Your sounds · Mouth range
Clear sounds need room. Today we open the jaw, round the lips and smile wide, and we go much bigger than feels normal.
Drop the jaw a finger's width.
Round the lips for oo.
Smile wide for ee.
The ladder
Good morning! How are you?
Monica conducts: hand low = level 1, hand high = level 5. Same phrase every time. Then settle at 4, which will feel too big and will sound just right.
Vowel stretch
Smile wide. Show your teeth.
Drop the jaw. Two fingers.
Round the lips. Push forward.
wow · I love it · about
wow: oo, then a big ah, then oo again · love: jaw down · about: a wide "ow"
Mirror
Turn on the camera and watch your jaw and lips. It's a mirror: nothing is recorded or sent unless you press Record, and the recording stays on this computer.
Check: can you fit a finger between your teeth on "ah"? Do the lips go forward on "oo"?
Range 1 · Volume knob · 2 min
I can't believe it's Friday.
Monica calls the number. Start at 1, jump to 10, land on 6 or 7.
Range 2 · Mirror vowels · 2 min
Big smile.
Jaw dropped.
Lips far forward.
As big as you can. Then "see, saw, who" fast, at half size.
Range 3 · Emotion swap · 3 min
Oh really? That's interesting.
bored
Tap the word for the next feeling. The melody changes, not just the face.
Range 4 · Pencil · 1 min
Why do people not know that vitamin D deficiency can increase dementia risk?
Why do people not know that having a lack of this mineral is affecting their long-term risk of cancer?
Read both lines with a pencil held lightly between your teeth. Take it out and read them again.
Range 5 · Meet in the middle · 2 min
I can't believe it's Friday. Oh really? That's interesting.
Play both. The "too big" one usually sounds just right.
Take it home
Every day, 2 minutes: say "ee, ah, oo" five times, very big.
Then read one sentence at level 5, then at level 4. Level 4 is your new normal.
Feel it: your face should be a little tired. That's the point.
Prepared by Monica Lim