How to improve your English pronunciation of consonants: B & P

Previously I wrote about exercises to master pronunciation of vowels in English. Vowels (a,e,I,o,u, maybe y) all are open-mouth sounds. Lips, teeth, and tongue usually do not touch. The shape of vowels is round. All the other letters in the English language are consonants. I can easily remember 5-6 vowels in order, but not 20-21 consonants. To remember consonants, I recite the alphabet and delete the vowels. By that system I skip over the first letter of the alphabet, which is also the first vowel. The first consonant is the second letter, “b.”

B is a difficult sound for many people. In some languages, the letter “b” is spoken like the English letter “v” as in “victory." By using simple exercises, you can quickly improve your consonant pronunciation. To speak b properly, you need to close your lips, and then suck them in between your front teeth. In this position, no air and little sound can leak out your mouth. Look in the mirror. You should not be able to see either your upper or lower lip. If you do not start in this position, the sound will not be correct.

Next, blow air into your mouth from your lungs to create pressure, then suddenly release your lips and let them explode outwards. You should be able to hear a popping sound, even if you make no noise with your throat. The correct pronunciation of b combines this explosion of air from between your lips with an “uh” sound from your throat: bbbbuuuuh.

Practice saying this sentence:

The boy hit the ball with the bat. Watch yourself in the mirror. Play around with how much pressure you need to make your lips explode outwards. After you master the b sound, you don’t need to suck in your lips as much as in the beginning. So why learn in this way?

Learning this way will help you make distinct sounds for “b” and “p” which sound very similar. However, for me, the sound of p has a different beginning position and different breathing. To start, the lips are puckered up, like in a kiss. Then, air is suddenly pushed about between the lips. With p, you must expel a lot more air. In fact, you can blow out a candle when you say the letter p. Speaking the letter b will barely make the candle flicker because much less air is being released. Now, some native speakers also suck in their lips as shown The Sounds of American English. This website shows anatomical pictures of the mouth and videos of each letter.

Try this: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. (this is an old English nursery rhyme). Now, look in the mirror again and repeat these words:

Bat, pat, bet, pet, bit, pit, but, putt, Bat, pat, bet, pet, bit, pit, but, putt, Bat, pat, bet, pet, bit, pit, but, putt, Bat, pat, bet, pet, bit, pit, but, putt. This should give your lips a real workout. You need to hear and produce different sounds for these two consonants.