Final consonants and consonant clusters. Sometimes a sound that's easy to pronounce when it comes at the beginning of a word, might be harder to say at the end of a word. Why is this? For some speakers, it's because their first language never has consonants at the ends of words, or maybe only certain consonants. Or it may be because we pay more attention to sounds at the beginning of words. We get ready for them and can say them clearly but by the end of the word, we are not quite so careful. Final consonants are tricky. When speakers have trouble with unfamiliar final consonants, sometimes they omit the last sound. This makes it hard for listeners to understand what word they're saying. If someone tries to say word, listeners might hear were, or if someone tries to say teach, listeners might hear tea. Let's practice with these words that end in consonant sounds. Be careful to pronounce the final consonants. Hot, book, attend, market, academic. Other speakers might make final consonants easier by adding a vowel sound after the last consonant. But unfortunately, adding extra vowels will make it hard for listeners to understand the words you say. Be careful not to add an extra vowel sound at the end of these words. For example, the word eat should not sound like /eata/ or /eato/ or /eatu/, just eat. Let's practice some more words that end in consonant sounds. Be careful to pronounce the final consonants and don't add extra vowel sounds. Need, dress, reach, develop, realistic. If it's hard to pronounce final consonants, sometimes you can link the last sound in one word to the first sound and the next word, especially if that word starts with a vowel. Now try the same words in sentences. Link the final consonants to the next word. We need a new book. I bought a dress and a blouse. Did they reach a conclusion? We'll develop a plan. That's not a realistic idea. Consonant clusters are another consonant challenge. These are groups of two or more consonant sounds together, like the first three sounds in string, or the last two sounds in best. Notice that sometimes two consonant letters do not really represent a consonant cluster. The two letter combinations in she, the, phone pack, and sing are not consonant clusters. They each spell just one consonant sound. Consonant clusters have two or more sounds. Consonant clusters like /str/ are often more difficult to pronounce then each sound separately. When speakers have trouble with consonant clusters, sometimes they omit one of the necessary sounds. This makes it hard for listeners to understand what they're saying. For example, if someone wants to say string but leaves out the /r/ sound, listeners might hear sting or they say best, but leave out the /s/ sound, listeners might hear bet. Let's practice with some more words with consonant clusters. Be careful not to omit sounds. Stop, brown, drawing, splash, stops, attempts, cluster, treats, strengths, transcripts. Sometimes speakers add extra vowel sounds to make consonant clusters easier to say. For example, when someone says stone, it might sound like a stone or sutone. Either of these could be hard for listeners to understand. Let's practice with these words with consonant clusters. Be careful not to omit sounds or add extra vowels. Play, brown, spend, strong, splash, task, count, milk, parents, jumped. Now try these sentences. Counting the tickets is unimportant task. Some frogs jumped into the pond with a splash. Most parents want their children to drink milk. There were storms with strong winds last spring. In this lesson, we've practiced consonant sounds at the ends of words, like the last sounds in cat, lock, and miss. We've also practiced consonant clusters, groups of two or more consonant sounds like the ones in star, blue and spring. Keep practicing so that these sounds will feel more natural and easier to pronounce.
