[p]

[b]

Characteristic of the sound

oral, noise, occlusive, plosive, bilabial, voiceless, strong, fortis, unicentral consonant

oral, noise, occlusive, plosive, bilabial, voiced, weak, lenis, unicentral consonant

Articulation

1. The lips are firmly kept together.

2. The soft palate is raised and the air coming into the mouth stops for some time and then breaks the obstruction with a slight explosion.

3.The vocal cords do not vibrate when [p] is produced. For [b] they are tense kept together and vibrate when [b] occurs before vowels or in intervocalic positions, e.g. begin, rubber.The breath effort is very strong for [p], for [b] it is weak.

Recommendations

1.Press your lips together and push the air through the mouth breaking the obstruction made by the lips.

2.Make the sound [p] strong and aspirated. It means there is a little puff of breath, i.e. a slight [h] sound just after the explosion, e.g. [pha:t, pho:k].

Allophones

Partially devoiced weak [b] in word final position, e.g. cab, rib

Length of the preceding vowels

Vowels closed by strong, fortis stops are shorter than those followed by weak, lenis ones, e.g. rip-rib,cap-cab, rope, robe

Aspiration

In initial position in a stressed syllable before a vowel.

1. A. is very strong before a long vowel or a diphthong e.g. pork, part, pine.

2. A. is weaker before a short vowel e.g. pit, pet.

3.A.is less noticeble before an unstressed vowel e.g. proper.

4.In final position after [s] there is no A., e.g. speech, grasp.

Palatalization

English stops are not palatalized but before front, close or mid-open vowels they are a bit clearer than before back vowels, e.g. part-Pete.

Comparison R.& E. sounds

[п,б,п',б']-[p,b].

1 R. sounds - lips are not so tense as for the E. [p, b].

2. R. [п] is not aspirated, always heard in word final positions,e.g. дуб, гриб, while the E. [b] is partially devoiced, e.g. club.

3.R.[п',б'] are palatalized, formed with the front secondary focus, i. e. the front part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate.

4.The opposition of R. [п — п', б — б'] distinguishes the meaning, e.g. баки — бяки, об— Обь.

Possible mistakes and their correction

1. Replacing E. [p, b] by the R. [п, б]. Phonetic mistake. Lips for the E. consonants should be pressed together more energetically. [p] should be strong and aspirated.

2. Palatalization of [p, b] before front or mixed close and mid-open vowels. Phonetic mistake. Raise the front part of the tongue to the hard palate only after the articulation of [p, b] is accomplished.

3. Fully voiced [b] in word final positions. Phonetic mistake. Make the sound rather weak.

4. Complete devoicing of the final [b]. Phonological mistake. Make the sound partially voiced but still rather weak.

[t]

[d]

Characteristic of the sound

oral, noise,occlusive, plosive, forelingual,apical, alveolar, voiceless, strong, fortis, unicentral consonant

oral, noise, occlusive, plosive, forelingual, apical, alveolar, voiced, weak, lenis, unicentral consonant

Articulation

1. The complete obstruction is made by the tip of the tongue firmly pressed against the middle of the alveolar ridge.

2. The soft palate is raised and the air coming into the mouth is trapped for a short time. Then it breaks the obstruction with a slight explosion.

3. The vocal cords do not vibrate when [t] is formed. For [d] they are drawn together and vibrate when it occurs before vowels or in intervocalic positions, e.g. done, ladder.

4. The breath effort for [t] is very strong, for [d] it is weak.

Recommendations

1. Put the tip of the tongue (not the blade) against the alveolar ridge and push the air through the mouth breaking the obstruction.

2. Make the sound [t] strong and aspirated, e.g. too, tart, toy.

Allophones

Partially devoiced weak [d] in word final position, e.g. nod, sad

Length of the preceding vowels

Vowels closed by strong, fortis stops are shorter than those followed by weak, lenis ones, e.g. feet-feed, heart-hard, bet-bed

Aspiration

In initial position in a stressed syllable before a vowel.

1. A. is very strong before a long vowel or a diphthong e.g. take, talk, team.

2. A. is weaker before a short vowel e.g. tip, tent.

3. A. is less noticeble before an unstressed vowel e.g. porter.

4. In final position after [s] there is no A., e.g. stop, student.

Palatalization

English stops are not palatalized but before front, close or mid-open vowels they are a bit clearer than before back vowels, e.g. top-tip

Comparison R.& E. sounds

[т,д,т',д'] - [t,d]

1.R. sounds are dental, while the E. sounds are apical alveolar.

2. R.[т] is not aspirated, always heard in word final position, e.g. пуд, сад.

3.The final English [d] is partially devoiced, e.g. said

4. R. [т', д'] are palatalized, formed with the front secondary focus, i.e.the front part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate.

5.The opposition of R. [т — т', д — д'] distinguishes the meaning,e.g. тапки — тяпки, ток — тёк, томный — тёмный, рад — рать.

Possible mistakes and their correction

1. Replacing E. [t,d] by the corresponding R. [т, д]. For the E. [t, d] the tip of the tongue should be pressed against the alveolar ridge. [t] should be strong and aspirated.

2.  Palatalization of the E. [t, d]. Phonetic mistake. While pronouncing the [t,d] the front part of the tongue should not be raised to the hard palate.

3. Fully voiced [d] in word final position. Phonetic mistake. Make the sound rather weak.

4.  Fully devoiced [d] in word final position. Phonological mistake. Remember that the sound is practically voiced but still rather weak.

[k]

[g]

Characteristic of the sound

oral, noise, occlusive, plosive, backlingual, velar, voiceless, strong, fortis, unicentral consonant

oral, noise, occlusive, plosive, backlingual, velar, voiced, weak, lenis, unicentral consonant

Articulation

1. The back of the tongue makes a firm contact with the soft palate.

2.The soft palate is raised. The air coming from the lungs is trapped for a short time and then breaks the obstruction with a slight explosion.

3.The vocal cords do not vibrate for [k]. When [g] is produced they are drawn together and vibrate.

4.The breath effort for [k] is very strong, for [g] it is weak.

Recommendations

1. Raise the back of the tongue to the soft palate so that you can feel a firm contact of them.

2.Push the air from the lungs breaking the obstruction with a slight popping noise.

3.Make the sound [k] strong and aspirated, e.g. cool, calm.

Allophones

Partially devoiced weak [g] in word final position, e.g. dog, vague

Length of the preceding vowels

Vowels closed by strong, fortis stops are shorter than those followed by weak, lenis ones, e.g. back-bag, pick-pig, dock-dog

Aspiration

In initial position in a stressed syllable before a vowel.

1.A. is very strong before a long vowel or a diphthong e.g. cart, call, kind.

2. A. is weaker before a short vowel e.g. kid, cut.

3. A.is less noticeble before an unstressed vowel e.g. poker.

4.In final position after [s] there is no A., e.g. school, scarf.

Palatalization

English stops are not palatalized but before front, close or mid-open vowels they are a bit clearer than before back vowels, e.g. cart-kid

Comparison R.& E. sounds

[к,г,к',г']-[k,g]

1.The breath effort for the Russian [к] is not so strong as for the English [k] which is aspirated.

2.Only [k] is heard in word final position, e.g. луг, маг, while the English [g] in final positions is partially devoiced, e.g. дог — dog, диалог — dialogue.

3.The palatalized R. [к', г'] are formed with the front part of the tongue raised to the hard palate, thus making the front secondary focus.

Possible mistakes and their correction

1. Replacing E. [k, g] by R. [к, г]. The breath effort for E. [k] should be stronger, the consonant is aspirated.

2. Palatalization of E. [k, g]. Phonetic mistake. The front part of the tongue should not be raised to the hard palate.

3.Fully voiced [g] in word final positions. Phonetic mistake. Make the sound rather weak.

4. Complete devoicing of the final [g]. Phonological mistake. It is only partially devoiced but very weak.

[f]

[v]

Characteristic of the sound

oral, noise, constrictive, fricative, labial, labio-dental, voiceless, strong, fortis, unicentral consonant

oral, noise, constrictive, fricative, labial, labio-dental, voiced, weak, lenis, unicentral consonant

Articulation

1. The lower lip is very close to the edge of the upper front teeth, thus forming an incomplete obstruction. When the air goes through the narrowing it causes slight friction.

2.  For [f] the vocal cords do not vibrate; there may be some vibration accompanying [v] when it occurs in word initial positions as in vast or between vowels as in never, cover, over.

3.For [f] the air force is very strong.

Recommendations

1. Put the lower lip close to the edge of the upper front teeth and blow breath between them. For [f] the friction should be strong but not very noisy; for [v] it should be weak.

2.Keep the upper lip out of the way.

Allophones

Partially devoiced [v] occurs in word final positions, e.g. leave, drive, give.

Length of the preceding vowels

Vowels before voiced fricatives are longer than before voiceles ones, e.g. leave-leaf, proove-proof, save-safe.

Palatalization

[f,v] are not palatalized, only before front, close and mid-open vowels they are a bit clearer than before back ones, e.g. father-feet, fortune-fat.

Comparison R.& E. sounds

[ф,в,ф',в']-[f,v].

1.R. [ф, в] are produced in the same way, only [ф] is less fricative, e.g. flag-флаг.

2. In word final position only [ф] is heard, e.g. Ростов, актив.

3. The R. palatalized [ф', в'] have the secondary obstruction formed between the raised front part of the tongue and the hard palate, e.g. Федя, ведь.

Possible mistakes and their correction

1. Careless pronounciation of [w] instead of [v]. Phonological mistake. The upper lip should be out of the way. Word contrasts with [v — w] may be useful for practice, e.g. verse — worse, vet — wet, vim — whim, veal — wheel.

2. Palatalization of these consonants before front close or mid-open vowels. Phonetic mistake. Do not raise the front part of the tongue to the hard palate during their production.

3.Fully voiced final [v] or even with a weak sound [ə] following it. Final [v] is weak and short. Don't worry about voicing, e.g. halve, prove.

4.Complete devoicing of the final [v]. Phonological mistake. Make the friction rather weak.

[Ɵ]

[ð]

Characteristic of the sound

oral, noise, constrictive, fricative, lingual, forelingual, apical, interdental, voiceless, strong, fortis, unicentral consonant

oral, noise, constrictive, fricative, lingual, forelingual, apical, interdental, voiced, weak, lenis, unicentral consonant

Articulation

1. The tip of the tongue is either close to the edge of the upper teeth or slightly projected between the teeth.

2.  For [Ɵ] the vocal cords do not vibrate, they vibrate for [ð] when it occurs in word initial position, before a vowel or in intervocalic positions, e.g. thus, rather.

3. The air force is very strong for [Ɵ]

Recommendations

1. Put the tip of the tongue close to the edge of the upper teeth or project it very slightly between the teeth, and blow the breath through the narrowing. For [Ɵ] the friction should be as strong as for [f], for [ð] it should be gentle.

2. Keep both lips away from the teeth.

Allophones

Partially devoiced [ð] occurs in word final positions, e.g. breath, with, bathe.

Length of the preceding vowels

Vowels before voiced fricatives are longer than before voiceles ones, e.g. bath-father, tooth-smooth, wreath-breathe.

Palatalization

[Ɵ, ð] are not palatalized, only before front, close and mid-open vowels they are a bit clearer than before back ones, e.g. thunder-theme, thought-theft.

Comparison R.& E. sounds

There are no similar sounds in Russian.

Possible mistakes and their correction

1. [f, v] or [ф, в] instead of [Ɵ,ð]. The lower lip should be kept out of the way.

2. [t, d] or [т, д] may be heard instead of [Ɵ,ð]. The tip or the blade of the tongue should not be pressed either against the teeth ridge or the teeth.

3. If [s, z] or [с, з] are heard remember that the tip should be against the edge of the upper teeth.

4.Palatalization of [Ɵ] before front close or mid-open vowels. Phonetic mistake. The front part of the tongue should be kept low during their pro­ duction.

5. Fully voiced final [ð] or even with a weak sound [ə] after it. Pnonetic mistake. It is weak and short. Don't worry about voicing, e.g. loathe.

6.Complete devoicing of the final [ð]. Phonological mistake. Make the friction rather weak.

[s]

[z]

Characteristic of the sound

oral, noise, constrictive, fricative, lingual, forelingual, apical, alveolar, voiceless, strong, fortis, unicentral consonant

oral, noise, constrictive, fricative, lingual, forelingual, apical, alveolar, voiced, weak, lenis, unicentral consonant

Articulation

1. The tip of the tongue is close to the teeth ridge. The narrowing is round, because of the groove in the blade of the tongue.

2.The teeth are very close together.

3.The vocal cords do not vibrate when [s] is produced. For [z] they vibrate when it occurs before vowels or in intervocalic positions, e.g. zone, easy.

4. The friction for [s] is strong, even stronger than for [Ɵ].

Recommendations

1. Put the tip and the blade of the tongue close to the alveolar ridge. The air should hit the tongue at the very centre of the teeth ridge.

2. Push the air through the narrowing very quickly, so that the strong friction is heard. For [z] push it more slowly, so that the friction is weaker. Alternate strong and weak friction for [s-z].

3. Keep the teeth very close together

Allophones

Partially devoiced [z] occurs in word final position, e.g. his, lose

Length of the preceding vowels

Vowels before voiced fricatives are longer than before voiceles ones, e.g. his-hiss, loose-lose, racing-raising

Palatalization

[s,z] are not palatalized, only before front, close and mid-open vowels they are a bit clearer than before back ones, e.g. salt-sea, soup-sick

Comparison R.& E. sounds

[с,з,с',з']-[s,z].

1. R.[с, з] are of dorsal dental articulation, i. e. the blade of the tongue is close to the upper teeth, the tip being lowered and passive.

2. [c', з'] are of the same articulation, only the front secondary focus is formed by raising the front part of the tongue towards the hard palate, e.g. сад— сядем, сам— сям, сыт— сито.

Possible mistakes and their correction

1. R. dorsal dental [с, з] instead of E. apical alveolar [s, z]. Keep strict to the apical articulation and put the tip of the tongue close to the teeth ridge.

2. [s, z] may be substituted by [Ɵ,ð]. [s, z] are produced with much more friction and keep the tip of the tongue away from the edge of the upper teeth.

3. Palatalization of [s, z] before front and mixed close or mid-open vowels. Accomplish the articulation of the consonants and only then raise the front part of the tongue to produce the following vowel.

4. Fully voiced [z] in word final position. Phonetic mistake. Make the consonant rather weak.

5. Complete devoicing of the final [z]. Phonological mistake. Make the friction weaker.

[ʃ]

[ჳ]

[h]

Characteristic of the sound

oral, noise, constrictive, fricative, lingual, forelingual, apical, palato-alveolar, voiceless, strong, fortis, bicentral consonant

oral, noise, constrictive, fricative, lingual, forelingual, apical, palato-alveolar, voiced, weak, lenis, bicentral consonant

oral, noise, constrictive, fricative, glottal, voiceless, strong, fortis, unicentral consonant

Articulation

1. The tip of the tongue is close to the back part of the teeth ridge forming a flat narrowing.

2. The front part of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate, forming the front secondary focus, thus palatalizing the sounds.

3. The lips are neutral or slightly rounded.

4. The vocal cords do not vibrate when [ʃ] is pronounced, for [ჳ] they vibrate when it occurs before vowels, e.g. pleasure.

As [h] occurs only in pre-vocalic positions it is the sound of breath passing between the vocal cords and out of the mouth which is already held really for the following vowel: before [i:] the mouth is in position for [i:], before [u:] it is ready for [u:] and so on; so there are many [h]-sounds in English because different types of friction will be heard for it in the sequences [hi:], [ha:], [hu:] and others.

Recommendations

1. Start from [s], then put the tip of the tongue a bit backwards. Draw the breath inwards to check that the tip is in the right place. Keep this position and then raise the rest of the tongue to say the vowel [ɪ], slightly round the lips and push the breath through strongly.

2. For [ʃ] the friction is strong, stronger than for [f,Ɵ], but less noisy than for [s]. For [ჳ] friction is weak.

1. Hold the mouth ready for the vowel and push a short gasp of breath by the lungs.

2. Breathe the air out weakly adding some slight fricative noise to the vowel.

Allophones

Partially devoiced [ჳ] occurs in word final position, e.g. prestige, rouge.

Length of the preceding vowels

Vowels before voiced fricatives are longer than before voiceles ones, e.g. his - hiss, vision - dish

Palatalization

[ჳ] are palatalized

Comparison R.& E. sounds

[ш,щ,ж]-[ʃ,ჳ].

1. These R. fricatives are articulated in the same way, only they are dorsal, i.e. the blade of the tongue is close to the back part of the teeth ridge.

2. [щ] is produced with the front part of the tongue raised very high, e.g. щи, щёки.

[х, х'] - [h]

1. R. [x] is articulated in the mouth. The back part of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate and the friction is very strong. The R. palatalized [x'] has two foci, the secondary focus being formed by the front part of the tongue raised towards the hard palate (front secondary focus).

Possible mistakes and their correction

1. R. [ш, ж] instead of E. [ʃ,ჳ]. Apical articulation is advisable. For the E. sounds the friction should be stronger.

2. If the R [ш'] is heard take care not to raise the front part of the tongue too high.

3. Devoicing of the final [ჳ]. Phonological mistake. It should be only partlially devoiced in this position.

1. Pronouncing [h] with a very strong friction. It occurs only before vowels and is a pure sound of breath, so prepare the organs of speech for the articulation of the following vowel and breathe the air weakly out of the mouth.

2. [h] is dropped in notional words. Phonological mistake, e.g. hear— ear.

3. R. [x] instead of the E. [h]. Articulate it in the glottis.

4. Palatalization of [h] before front high or mid-open vowels. Do not raise the front part of the tongue during the articulation of[h].

[l]

[w]

Characteristic of the sound

oral, constrictive, lateral, lingual, forelingual, apical, alveolar, bicentral sonorant

oral, constrictive, medial, labial, bilabial, bicentral sonorant

Articulation

1. The tip of the tongue is in firm contact with the alveolar ridge.

2. The soft palate is raised and the air goes freely to the mouth.

3. The sides of the tongue are lowered and the air can pass between them and the palate.

4. The vocal cords are brought together and vibrate.

1. The lips are firmly rounded and slightly protruded forming an incomplete obstruction.

2. The soft palate is raised and the air goes to the mouth.

3. The back part of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate forming the secondary obstruction.

4. The sides of the tongue are raised and the air goes along the central part of the tongue.

5. The vocal cords vibrate.

Recommendations

1. Put the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge feeling a firm contact with it.

2. Push the air through the mouth.

1. Keep the lips well rounded and even slightly protruded forming a round narrowing for the air stream.

2. Push the air through the mouth.

Allophones

1. Before consonants and in final position [l] is 'dark', i.e.the back part of the tongue is raised to the soft palate (back secondary obstruction) giving a dark colouring to the sound, e.g. milk, help.

2. Before vowels or [j] it is clear, i.e.together with the tip of the tongue the front part of it is raised to the hard palate, thus forming the front secondary obstruction, e.g. asleep, uncle.

1. Words beginning with 'wh' such as when, why may be pronounced [hw].

2. [w] after voiceless consonants is a voiceless sound, e.g. twelve, queen, square

Palatalization

Slightly palatalized allophone ('clear' [l]) which is pronounced with the front secondary obstruction, i.e.the front part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate

Not palatalized

Comparison R.& E. sounds

[л,л']-[l]

1. The R. sonorant [л] is formed with the tip of the tongue raised to the upper teeth and the back of the tongue to the hard palate. The contact between the tip of the tongue and the teeth is not so firm as between the tip of the tongue and the alveolar ridge in case of the English 'dark[l]. On the whole the colouring of the R. [л] is darker than that of the English 'dark'[l], e.g. мыл— mill, пил— pill, стул— stool.

2. The tip of the tongue rises to the upper teeth for the R. palatalized [л'] as well. But in this case the front part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate even higher than for the E. 'clear' [1]. So the R. [л'] is still softer than the 'clear' English [1], e.g. люк — look, лес— less, лип— lip.

There is no similar consonant. Every effort should be made not to pronounce any other sound resembling the E. sonorant [w].

Possible mistakes and their correction

1. Substitution of the E. alveolar [l] by the R. dental [л]. When pronouncing the E. [1] the contact between the tip of the tongue and the alveolar ridge (not the upper teeth) should be very firm. Do not make the English [1] too dark.

2. Replacing the E. alveolar 'clear' [1] by the R. dental palatalized [л']. Do not raise the front part of the tongue to the hard palate too high, otherwise the 'clear' [1] sounds too soft.

3. The 'dark' and the 'clear' [1] should not substitute each other. Though the 'dark' and 'clear' variants of [1] are allophones of the same phoneme their mixing up is not desirable as they are produced in a different way. The secondary focus for the 'clear' [1] is the front part of the tongue raised to the hard palate, while for the 'dark' [l] it is the back part of the tongue which is raised to the soft palate.

1. Replacing the bilabial sonorant [w] by the E. labio-dental, fricative [v] or the R. [в]. Keep the lips well rounded when [w] is pronounced; there should be a glide towards the following vowel [v] instead of [w]. Phonological mistake. Sounds distinguish the meaning of words, e.g. worse — verse, wine — vine, while — vile.

2. As [w] is a gliding consonant in which there is a quick glide from the sonorant to the following vowel there can be a substitution of the sonorant [w] by the R. [y]. To pronounce the sonorant [w] correctly the lips should be rounded and protruded, but not so much as for the R. [y]. Make [w] quick and energetic.

[r]

[j]

Characteristic of the sound

oral, constrictive, medial, lingual, forelingual, cacuminal, post-alveolar, unicentral sonorant

oral,constrictive, medial, lingual, mediolingual, palatal, unicentral sonorant

Articulation

1. The tip of the tongue is held in a position near to but not touching the back of the alveolar ridge, the front part of the tongue is low and the back is rather high so that the tongue has a curved shape (cacuminal articulation).

2. The position of the lips is determined by that of the following vowel.

3. The soft palate is raised and the air flows quietly between the tip of the tongue, and the palate.

4. The vocal cords vibrate.

1. The front part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate.

2. The sides of the tongue are raised and the air goes along the central part of it.

3. The lips are generally neutral or spread.

4. The soft palate is raised and the air escapes through the mouth.

5. The vocal cords are kept together and vibrate.

Recommendations

1. Put the tip of the tongue against the back of the alveolar ridge without touching it. If you touch the alveolar ridge with the tip of the tongue there will be a firm contact between them and the resulting sound is [1] but not [r]. Remember that [r] is a purely gliding sound with no sudden change, e.g. light — right, low — row, lock — rock.

2. Keep the lips in the position for the following vowel, e.g. reach (spread lips), root (rounded lips).

3. Push the air through the mouth so that you could hear a smooth glide.

If you still find it difficult to pronounce the sonorant [r], try approaching it from the R. [ж]. Get the speech organs ready for [ж]. Pronounce a long sound [ж], e.g. [жжж]. Now curl the tip of the tongue back behind the alveolar ridge and make the air passage wider than for the R. [ж]. If the tip of the tongue does not vibrate you get the English sonorant [r].

1. Keep the lips neutral or slightly spread. Raise the front part of the tongue to the hard palate so that the passage could be rather wide and push the air through the mouth. The sound [j] should be short and weak. The tongue glides in the direction of the following vowel.Be careful not to make any friction in the glide.

Allophones

1. After [Ɵ, ð] a single tap [r] is heard; it is formed by the tip of the tongue on the alveolar ridge, e.g. three, with respect.

2. After voiceless consonants [r] is devoiced. The position of the tongue is the same, but the air is pushed through the passage between the tongue-tip and the hard palate, causing some friction, e.g. pray, tree, cream.

[j] is partially devoiced when it follows strong, fortis, voiceless consonants, e.g. pew, tune, hue.

Palatalization

Not palatalized

Palatalized, the front part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate

Comparison R.& E. sounds

[р,р']-[r]

1. The R. [p] is also called cacuminal as the tip of the tongue is raised to the alveolar ridge forming a spoon-shaped passage for the air stream. But when we pronounce the R. [p] the tip of the tongue taps very quickly several times against the teeth ridge. So the R. [p] is a rolled or trilled sonorant, e.g. рис— rice, радиатор— radiator, радикальный— radical, реальный— real.

2. The palatalized R. [p'] is pronounced with the front secondary obstruction. The sonorants [p — p'] distinguish the meaning of words, e.g. ров— рёв, рад— ряд.

[й]-[j]

The R. sound [j] is pronounced with more noise than the English [j] as the front part of the tongue is raised higher.

Possible mistakes and their correction

1. Replacing the E. post-alveolar sonorant [r] by the R. alveolar rolled [p]. Move the tip of the tongue to the back of the alveolar ridge and keep it tense at some distance from it so that no tapping of the tongue could be made when the air goes through the passage. They should try to pronounce the E. sonorant [r] starting from the R. sound [ж].

2. Palatalization of the sound [p']. Keep the front part of the tongue low.

3. Do not be misled by the spelling into pronouncing post-vocalic letter "r". In words such as star, arm,harm, etc. The "r" letter is used to show the length of the preceding vowel, and in beer, poor, here, etc. as a sign of the [ə] element of the diphthong. In connected speech the final "r" gives the so-called linking [r], e.g. poor old man.

4. Insertion of the so-called 'intrusive' [r] when there is no letter "r" in the spelling, e.g. Africa and Asia. Russian learners are not recommended to do it.

1. Replacing the E.[j] by the R. [й]. The front part of the tongue is not raised too high. The air passage is rather wide and thus no friction is heard, e.g. yard — яд, yell — ел, yacht — йота. If it is difficult for the students to pronounce [j] glidelike, they should begin with the position of the E. sound [i:] and then move smoothly and quickly to the following vowel, e.g. yes [ies]. The [i] should be very short.