Need to Know by Marc Anthony (Lyrics)

The line "need to know" is great for practicing the /n/ consonant sound and the /i/ as in GREEN and /oʊ/ as in ROSE vowel sounds.

The /n/ sound at the start of the words NEED and KNOW is made by pressing the tip of the tongue against the bony aveolar gum ridge, located behind and and above your two front teeth. The /n/ sound is a voiced, nasal, continuant sound - meaning your vocal chords vibrate, air passes through your nose, and it is possible to hold this sound for a long time. Note: the letter K in the word KNOW is completely silent.

The vowel sound in the word NEED is the /i/ as in GREEN vowel sound. It is made with the lips slightly smiling, tense, and not rounded. The tongue is tense, high, and the sides of the tongue touch the inside of the back teeth.

The vowel sound in the word KNOW is the /oʊ/ as in ROSE vowel sound. This sound is a diphthong - or a moving sound. The mouth position changes as the sound is formed. Begin with your lips rounded in a big circle and move them into a smaller tighter O with your lips puckered forward as they are when making the /w/ sound. As the circle created by your lips gets smaller, the tongue moves from a middle to high position.

Note that the word TO is reduced to sound like TUH throughout the song. Instead of the /u/ as in BLUE sound you might expect, the word has the /ə/ as in MUSTARD vowel sound. The /ə/ sound is also called "the schwa" and it occurs when a word or syllable is unstressed or reduced.

Note also how it feels to transition from the final D sound in need (a voiced sound) to the initial T in TO (an unvoiced sound). The tongue position is the same but the vocal cords are active on the final D and inactive for the initial T.

Need to Know by Marc Anthony - American English Listening and Pronunciation Practice: N, Final D + GREEN and ROSE Vowel Sounds
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Recommended ESL textbooks*

Pronunciation and Accent Reduction:

Listening and Speaking:
The All Clear Series by Helen Kalkstein Fragiadakis

Grammar:
Betty Azar's Red, Black, and Blue Grammar Book series

Writing:
Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing (advanced) by Janet Lane and Ellen Lange:

Business English:
English for Everyone - Business English Box Set:

* Amazon affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, Vivid English earns a small commission. The price to you is the same.
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
Recommended YouTube Channels

@VividEnglishUS

Pronunciation:
@ClearEnglishCorner
@SoundsAmerican
@rachelsenglish

Listening/Speaking/Vocabulary Development:
@englishwithantonio
@LearnEnglishWithTVSeries
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
#learnenglishwithmusic
#englishsonglyrics
#englishpronunciation
#englishpronunciationpractice
#accentreduction