Easyh
Tongue twisters · h
The h sound
Hello, not ello or a rough kh: English h is only breath.
- Age
- Ages 3–11
- Skill
- Speaking · Phonics
- Format
- Printable
Why this sound is hard
everyone's trapEnglish h is nothing but breath. Russian has no such sound — its х is a scrape at the back of the mouth — so hello comes out rough. In Spanish the letter h is always silent, so children drop it (hello becomes ello) or swap in a scraped Spanish j.
Where the mouth goes
Fog up a mirror or warm your hands with an open mouth: that soft breath is the whole sound. Nothing touches and nothing scrapes. Hold a hand in front of the mouth — hat sends warm air onto it, at sends none.
The twisters, easy to hard
Listen slowly first, then at normal speed — then say it three times fast against the stopwatch. Dotted words open the picture dictionary.
Easyh
Harry has a hairy hat.
Mediumh
Mediumh
Henry's hamster hides in his hat.
Hardh
How high can a happy heron hop on a hot hill?
Hardh
Hold your horses, Hannah, here comes a huge hot-air balloon!
One card per twister, no buttons — cut them apart for a twister jar.
Practise the same sound
Train the ear first with a listen-and-pick game, then read the sound in words.
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