The TH is used a lot in English. It is a high frequency sound used in words such as “this, that, these, those, the, them, then, with”. Correcting this sound will make you sound much clearer.
Most languages do not have this sound. To make matters worse, most foreign people think it is “ugly” and avoid improving their pronunciation of this sound. Why do they think it is ugly? You have to put your tongue between your teeth. Basically, you stick your tongue out of your mouth.
To get over this fear, watch a native English speaker talk. Once you become proficient, others can barely notice your tongue placement. When you are learning, you have to hold the tongue in the position longer than a native speaker. This makes the position more noticeable. It will go away with time and increased speed and accuracy.
People who cannot pronounce TH, say these sounds instead: D, T, F, V, S, Z. At times, people drop the TH completely, especially when it comes after the N, S, and Z sounds.
To correct this error, do these things:
- stick your tongue between your teeth
- keep the air flowing (air should never stop flowing out of your mouth)
- be sure to keep some space between your tongue and teeth (this helps the air flow)
Good luck…people will notice the difference!