Hear and Feel the Difference between /n/ and /ng/

The /ng/ sound as in "song" is unique from /n/ because of the position of the tongue. The tongue blocks air in the back of the mouth and the airstream is directed through the nose. There is also a slight /g/ heard. There are three common problems associated with this sound.  First of all, the /g/ is dropped completely ("going" becomes "goin").  Secondly, the /ng/ is substituted with /n/ (going=goween) and thirdly, the /g/ sound is heard too strongly, a problem common among both non-native speakers and native speakers.  (going=going)

Practice these sets of words to feel and hear the difference between /n/ and /ng/:

• Thin-thing
• Pain-pang
• amazeen vs. amazing
• danceen vs. dancing
• doween vs. doing

The difference may be slight but you can feel the tongue on the roof of the mouth move as you say the /n/ and then the /ng/.