How to Pronounce TH Sounds /θ/ and /ð/ for Chinese Adult Learners

The first time I had an adult Chinese ESL learner, this is what I noticed. Whenever we have words with /θ/ and /ð/ production gets quite difficult for that student. Modeling and repretition don't work. THE TH SOUNDS: /θ/ and /ð/ - Why Chinese Adults Can't Say Them and How to Fix Them in 15 Minutes

For Chinese Adult Learners B1-B2

This I always tell my adult Chinese students "Say TH". And they still say "sink" for "think" and "zis" for "this". It's not their fault. Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka — none of them have this sound. Their tongues have never had to do this movement before. It's a new gym exercise for their mouth.

1. WHY IT'S SO HARD FOR CHINESE ADULTS

In Chinese, their tongues always stay INSIDE their mouths. For TH, they must break a huge rule: Put their tongues OUTSIDE their teeth.

/s/ and /z/ : Tongue is behind teeth. Air goes over.

/θ/ and /ð/ : Tongue is BETWEEN teeth. Air goes over tongue tip.

Their brain think: "If I put my tongue out, I look silly." So it automatically pulls it back and gives you /s/ or /d/ instead. Adult problem: Children don't feel embarrassed. Adults do. So Chinese adults need a logical reason + a physical feeling to accept the movement.

2. THE TWO TH SOUNDS - They Are Different

Many teachers teach them as one. They are not.

Sound - /θ/ voiceless

Type - Air only, no voice

Feeling - Like a quiet angry cat: "tssss"

Example - think, three, thank you, health, birthday

Sound - /ð/ voiced

Type - Air + voice vibrates

Feeling - Like a bee: "zzzz" with tongue out

Example - this, that, the, them, brother

Chinese adult trick:

/θ/ = s but with tongue out

/ð/ = z but with tongue out

If you can say /s/ and /z/, you can say TH.

3. HOW TO PRODUCE IT - The 3-Step Method for Adults

Do this in front of a mirror. Chinese learners MUST see their tongue.

Step 1: The Tongue Out (1 minute)

Gently bite your tongue tip with your top teeth. Just 3-4mm sticks out. Don't be shy. You should look a bit silly. If you don't look silly, your tongue is not out enough.

Step 2: The Air Test (for /θ/)

Keep tongue there. Blow air out. You should feel cold air on your bottom lip.

Say: th-th-th... No voice.

Now words: think, thank, three, thirty, Thursday, birthday, healthy

Step 3: The Voice Test (for /ð/)

Same tongue position. Now turn ON your voice box. Put your hand on your throat — it should vibrate.

Say: thhhis, thhhis...

Now words: this, that, these, those, the, they, brother, mother, father

Adult checkpoint: If you say "sink", your tongue was INSIDE. If you say "think" with a lisp, your tongue was OUT. A lisp is GOOD. It means you are doing it right. You can make the lisp smaller later.

4. COMMON CHINESE ADULT ERRORS

Chinese learners often replace /θ/ with /s/ because Mandarin lacks interdental fricatives (Swan & Smith, 2001). According to Deterding (2006), final consonant deletion is one of the most common problems for Chinese speakers.

5. PRACTICE

A. Minimal Pairs Drill (Most important for adults - logic)

Read in pairs. The difference is money vs meaning.

think vs sink — I think this plan will sink.

three vs tree — I have three trees in my garden.

thank vs sank — I thank you, the boat sank.

they vs day — _They will come on that day._

those vs dose — Take those, the dose is two pills.

B. High-Frequency Work Sentences Practice these 5 sentences for 1 week.

/θ/ voiceless: Thanks, I think we have three things to think about before Thursday.

/θ/ voiceless: I think my birthday is on Thursday this month.

/ð/ voiced: This is the project that they said is the most important.

/ð/ voiced: My brother and I think this and that should be done together.

Mixed: I think that those three clients will thank us.

C. The Mirror Homework (2 mins / day for adults)

Every morning, brush teeth, then in mirror:

Stick tongue out, say th-th-th-th 10 times (voiceless)

Stick tongue out, say th-th-th-th 10 times (voiced, throat vibrates)

Say: "This, that, these, those" 5x fast.

No need to practice for 1 hour. 2 minutes daily builds muscle memory. Adults fail because they practice 1 hour once a month, not 2 mins daily.

6. TEACHER TIP: How to Correct Adults Without Embarrassing Them

Don't say in front of class: "Wrong! Say TH!"

Adults hate losing face.

Do this:

Silent signal: Agree on a signal — you touch your chin. Means "tongue out please". No words needed.

Fix at the end: Let them finish their 90-second IELTS talk. Then say: "Great fluency. One small fix to sound more native: 2 words — think and this — try tongue out. Show me."

Every Chinese adult, including my best student who now works at Google, had this problem for 6 months. It's normal because Chinese doesn't have it.

References

Avery, P., & Ehrlich, S. (1992). Teaching American English pronunciation. Oxford University Press. Deterding, D. (2006). The pronunciation of English by Chinese learners. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36(2), 243–248.

Gilakjani, A. P. (2012). A study of factors affecting EFL learners' English pronunciation learning and the strategies for instruction. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(3), 119–128.

Swan, M., & Smith, B. (Eds.). (2001). Learner English: A teacher's guide to interference and other problems (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Zhang, F., & Yin, P. (2009). A study of pronunciation problems of English learners in China. Asian Social Science, 5(6), 141–146.