Meet English's Tongue-Between-Teeth Sound
Russian doesn't have this sound, so it's completely normal that your tongue reaches for s, z, t, or d instead — here's how to add the real thing.
Because Russian has no equivalent, English 'th' words often come out as 's,' 'z,' 't,' or 'd' sounds instead — 'think' becomes 'sink,' 'this' becomes 'dis.' The fix starts with tongue placement: for th, your tongue tip should rest lightly between your top and bottom teeth, not touch the roof of your mouth or your teeth's back side like Russian sounds do. There are two versions — a soft puff of air for 'think, thanks, three,' and a gentle voiced buzz for 'this, that, mother.' Try saying these pairs slowly: think/sink, though/dough, teeth/teets — feel your tongue actually poke forward each time. Here's a two-minute drill: say 'this, that, these, those' five times, deliberately overdoing the tongue position until it feels exaggerated. It will feel odd for a while, which is completely normal — new sounds always do. Keep practicing a little each day, and this classic Russian-English trouble spot will fade fast.
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Sources (1)
- CommonEnglishPronunciationErrorsmade by Russian Speakers
- Dental fricatives /θ, ð/ are commonly replaced by /s, z, t, d/ and /w/–/v/ contrasts are often neutralized (Russian /v/ used for English /w/), producing easily identifiable consonant substitutions.
- Voicing and coda patterns: final devoicing, devoicing of voiced stops, and insertion of epenthetic vowels in consonant clusters lead to consonant deletion/repair and atypical syllable structure in English words.
- Vowel and prosodic differences: limited English vowel inventory, poor vowel reduction (schwa), errors on English diphthongs, plus narrower pitch range and Russian-like stress patterns produce atypical intonation and rhythm.