Pronouncing ZH: New Words

Refer a friend, and get two extra classes: one for you and one for your friend. You can even take classes together. Encourage your friend to schedule a consultation.

The ZH sound is a combination of SH and Z. Bring your lips forward like a fish to create SH and place your tongue in a flat position under your upper palate with the tip just barely touching the ridge behind your teeth (not pressing too much because we need vibration for the Z sound).

Expert Tips

  1. Make sure this is a smooth sound meaning it flows between other sounds in the word. If there’s a stop before or after, it could like a J to native speakers. For this reason, someone might hear “major” when you want to say “measure.”
  2. If ZH is too hard, just use SH. ZH is a rare sound in English, and native speakers do not really know they are saying it. It’s better to say SH than to make a J sound.

Practice with the words below. Check out the video on this page.

measureusually
casualAsian
closurevisualize
leisureusual
visionvisual
treasuretelevision

Words with stress on the 2nd syllable: conversion, regime, persuasion, invasion, decision, division, illusion, evasion, inclusion, occasion, precision.

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