I have problems pronouncing words that starts with the letters Th ?

[Scooby Dooby Doo]

Hello everybody.

Short background story: I spent the last 4.5 years in the US. I'm married to an us citizen (I'm from Switzerland) and i learned the English language with the help of my wife and the Rosetta stone program.

Now I've always been aware of the fact that for some reason..I'm incapable of pronouncing certain English words. Mostly words that start with the letters TH like three/tree/the/thin/thick/theoretically.

I've never seen that as a major problem until today's quite humiliating encounter.(Always bothered me though)

I went to the store with my step daughter and that's what happened.

Me: I would like 20 slices of thin cut roast beef.
Deli Clerk: what?
Me: 20 thin slices of roast beef.
Deli Clerk: I don't understand what you want.
Me: Thin slices of roast beef?
Deli Clerk: Sorry what?
Me: Thin ? The opposite of Thick?
Deli Clerk: huh?
Me: Thin cut. T-H-I-N.
Deli Clerk: Sorry I can't understand you.
My Stepdaughter: He means thin. Thin slices of roast beef.
Deli Clerk: Oh ok. Sorry.

To be honest I have no idea how I could possibly get rid of that pronunciation problem?

[Chocolatez]

Might be a lisp?

[Scooby Dooby Doo]

Might be a lisp?

Hm I don't think so. I never had any sort of lisp problems back in Switzerland

[Chocolatez]

How are you pronouncing th? as an S like Gloria on modern family? What do you currently sound like saying thin or thick or three. And are able to say tree well?

[Sunseeker]

Hm I don't think so. I never had any sort of lisp problems back in Switzerland

Sounds more like your clerk was an idiot.

Otherwise, just try to use alternative words, instead of "thin" use "narrow"

[belfpala]

Are you saying it like a Z? And maybe saying the I like a long E? Zeen sliced roast beef, etc?

Do what I'm do when I'm in a country where my language sucks. Hand gestures. 20 slices roast beef, sliced as thin as possible (as you hold up your fingers and put them as close together as you can).

[vindicatorx]

Sounds more like your clerk was an idiot.

Otherwise, just try to use alternative words, instead of "thin" use "narrow"

Sounds like it to me as well. I have heard some really thick accents and still been able to figure out what they were talking about. Don't be humiliated though he may have been trolling you or possibly hard of hearing. I sometimes have issues because a lot of people with accents talk softer because they think it hides the pronunciation issues it just makes it harder for some to hear you.

[Kalis]

Probably just a pronunciation issue.

I have the same when I speak Greek or French, nobody understands half of what I'm saying and repeats the words for me to say, but I think I sound like they are saying it.

Unusual in English though, as it is a remarkably tolerant language for mispronuniciation.

[MerinPally]

Which language did you speak in Switzerland? Maybe there are parallels that can be made. First person who quotes this and says "durrr swiss" deserves to be taken outside and shot. It will take a lot of work though, one of my friends here is Turkish and can't differentiate V and W. He says "Wague" instead of "Vague". Wayyy gah. Is hilarious.

[Deleted]

My english teacher told me exactly the same thing . I can do it if I focus on it tho

[belfpala]

First person who quotes this and says "durrr swiss" deserves to be taken outside and shot.

lol, I'm an idiot US citizen, but even I know Switzerland has four official languages and its official name isn't in any of them. Is that not common knowledge...?

[Chirri]

Kind of hard to offer much in the way of advice when you think it sounds right already. Unless your step-daughter can come on here and describe it the way a native might hear it.

That aside - some listeners brains flat out stop working when they encounter an accent any stronger than the local native kinds, so it may well be more of a reflection on the person making your sandwich rather than your speaking. It's his freaking job to be familiar with the terms usually used to describe food prep, but he can't figure out "Thin" in that situation?

[Deleted]

The reason you have issues with the letter 'th' is that(At least if you're Swiss) you are not used to pronouncing consonants like that. Without going too much into detail, the 'th' is made by moving your tongue close to your teeth, which a few languages(Like my mother tongue, Dutch) simply don't do. The closest thing we have in Dutch is the 'f', so that is what most people tend to do. Germans tend to create a 'z'.

Still, unless you have a really weird pronounciation, they should be able to comprehend you.

[Voodoou]

Sounds more like your clerk was an idiot.

Otherwise, just try to use alternative words, instead of "thin" use "narrow"

this, I think they were being rude and lazy about trying to understand you. TH is a hard sound for MANY foreigners. All you can do is keep trying to get the sound right but do not let idiots like that clerk get to you.

[kcsaenz]

Some sounds can be difficult to become accustomed to when learning a new language. The th sound in particular cane be a pain because it dosent exist in many languages the same way it is pronounced in English.
If you have trouble pronouncing it one way to make yourself understood is to replace it in a manner that's familiar. In many large cities particularly London and Newyork the th sound is often replaced by a d or t at the start of words and ocasianly f at the end
This becomes dis
Thin becomes Tin
Mouth becomes mouf
While this isn't a perfect solution it may help some people understand you better.

[belfpala]

this, I think they were being rude and lazy about trying to understand you. TH is a hard sound for MANY foreigners. All you can do is keep trying to get the sound right but do not let idiots like that clerk get to you.

Probably yes, clerk being lazy. My advice above was to add hand gestures.

For example, when I lived in France I maybe, MAYBE, had the vocabulary of a 4 year old kid. But I could still grocery shop. Use my limited vocabulary, point at a cut of beef, gesture about how thick I wanted the steaks cut. Boom, steaks.

[MerinPally]

lol, I'm an idiot US citizen, but even I know Switzerland has four official languages and its official name isn't in any of them. Is that not common knowledge...?

Unfortunately not. I remember when I was 10 at school we had a homework assignment of a list of countries and we had to name what languages they spoke. I wrote Italian/German/French/Romansh for Switzerland, my teacher crossed it out and wrote Swiss.

[Vizardlorde]

I think she was trying to make fun of your accent you shouldve said fuck you bitch and called the manager and demand compensation for bad service.

[Zannis]

The fact that he didn't know what you meant after you spelled it out for him proves the guy was a dope. Don't stress out over it, Moriat.

[Demontjuh]

dont know about swedish but mayb u can try it this way.

im dutch and i like to think my english is pretty good (atleast better than my native :P) so when im trying to teach lets say my gandparents some english i look for dutch words or series of speakable letters in dutch that sound like words/partofwords in english

one - wan
two - toe
eye - aj
eyes - ajs
neighbor - neebur

each of the examples i gave are not actual dutch words just "sounds" we can pronounce easier.
ofc "th" is pretty much impossible in dutch, we often use "th" in words ourselfs but are taught to ignore the "h"