Learn the American Accent: How to Pronounce the American English Light L and Dark L Sounds

hi everyone in this video you'll learn how to pronounce the light and dark L sounds there are a few sounds in American English that are consistently tricky for most of my clients and one that deserves a spot at the table is the L sound I found this sound to be especially tricky for my Chinese Vietnamese and Japanese clients the American Elle has two pronunciations depending on where it is in the word when the L is at the beginning of a word like in love and look or at the beginning of a syllable like in elongate and release it is called the light L the IPA symbol for the light L is this of the two pronunciations for L the light L might be easier to pronounce because the tongue placement is a little less complicated to make this sound place the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth or at the bumpy Ridge just behind your front teeth also the tongue tip can come out past your front teeth here is the light L with my tongue tip behind my front teeth light and here it is with my tongue tip past my front teeth light the tongue should be narrow in shape to allow the airflow to travel around the sides of the tongue the back of the tongue is low in the mouth the light L may feel like it is being made towards the front of the mouth light light when L is at the end of a word like in ball and able or at the end of a syllable like in pillow and doll house it's called the dark L the IPA symbol for the dark L may be the same as the light L or you may see this symbol depending on who has written the transcription the tongue placement for the dark L starts out similar to the light L the tongue tip is up behind the front teeth but the tongue tip does not pass the front teeth like it can for the light l but the difference is what is happening with the back of the tongue the back of the tongue is low in the mouth but it should lift up slightly towards the back of the mouth as you make the sound and you should feel a bit of tension in the throat and tongue as you say the sound you may even feel like the dark L is made in the throat and not in the mouth oh oh the dark L might feel a bit strange at first and it is here are some example words with the dark L ball Hill able reel since the dark L does not exist in all languages some of my clients will substitute the closest sound they have in their native language for the dark L that's usually the vowel sound oh like in ball for ball there are two articulation errors happening in this case one the tongue tip has been lowered and the tongue base has been raised which is the opposite of the tongue placement for the dark L and two the lips have usually been rounded to make the o sound here is the word ball with the au substitution bow and here it is with the dark L ball let's quickly review the tongue placement for the dark L the tongue tip is up and touching the back of the front teeth or at the bumpy Ridge just behind the front teeth the back of the tongue is positioned low in the mouth and then it pulls up slightly towards the back of the mouth as you say the sound all all now pay close attention to my lips do my lips do anything for this sound oh no my lips are neutral I can even smile as I say the dark L and it will still sound correct all here are some words that are said with the correct dark L and the substituted O sound see if you can hear the difference tall tau baseball baseball table table use a mirror when you practice so you can make sure you aren't rounding your lips when you say the dark L and here's a trick to help with the dark L add the vowel uh to the end of the word to train your tongue to come up to the right spot then slowly fade out the UH as you become more consistent with the correct tongue placement ball ball tall tall call call thanks so much for watching and let me know if you'd like some help with the light and dark L sounds [Music]

Channel: San Diego Voice and Accent

Views: 6,150

Keywords: English pronunciation, American accent, American English pronunciation, accent reduction, accent modification, accent reduction san diego, san diego voice and accent, Light L, Dark L

Id: zLbVK12epDM

Length: 6min 6sec (366 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 23 2020