Sea or she? The problems of English pronunciation

Every language has its difficult sounds – the ones that leave you tongue-tied, exasperated and in fits of laughter at your inability to make the sound, wondering how on earth anybody can!  English has its fair share with the “th” sound and “sh” sound often proving very problematic.  The latter often brings a smile to a foreigner’s face in these lands when asked in a restaurant whether he/she fancies some “piss” rather than “fish”! (Indonesians cannot pronounce “f” either).

To practice these sounds with the children they form a line, close their eyes and then jump left if they think they hear for example “see” or right  if they hear “she”.   It causes hysterics amongst them and also brings out their competitive spirit.  Unsuccessful students come to the front and can then take turns to choose a word and say it for the others to decide.

I’m happy to say that the children now talk about how many “fish” there are in the “sea” and not how much “piss” there is in the “sea”.  Good to hear!