Minimal Pairs - The Key to Practice 🔑
Have you ever noticed how our mind can categorize things as the same when in hindsight, there are obvious differences.
Like in those ‘Spot the Difference’ pictures you can play at the arcade or on plane entertainment systems. From first glance, everything looks the same but the longer you stare and compare the photos, the more noticeable the differences?
It’s never an obvious feature, always something subtle - slightly off.
Well, English sounds are similar to that. By this point, you’ve got all the general sounds, you’ve probably spoken in English for years. You can communicate what you want and speak with native English speakers well enough.
Just, now you’ve noticed there there are subtle differences - slightly off.
Minimal pairs is the equivalent to those ‘Spot the Difference’ games.
Minimal pairs matches up sounds and words, so you can focus on the one difference between the two.
It isn’t helpful when you’re asked to spot the difference between completely different words.
That comparison becomes unhelpful because everything is different.
Minimal pairs are great for multiple reasons.
Let me explain.
You can focus on the one sound you have trouble with. Just like when you practice a new move, a new technique, a new dance, a new skill, you don’t just try 15 new things at a time, you prioritize 1. Speech is the same way. You must break it down so that you can learn the one new sound. Eventually, you will get to practice many sounds all at once. But for the first step, focus on just the one difference.
You are not perfect. Humble yourself. Swallow your pride. Practice one step at a time to build your confidence, build your skill, and increase your sensitivity to sound differences. In English, there are many sounds that exist that don’t exist in other languages. You may not even realize or hear the difference between the minimal pair words unless practiced.
Focusing on the one sound lets you notice the distinctions more clearly. Where is your mouth in your tongue? Near the front of the mouth or near the back of the mouth? Is it touching any other landmarks in your mouth? Are your vocal cords vibrating or not vibrating. Are your lips rounded, tense, or relaxed? How wide open is your jaw? All of these subtle differences have huge implications to the resulting sound. While native English speakers do this intuitively after learning the skills as a child, you as an adult need to think about these details to get to the precise sound location.
By intentionally comparing minimal pairs, you are forcing these contrasting sounds to be heard. In English, certain sounds are much more common than others. Non-native English speakers can get by speaking in English sometimes because the context of the conversation helps their listener. For example, there are fewer scenarios where /ʊ/ - /u/ contrast makes a difference in meaning. It would difficult to mishear ‘look’ for ‘Luke’ if there is no person named ‘Luke’ present for the conversation. The difference between the lax vowel /ɪ/ versus the long vowel /i/ is much more important because the commonality of the words can occur more frequently. It is much easier to confuse ‘he’s’ and ‘his’ and the frequency of those words are dramatically higher.
Now, if you’ve been convinced that minimal pairs are important, here’s the next step.
Figure out WHICH minimal pairs to practice.
How do you do that?
Well, if you’ve been keeping up with my blog, I’ve got through all the English sounds. Use your personal experiences to determine which words and sounds you need to more clearly differentiate. It can be a random comment a coworker made, a funny miscommunication story you had at a shop, a discussion with a partner or friend. All of these miscommunications can be clues for you.
Now, once you’ve identified what sounds you have trouble with, think about WHY you have trouble with them.
What sound are people hearing instead?
This is the minimal pair you want to practice.
Let’s say your F-sound is more like a P-sound. So people hear ‘stup’ instead of ‘stuff’.
Your minimal pair practice would be P- and F- words like ‘beef/beep’, ‘coffee/copy’, ‘cuff/cup’ and ‘cough/cop’.
A quick google search with your consonant or vowel minimal pair will get you started!
