Loud & Quiet Sounds

F vs V

F (quiet)

  • Top teeth rest on bottom lip

  • Blow air forward

  • "F" is quiet (voice off)

V (loud)

  • Top teeth rest on bottom lip

  • Blow air forward

  • "V" is quiet (voice off)

  • There are 5 pairs of words below for you to practice.

  • Submit your homework here.

  • Only move to Step 4 if they are accurate with Step 3.

  • More ideas for Steps 3 & 4 at bottom of page.

Step 1: Remind them of the rule.
Ex: "Sometimes I make my sounds quiet and sometimes I make them loud," or "We are going to practice turning our voice on and off while we talk."

face

vase

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This is a face (point to your own face). This picture shows a vase, it holds flowers. Face and vase."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Face. Vase." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say face or vase and I'll point to the one you say."

fine

vine

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This person says they are fine, that means they are alright or okay. This pictures shows a vine, it's the long skinny part of the grape plant. Fine and vine."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Fine. Vine. Fine. Fine. Vine." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say fine or vine and I'll point to the one you say."

fee

V ("vee")

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "When someone needs to pay money, it can be called a fee. This picture shows the letter V ("vee"). Fee and V."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Fee. V ("vee"). Fee. Fee. V. Fee." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say fee or vee and I'll point to the one you say."

fan

van

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This picture shows a fan; it blows air. This picture shows a van. Fan and van."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Fan. Van. Fan. Fan. Van." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say fan or van and I'll point to the one you say."

fairy

very

Step 2: Teach/remind them what each word means
Ex: "This picture shows a fairy, a magical creature with wings. This person is not just a little mad, they are very mad. Fairy and very."

Step 3: Make sure they can hear the difference
Ex: "Point to the word I say. Fairy. Very. Fairy. Fairy. Very." etc.

Step 4: Say the words
Ex: "You say fairy or very and I'll point to the one you say."

Tip for Step 3 (discriminating between words)

  • If they can do Step 3 accurately, praise them, "Great! You heard my quiet sound in peas and my loud sound in bees."

  • If they cannot do Step 4, praise their effort, and keep practicing Step 3 instead of going to Step 4. Ex: "Listen, I'm going to say peas with my quiet sound. Feel my throat, feel how there is no buzzing, it's quiet? Peas. Point to peas. Great, now I'm going to say bees with my loud sound, bees. Feel my throat, can you feel it buzzing? It's louder. Point here, to bees."

Ideas to make Step 4 (saying the words) more fun:

  • Draw one pair of words on 2 papers (one picture on each page). Put a tally point on each page as your child says each word. Tell your student they win the game if they get more points on the page that has their target. It's okay if there are NO points on the other page!

  • Print or draw a picture of something quiet (ex: a rabbit) and something loud (ex: drums, a dog barking, a train). Point to each picture as you practice quiet and loud sounds.

  • Repeat a quiet sound (e.g. p p p p p p p p) and catch each other sneaking a noisy sound in there (e.g. p p p p p b p). Make it competitive and add points if that is motivating to your child.

  • When you/your child make a quiet sound (/p/) hold a finger to your lips (as if you're saying "shhhh"). When you/your child make a loud sound (/b/), you could lightly touch your/their voice box to remind them to turn their voice on. (Or, cup your hand around your ear to cue them you want to hear their loud sound.)

  • Have your child draw a picture of each of the ten words above. Then, have them sort the pictures into a "quiet sound" pile and a "loud sound" pile.

  • Use the quiet/loud sound visual below to cue your child as they produce the words.

General Tips:

  • Remember to keep the words in pairs (instead of just going through pees, peep, pie, etc.). This therapy approach is meant to build your child's understanding that changing a sound can change the meaning of a word.

  • Build up your child's tolerance/ability to do more and more productions over time. Can they do 10? 20? 60?