Surprisingly easy exercise to learn /n/ vs /ŋ/ (thin Vs thing)

You’ll be surprised at this one simple tip!
Are you making this basic English Pronunciation mistake?
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Michael

In this English Pronunciation tutorial, you’re going to learn how to tell the difference between the 2 English sounds /n/ and /ŋ/ (as in the 2 words ‘thin’ and ‘thing’).

Telling the difference between these 2 consonant sounds can be a nightmare for non-native English speakers because many languages don’t have this sound!

The reason why these 2 sounds can be hard to differentiate between is because they are exactly the same apart from the position of the tongue.

Both sounds are nasal...
Both sounds are voiced...

In the tutorial, I guide you through a simple process to help you recognise the difference between both sounds, and I then show you how to easily integrate both sounds into your English speech.

I give you a number of word pairs where the only difference in the word is the pronunciation of the /n/ and /ŋ/ sound, and I give you a series of exercises that is extremely effective for learning both of these sounds, especially if you’re practicing on your own.

/n/ comes from the same position in your mouth as the /l/ sound, where the tip of the tongue touches the alveolar ridge.

Learning this and then practicing going between both the /l/ and /n/ sounds (e.g ‘lot’ and ‘not’) will help you get comfortable putting your tongue in the right position. This is a fairly easy position to learn because the tip of the tongue is extremely sensitive (which is why it hurts so much if you ever bite your tongue!)

The /ŋ/ sound comes from the same position in the mouth as /k/ and /g/...

To make these sounds, the back of the tongue comes up and touches the back of the mouth.

The problem here is that the back of the tongue is extremely insensitive and as a result, it can be a very difficult position to feel.

Therefore learning the correct position for the /ŋ/ sound can be more difficult than learning /n/.

But don’t worry...

The exercises in this tutorial are designed specifically to make learning this sound and tongue position as easy as it can be, and with the right practice, anyone can do it!

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Learn English Pronunciation and the British accent on Youtube with Michael Roberts. The biggest single factor affecting how people perceive you is your speech and accent. English School Online helps international professionals living in London and other English-speaking cities around the world to speak English clearly and with good pronunciation. The result of this is having more confidence to speak in front of others, being more valued as a professional, and being able to speak as you would in your own language, without the fear of being judged.

[mariopatriciobartolomemari]

Never before has a phonetic class been so close to a physiology class The best help ever for native Spanish speakers to overcome the nightmare of the /ng/ sound 🙏🏻

[kurianmx]

You are a fabulous teacher and your lessons are awesomesauce

[Clara-zyyj]

The best pronunciation English teacher. ☘️ I take my hat off to you. 🎩

[rexsolomon]

proper teaching method, brilliant thanks

[firstjm]

This is amazing. This is exactly how IPA pronunciation videos must be. Its quite clear how to pronounce them by knowing the exact steps to do it. Thanks a lot for showing how the tongue's placed inside the mouth. I used to do the ng sound with my tongue against the hard palate which sounds familiar to the way you are doing it. Please make your IPA pronunciation videos like this in the future. It helps a lot. Thank you Sir ☺

[End-phoenix]

You're really good explaining those things. Wow. I'm subscribed.

[warmsmellofbooks]

You're really helpful . This absolutely the way to explain the sounds

[mengxiang]

Thank you Michael! I love your video very much. it is very helpful to me.

[MSRSevillano]

Excellent video! Would you explain the difference between the two sounds in the middle of a word (sinner vs singer) and give more examples??? Thanks a lot!!

[maxprosov]

This is a very informative tutorial. On the other videos they usually provide the sound and propose to repeat it, but there is no sense to repeat it in the wrong way, until you understand articulation (physical position of the tongue, jaw, etc.). So thank you for this video, especially for the way you show physical articulation positions. Very well done!

[dikshaenglishacademy]

Dear Michael Robert,

I am extremely happy with all your videos. Your teaching British English accent is extraordinary and incomparable. Would you help me improving my British English accent ?

[gerardogaitan]

I struggled with this sound, you've helped me a lot and I will advance to the next level of confidence with a simple tip, thank you very much.

[khaingmonmonkyaw]

Thank you very much, Sir Michael. Your videos are very helpful to me.❣❣❣💯😍🥰🤩

[arekuchymiak]

Very helpful, I always try to practise what I learnt from each video for the next few days and I must admit it does get into a habit eventually. Some things take longer some less but it is important to actually say things out loud, not just mimic silently.

[marlonchosky]

This is really helpful. It helped me a lot with the pronunciation of words with an 'n' ending

[ihori]

Thank you, Michael. Despite the visual simplicity of the subject, you give a rather vast range of nuances.

[MuhammadRashid-osmc]

I love this channel 😍.most most help ful sir.you are doing great job sir.thanks

[MuhammadRiaz-hmzf]

This lesson is wonderful and due to your clear voice and pronunciation it has become worth appreciating, thanks a lot.

[TiniestLifeboat]

Thank you for this video! I'm learning korean and I have the problem with the ㄴ and theㅇletters, and they are basically -n vs -ng sound and it can change the whole meaning of the word if you pronounce them incorrectly so I was like "okay I need to fix it" . I found your explanation and now It's clear to me. Still hard but at least now I have the theory so I really appreciate that you uploaded this ^^

[mohanduanil]

Any video on m, s, z pronunciation Michael, it would be great helpful, thanks in advance.