-yoo sound question

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bibi00

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Joined
May 9, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Canada
I've recently noticed a lot of the sounds with -yoo in it, I'm pronounicating them differently (I say "il" instead of "yoo"). I saw a speech therapist for a couple of months and she never mentioned it, so I want to make sure I'm really pronouncing them wrong before I start correcting them.
For example, I pronounce:
-computer as "kum-pil-ter"- dictionary.com says "kum-pyoo-ter"
-human as "hil-man"- dictionary.com says "hyoo-man"
-humid as "hil-mid"
-new as "n-il" with less "l" sound (glottal stop on l)- dictionary.com says "nyoo"
-few as "f-il" with less "l" sound (glottal stop on l)- dictionary.com says "fyoo"
-view as "v-il" with less "l" sound (glottal stop on l)- dictionary.com says "v-yoo"
-student as "stil-dent" - dicitonary.com says "styoo-dent"

When I say eg. still-dent, then styoo-dent, styoodent sounds better, but in normal speech, I never notice myself pronouncing student wrongly. I can see me, for example, pronouncing few and getting mistaken for "feel" though.

I think the problem originated with my hearing, I still hear people say few like "feel" instead of "fyoo". But when I say using "fyoo" instead of "feel", it sounds much better...

Is this problem common and does it require fixing?

Thanks for the help!
 
Last edited:
Is this problem common and does it require fixing?
I don't know whether it is comon or not, but it requires fixing. You may well not be understood. It seems from what you write that you can make the 'yoo' sound, so I don't really understand why you don't.
 
I don't know whether it is comon or not, but it requires fixing. You may well not be understood. It seems from what you write that you can make the 'yoo' sound, so I don't really understand why you don't.

Me saying "new" is at 0:23 on this short recording I did of me speaking.

mediafire.com/?5s9tbjt9r9498uh

Please see if it requires fixing.
 
I've recently noticed a lot of the sounds with -yoo in it, I'm pronounicating them differently (I say "il" instead of "yoo"). I saw a speech therapist for a couple of months and she never mentioned it, so I want to make sure I'm really pronouncing them wrong before I start correcting them.
For example, I pronounce:
-computer as "kum-pil-ter"- dictionary.com says "kum-pyoo-ter"
-human as "hil-man"- dictionary.com says "hyoo-man"
-humid as "hil-mid"
-new as "n-il" with less "l" sound (glottal stop on l)- dictionary.com says "nyoo"
-few as "f-il" with less "l" sound (glottal stop on l)- dictionary.com says "fyoo"
-view as "v-il" with less "l" sound (glottal stop on l)- dictionary.com says "v-yoo"
-student as "stil-dent" - dicitonary.com says "styoo-dent"

When I say eg. still-dent, then styoo-dent, styoodent sounds better, but in normal speech, I never notice myself pronouncing student wrongly. I can see me, for example, pronouncing few and getting mistaken for "feel" though.

I think the problem originated with my hearing, I still hear people say few like "feel" instead of "fyoo". But when I say using "fyoo" instead of "feel", it sounds much better...

Is this problem common and does it require fixing?

Thanks for the help!

Try practising the /j/ sound(make the /i:/ sound as in beach and the make the schwa /e/ sound as in about fast) and then make the /u:/ sound? By the way, instead of pronouncing student as /stju:dent/, u can pronounce it /stu:dent/ (American pronunciation)..Hope this helps
 
Me saying "new" is at 0:23 on this short recording I did of me speaking.

mediafire.com/?5s9tbjt9r9498uh

Please see if it requires fixing.
I would not have noticed it wasn't the standard pronunciation if I hadn't known that beforehand. It doesn't mean there is no point in trying to pronounce the sound in the standard way. Yours isn't standard.
 
I don't know whether it is comon or not, but it requires fixing. You may well not be understood. It seems from what you write that you can make the 'yoo' sound, so I don't really understand why you don't.

It requires fixing, but it is not uncommon when it involves an /l/ - which can become so 'dark' that it is completely labialized (as if it was a /w/). (See more here: Labialisation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

b
 
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