“Th” Pronunciation – Thank You or Senk You?

By Robby

If you are new here please read this first.


In video Episode #7 you’ll hear me discuss benefits and drawbacks of pronouncing the voiced and unvoiced English sounds ‘th’ – ð and θ – the traditional way.

Generally I’m agreeing with the general English teaching principle of trying to pronounce those sounds as close to their native pronunciation as possible. Nonetheless, there are situations when foreign English speakers are much better off with replacing the ð and θ sounds with easier ones like d and t.

I know that many ESL and EFL teachers would kill me for saying that, but I’ll risk it anyway! 😉

So before you judge me, watch Episode #7 above and post your comments below. I welcome all opinions as it’s the best way of encouraging discussions which have potential to begin shifting public opinion.

You also may check out these different ‘th’ pronunciations among different Englishes:

How ‘th’ is pronounced in South East England

How ‘th’ is pronounced in Ireland

How ‘th’ is pronounced in Scotland

So if you’re hearing comments about your English pronunciation such as – you’re saying ‘Thank you’ wrong, it’s not ‘tank you’ but ‘thank you’! – don’t mind them. Those who try to get the pronunciation as perfect as possible often find they can’t speak as effortlessly and easily!

Related blog posts: No Perfection When Mediocrity Is Required!

Senks and talk to you soon,

Robby 😆

P.S. Are you ready to get on the fast track to spoken English fluency? Check out my English Harmony System HERE!



English Harmony System

P.S. Are you serious about your spoken English improvement? Check out the English Harmony System HERE!

English Harmony System
  • No probs, you’re welcome! 🙂

  • Jpedrofrost

    It’s wonderful your explanation! THank you!

  • Hi Neha,

    No problems, I’ll keep on making these videos for the foreseeable future, and I truly hope you’ll apply at least a few of my advice when speaking English.

    To answer your question on how I improved my spoken English – please check the following link and you’ll discover everything about my quest for English fluency and how I came to realize a few facts about it that totally changed the way I studied and improved my English – http://englishharmony.com/improve-spoken-english.html

  • neha

    hye robby,
    thanks for giving me these videos . I hope that these will help me lot for improving my english. I hope you will help me in this way further. robby, I want to know that how you improved your spoken english.

  • You’re welcome! 😉

  • eidarous

    thank you Robby for sending me these useful and fantastic videos and thank you for helping me