Kk

consonant 19 · back of the tongue

Everything for
this sound

The activation, the inside of the mouth, a mouth up close, the beat, the reading and the sheet to print. All on this page.

Work on it here or take the printed sheet. The mirror, the activation and the syllables in the book work just as well without a screen.

See the other sounds

Place

Soft palate

Manner

Stop

Voice

Voiceless

Air

One puff

Before you start

The activation exercise

Holding the front of the tongue down unlocks the sound at the back. It works for c, k and q.

1

Open the mouth. With a clean ice-pop stick, press the front of the tongue down gently.

2

Say k from the back, keeping the front down: k, k, k.

3

Take the stick out and try again. Hand in front of the mouth: a small puff.

One

The K inside

4 steps. Listen to them, or use the arrows to go at your own pace.

1 of 4

The back of the tongue rises

It closes against the soft part of the roof of the mouth.

2 of 4

The soft palate closes the nose

The air builds up far back.

3 of 4

And it lets go at once

A short puff, at the back. You can't see it or hold it.

4 of 4

And nothing buzzes

You work on it blind: by ear and by touch.

Two

Slowly, up close

The same mouth, syllable by syllable and up close: this is the model they'll copy in the mirror.

Ten of each

Now on ka

Tap each time they say it. At ten, it moves on to the next one.

0 / 10
All five, done.
Great work, both of you.

Three

The beat

English has strong and weak beats. Tap the table on the strong one as you say it. Touch a pattern to hear it.

Four

What they can read

Only sounds they've already worked on. The words with a heart are learned by heart. Touch any of them to hear it.

To take with you

The K sheet

The two pages you use every day: practice with tally marks and tracing, and reading with the words. Print it as many times as you need.

Download PDF · 2 pages

If something doesn't work, write to hola@rootafamily.com.
This page goes with card 19 of the book. It isn't a diagnosis and doesn't replace an assessment by a speech-language professional.