Many learners have problems when saying words that begin with ‘f’ or ‘v’. So words like ‘van’ and ‘fan’ are difficult to say correctly.
Say: ‘Gently put your fingers against the front of your neck. Now say a long /v/ sound. What do you notice?’
Demonstrate and elicit that they should feel a vibration.
Say: ‘Gently put your fingers against the front of your neck. Now say a long /f/ sound. What do you notice?’
Demonstrate and elicit that they should feel less, or no, vibration.
Repeat the procedure with learners saying the following pairs of words until your learners are comfortable with the difference:
- van / fan
- vat / fat
- vary / fairy
- vast / fast
- view / few
- over / offer
Note: It’s important to begin with words where the letter ‘v’ is at the start of or very early in the word as this is when learners will feel the vibration most.