Relax the Settings to Make Mouth Posture Effortless

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[@Englishimmersion-tt7zz]

As always, thank you so much for the great explanation and high quality content!

[@iiAbdullah635]

I appreciate the shout-out. I can't tell which comment you're referring to since I write a lot. I still appreciate it nonetheless. 2:40, if you can feel your center of gravity, my guess is that you're not tensing enough. If you tense enough, it'll go away. With the caution that your tongue might try to resist(middle part some likely). This whole thing vice verse for us.

[@iiAbdullah635]

Tensing the top of the throat might help.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

I disagree. I've tensed my tongue to the point that I start sounding weird in Spanish or simply can't speak. I've also included the throat. I discovered a few months ago that if I do things right (even without the extra tension), I feel a huge relaxation where my normal center of gravity is. It's very difficult for me to remove, but I know it's something that has to be released, not paved over. Adding the necessary tongue tension doesn't remove it no matter how much I try to brute force it. In fact, it just ends up feeling even tighter and heavier. Many students make the same mistake. They relax and get the right settings, but they still hold their center of gravity and in the best-case scenario, they sound like they're doing a perfect start of our EI diphthong or that their UH is pulled forward a little. Removing it gets them the perfect UH result. The center of gravity is layered on top of the basic tongue tension/relaxedness and usually needs to be addressed directly.

[@iiAbdullah635]

​@NativeEnglishHacks well, if there's no tension whatsoever in your front, you shouldn't get the start of ei. That means you're not relaxing enough your front. Vice versa. If there is enough tension in your front, you should be getting the Spanish r/Spanish mouth posture. I still think my point holds water. You should tense more than you think. Espically, your front.

[@iiAbdullah635]

If your students' uh sounds forward, that isn't bad. It actually makes them sound a bit New Yorker. They should just relax more their front. They'll get it. I have the same problem. Tensing arbitrarily doesn't help. Tensing the right spot, mostly the front, does help.

[@jimcachapero1249]

Great content. I appreciate it a lot.

[@Naj_820]

Thank you

[@أحمدالدسوقي-ت9س]

In the word `Silence`, do you have the tendency to produce the `L` sound using the sides of your tongue? I feel compelled to do the `L` sound using the sides of my tongue when I am speaking with the hinge in place.

[@SeriousSam-wd4wj]

whenever am trying to do my tongue naturally pushing forward. It tensionally pushing the bottom tooth and hinges slighting forward to 3rd upper tooth:(

[@iiAbdullah635]

2:40 I still suspect the back of the tongue/the upper part of the throat to be relevant. I can't think of any other explanations. Maybe, your back is forward and you have to send it back a little - making the back flat can be useful. If that doesn't work, I will very confused.

[@johnconor5485]

Where do the sides of the tongue exactly press against or touch tho? inside of the pre-molars right below the gum areas? please help.

[@NativeEnglishHacks]

I described that in the main settings lesson and elsewhere. The tongue touches the inside bottom corner of the top teeth. There is wiggle room, though. Slightly between the top and bottom is fine, slightly along the inside of the upper teeth is fine, but it's centered around the corner.

[@johnconor5485]

@@NativeEnglishHacks Thanks for your reply! What does the tongue look like? Does it resemble a shallow bowl, with the sides slightly lifted, like at about a 10-degree angle?