Well!  Hi everyone!  If we could NOT have all four seasons of weather in one week, that'd be great.   Last weekend I was shoveling through three feet of snow, today, Sunday the 31st of January, its 62° F outside and all the snow is melting.  Figure that out!

Some of my students, particularly Asian and South Asian-Indian students, have asked me how to
make the "zh" sound as in the middle of "treasure" or the end of "beige".   I have added this video lesson, I hope you find it helpful.   Review the  /ʃ/ sound before you try to make this one (that's the "sh" phoneme as in the beginning of "shy" or "shallot") as you'll need to make that one before you can try this one.

One quick thing that I didn't add in the video--if you have trouble making the "d" sound and then making the "sh" sound, try making the "d" and then pulling the tip of your tongue slightly back on the roof of your mouth.   When you do that, the "zh" should pop out.   Remember that "zh" in English is a voiced sound that uses your voicebox.

All right?  Try some examples here:

treasure
pleasure
measure
beige
triage
mirage
luge
zhivago

Just FYI--the word zhivago is a special word in English--it is the only word in the English language that *begins* with the zh sound--in every other word in which the phoneme is found it is in the middle or at the end.   Okay?  Okay.

Hey, if you have other questions on this topic or any other topic of American culture, corporate culture, or conversational culture, give me a call at (732) 807-5424, or hit me up on Skype at david.berlin.esl.   Also check out my American Idiom of the Day Twitter Feed or check out my ESL and Accent Reduction Training Website for details about ESL and accent reduction lessons and how you can get your FREE phone consult and book a first lesson.  All right?  Would love to hear from you!