Practice Activity: Consonant Sounds that Hum. Let's practice these sounds that hum, /m/, /n/, /n/. Here's a pronunciation hint. We know that when we make these three sounds, the air comes out of our nose. To make sure you're saying one of the humming sounds, touch the side of your nose. If the sound is coming out of your nose, you'll feel some vibration. If it's coming out of your mouth, you won't feel anything. Say these sounds and see if you can feel vibration: man, name, meant, among. Now try these words. They don't have humming sounds, so you shouldn't feel vibration in your nose. Sat, books, road, about. Now let's try reading this story that has lots of humming sounds. You'll have a chance to repeat each part. "Mark and Norma wanted to do something interesting on the weekend. They'd heard about a marvelous young singer who was giving a concert, so they decided to go. They hoped it would be a memorable evening. But during the concert, they became more and more disappointed. The singer sang some long, boring songs, and she was often off-tune. "This isn't music," whispered Norma. "It's just noise". As they went home, Mark and Norma knew they'd made a terrible mistake when they chose this concert. Next time they'll be more careful when they choose an event to attend." Let's review. I'll say a word and you decide what sound it starts with. Then practice saying the word. The first word is, neat. What's the first sound in this word? Yes, the first sound is /n/. Now say the word, neat. The next word is, must. What's the first sound in this word? Yes, the first sound is /m/. Now say the word, must. The next word is, knowledge. What's the first sound in this word? Yes, the first sound is /n/. Now say the word, knowledge. Be careful when you see written words that start with the letters kn, the k in these words is silent. We don't say a /k/ sound. Some other words like this are knife, knee and knob. This time listen for the last sound in the word. Here's the word, bring. What's the last sound? Yes, the last sound is, /ng/. Now say the word, bring. You'll never find this sound at the beginning of a word, only at the end, or in the middle. Finally, listen for the last sound in this word. Stone. What is it? Yes, the last sound is /n/. Now say the word, stone. Thank you for practicing the humming sounds of English.