To make this sound, ww--, the lips form a tight circle. Ww--

The back part of the tongue stretches up towards the soft palate.

While the front part of the tongue lightly touches the back of the bottom front teeth.

To give this sound the right quality, you have to close the vocal cords to get this sound: ww-- ww--

Ww-- which we add to the sound ww--

You release the vocal cords as you release the lips, coming out of the W sound. Ww--

Let's look at the sound up close and in slow motion.

With the tight circle for the lips, you can't see the tongue at all.

But it lifts in the back. The word 'why'.

A tight circle for the lips.

The word 'west'.

Again, a tight circle for the lips.

The word 'unwind'. Here, the W is in the middle of the word.

We still take the time to bring the lips into a tight circle.

This sound is most common at the beginning of words.

It doesn't occur at the end of any words, though the letter W does.

The W consonant.

Why

West

Unwind

Example words. Repeat with me.

Water. Ww-- Water.

Welcome. Ww-- Welcome.

Rework. Ww-- Rework.

Away. Ww-- Away.

Between. Ww-- Between.

Will. Ww-- Will.

This video is one of 36 in a new series, The Sounds of American English.

Videos in this set will be released here on YouTube twice a month,

first and third Thursdays, in 2016 and 2017.

But the whole set can be all yours right now.

The real value of these videos is watching them as a set, as a whole,

to give your mind the time to take it all in and get the bigger picture.

Most of the materials you'll find elsewhere just teach the sounds on their own in isolation.

It's a mistake to learn them this way.

We learn the sounds to speak words and sentences, not just sounds.

Move closer to fluency in spoken English.

Buy the video set today!

Visit rachelsenglish.com/sounds

Available as a DVD or digital download.