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When you are speaking English it is important to recognize the difference between voiced sounds and voiceless sounds. A voiced sound causes your vocal chords to vibrate. A voiceless sound does not cause your vocal chords to vibrate.
American English has 8 voiced/voiceless consonant pairs. All of the vowel sounds are voiced. Try this so you can see what I mean.
Put your fingers lightly on your throat and say “zoo”. You should feel a vibration when you say the/z/.
Keep your fingers on your throat and say “Sue”. You should not feel a vibration when you say the/s/.
When you are speaking English it is very important to recognize the difference between voiced sounds and voiceless sounds. If you say these sounds incorrectly it will both mark your grammar as incorrect and contribute to your foreign accent.
You can view this one minute pronunciation video on voiced and voiceless sounds to see what I mean.
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