In this American English pronunciation video,
we’re going to go over the difference in the Dark L and the ending OH sound. Many non-native speakers from various language
backgrounds, for example, those in Brazil, Vietnam, and China, have a hard time with
the Dark L sound. It’s very common to substitute something like the OH sound, or to think of
the word ending in a W, so that ‘email’ sounds like ‘emai-oh’. Email, emai-oh.
These two words may sound the same to you, but they don’t sound the same to Americans.
In this video we’re going to go over how to avoid substituting the OH sound for the
Dark L. Yesterday, I invited my friend HaQuyen here
to briefly talk about why this is a problem. >>HaQuyen, than you so much for joining me
today. I really appreciate it. >> Not a problem, Rachel.
>> My friend HaQuyen in fluent in both English and Vietnamese. And since Vietnamese is one
language group that makes this OH substitution for the Dark L, I thought I’d bring you
in and ask you, what can say about this substitution? >> So, in Vietnamese, the Dark L sound doesn’t
actually exist. So what ends up happening, is that the Vietnamese will substitute a sound
that they know or are familiar with into the word. So if I say ‘hell’, with a Dark
L there at the end, um, Vietnamese will probably substitute the word—the sound—eh-oh.
>> Ok. So then it would be, instead of ‘hell’, >> he-oh.
>> Ok. And the reason why they do that is because it exists.
>> Yes. So that sound, eh-oh, ends a lot of Vietnamese words, and it sounds somewhat familiar.
So that’s what people will do. >> Ok. So basically, it’s substituting a
sound you don’t know how to make with a familiar sound.
>> Exactly. So when a sound is unfamiliar, we tend to
substitute it. How to solve that? Make the Dark L a familiar sound. Oh, emai-oh, is made at the front of the mouth
with the lips, emai-oh. This is the biggest difference with the Dark L, which is made
at the back of the mouth. I asked HaQuyen how she describes the Dark L sound. >> HaQuyen, how would you describe the Dark
L? I know this is hard because, when you don’t think about how you speak, it’s hard to
put words to it. But, just, off the top of your head, what would you say about how to
make the Dark L? >> When I think of the Dark L, or how it sounds
or feels in my mouth, I feel that it comes back into the back of my throat. The ELL,
the uhl sound is right back there at the end. >> Umm-hmm. Exactly. That’s how I describe
it too. The back part of the tongue moves back, uhl. It’s a weird sound.
>> It is. >> Uhl.
>> Uhl. [laughter] OH is a diphthong, which means it has two
sounds. It has jaw drop, and, importantly, lip rounding. Even though the tongue lifts
in the back, the lip rounding brings the resonance of the voice forward, to the front of the
face. Emai-oh. For the Dark L, the tongue pulls back, and might even press down a bit
in the back. This is the opposite of OH, where it lifts in the back. The lips can remain
neutral. The resonance is in the back of the mouth, uuhl, uuhl. The Dark L may finish with the tongue coming
up, but often we just leave it down and make the dark sound, uuhl, by pulling the back
of the tongue back, for the dark L. So, OH sound here, oh, emai-oh. And the Dark sound
here: uhl, email. The dark sound is a bit odd on its own, uhl. It doesn’t really sound
like the rest of the sounds in American English. It’s unique. Once students get comfortable
with the Dark L and start using it, it really changes their accent. Practice words really
slowly, uhl, email, uhl. And watch yourself in a mirror. That part is important: you shouldn’t
see NY lip rounding. Let’s go over a few minimal pairs, with
correct and incorrect pronunciation. Email, emai-oh
Tell, teh-oh Feel, fee-oh
Special, speci-oh Help, he-oh-p. Now we’re going to study some of these pairs
up close and in slow motion to get used to how the sound should look, so when you practice
on your own, you can be sure you’re doing it right. Here, we’ll compare the correct and incorrect
pronunciation of ‘email’. See how, for the correct pronunciation, the lips remain
more neutral. For the incorrect position, the lips round and flare a bit. Correct and incorrect pronunciation of ‘tell’.
Again, for the correct pronunciation, the lips remain more neutral. For the incorrect
position, the lips round and flare a bit. One more comparison. The correct and incorrect
pronunciation of ‘special’. Again, for the correct pronunciation, the lips remain
more neutral. For the incorrect position, the lips round and flare. I hope you can see the difference, even if
you can’t hear the difference yet. Try to get comfortable with the Dark sound, uul,
by moving the back of the tongue slightly back. Then integrate that into some words,
speaking slowly. Drill a few words with me. Look in a mirror.
Make sure your lips aren’t rounding. Email
Sell Real
Well Kill
Special Speaking of special, special thanks to HaQuyen
for sharing her thoughts with us. Challenge: put three words in the comments below that
end in a dark L. Use all the Dark L words in the comments to practice and drill the
Dark L on your own. Are you signed up for my mailing list? If
you are, you get a weekly email with English lessons and fun stories from my day-to-day
life. It’s absolutely free. Please sign up, it’s a great way to keep in touch. Also, I’m very pleased to tell you that
my book is available for purchase. If you liked this video, there’s a lot more to
learn about American English pronunciation, and my book will help you step by step. You
can get it by clicking here, or in the description below. That’s it, and thanks so much for using
Rachel’s English.
