper teeth or bottom teeth?
3. what about "l" sound can you still have the tip right behind the bottom gums? or do we at least need to lift the tip a little up probably touch the bottom teeth to make the sound? or do we just push the front-middle part against the bottom teeth and have the back of the tongue raised?
4. How do you make Stop T/D sound then?
5. Do you use the glottal T/D? I am wondering about it because I have noticed your videos don't really talk about the glottal T/D.
6. How do you make F sound then? Do you still have the tongue top-down and bite the bottom lip lightly with your upper teeth?


Thank you

[SycAamore]

Nice one, and perfect timing as I had a question the other day about keeping the tongue down when speaking🙂
I think I can make all the sentences that you said with my tongue down. However, when R appears, I struggle to keep it down, for example in the phrase 'six friends'.
I thought the tongue should curl up for the R, otherwise, it would sound more like the British R, something I want to avoid. Can you really make the R with the tip of the tongue pressed against the bottom teeth?

[hackinwithlihas]

i can't find this million dollar tip in millions subscribed channel💛

[gtiradob]

This result was very stressful for me. I finished this video very tired. But I will try to practice more.

[SeriousSam-wdwj]

Thanks for the video. I am happy i found it. Till that time i couldn’t firmly decide what position of tongue to use. In my work i used to do it either way. i was struggling the issue that every damn tutorial teaching to lift the tip of the tongue up. And i never felt to use it comfortably. I feel comfortable to keep it down but i was always thinking that it was just wrong…before i had found this video. I have a quick question- you think the letter S can be also pronounced with the down tooth position?

[ParasVerma-ndqf]

I experience discomfort while speaking, especially with words that include the 'd', 'th', 't' sound, as my tongue hurts. I feel like my tongue is solely responsible for speaking. Could you suggest some exercises to correct this problem?

[johnconor]

Hi,
It seems like the front middle part of my tongue isn't long enough to reach it (maybe I should use a part that is a little closer to the very front?). Should I close my mouth more? Also, how much tension should I feel when making sounds with the middle part of my tongue? have read some studies suggesting that there is lateral bracing, where the sides of the tongue press against the upper teeth. This implies that there is a certain level of lateral exertion when speaking English

Also, where exactly is the ridge that we want to touch with the front middle part of the tongue? Doesn't it matter as long as it touches somewhere right behind the upper front teeth? I have really wanted to find the right spot.

Please help. Thanks!

[johnconor]

I have a few questions regarding this technique. You mentioned that we can arch up the front middle part of the tongue, with the tongue tip down behind the gum area below the lower bottom teeth. You also suggested that the tongue tip doesn't even need to touch anything. Does this mean that the tongue should still be curled up with the tip down behind the gum area? Is it normal to feel a bit of tension in the tongue when doing so?

Also even when making T D L sounds, do you still suggest we don't need to even touch the ridge with the middle front part of the tongue?

[newgenstreamlabs]

Is there a different link or a tip you can give that can help me get better with saying words that use these techniques that start or end with TH (like THere, THen, oTHer, wiTH, etc…) and also words that start or end with D? I also struggle with saying regularly, detective, and little when using this technique

[johnconor]

so which way is better? the tip not touching anything just resting behind the bottom gum or curly it and press it against the bottom gum? Thank you :)

[saintmg]

This tutorial is really good, however, we should only use the technique if it isn't destroying our pronunciation and speaking clarity. We need to use this technique to be efficient without sounding unnatural or holding back our tongue.

[johnconor]

When you say "the bottom of the mouth" when talking about the tip placement, where exactly is it?

[MyFiles-xglb]

So what’s used my Native American speakers? High placement or low placement. It’s not clear from the video