Producing /z/

How to produce /z/

Tongue tip just behind the upper teeth (same place as /s/), air flowing over the groove of the tongue — but with voice on. You should feel buzzing at the throat. Common L2 error: devoicing /z/ to /s/ at the end of words (buzz → bus, peas → peace).

Practice the sound in isolation

Say 'zoo' slowly. Hold the target sound. Record yourself — does it match your mental model of the native version?

A few varied words

• Initial: zoo, zero, zebra
• Medial: music, busy, easy
• Final: buzz, rose, please