Thanks, Daniel--it's a high compliment to hear that my videos give you peace and confidence as you learn to speak American English (not an easy task!).
You're very welcome! In the near future I'll be redoing the Dark L video, because I want to give more examples and further explanation. So be watching for that in the upcoming weeks! 🙂
Hello dear professor Your lessons are really interesting and crucial,i do appreciate your job,i wish you peace and happiness under the sky of prosperity,all the best. Take care and have a good time. Your Student from Algeria
If you don’t mind; Can you please teach me how to pronounce the letter “p” after a vowel or in the middle of the word. For example: shepherd, trumpet, special, space, speech. I heard that the “p” is pronounced as “b” sound in these words. Thank you so much for your wonderful videos!
Hi Huong, yes, I'll put that on my list for future video topics. 🙂It's really not a true /b/ sound, but it's not the same /p/ that happens at the beginning of words either. It's just a brief stopping of the voice.
Thanks for this comment. I have plan to redo the Dark L video with more explanation and practice sentences. So I will demonstrate what it looks like in that video.
Hi Malini--thanks for your comment! I didn't include a lot of words in this video because Module 3 of our program has a pretty good list of Dark L words in it already. If you want more practice words, a quick Internet search for "words ending with L" will give you a lengthy list! Another suggestion is to do an Internet search for the "500 most frequently used words in the English language," find all of the words in that list that contain an L after a vowel sound, and then ask yourself which of those words frequently occur in your own daily speech. Then practice those specific words in phrases and sentences that are meaningful to you. This will create a new habit for you, which will likely carry over to other words containing the Dark L sound as well!
Thanks very much for your very helpful explanation. I have a question. How about if "l" is sandwiched between vowels like in "military"? Do you pronounce the Dark L right after "mi" and quickly shift to the Light L before you pronounce the next "i"? And, just to give you another example, how about the word "melon" or "mellow"? Do you use the Dark L right after "e" and quickly pronounce the Light L right before "o"? Thanks very much in advance.
Thanks for your question! In each of those words you mentioned, there is only one L sound, the Dark L. We don't switch from a Dark L into a Light L just because there are vowel sounds after it. In these cases, it's the vowel coming before the L that forces it to be a Dark L, and that's the only L sound we use in that case. I hope that cleared up this question for you.
@@pronunciationsnippets Thank you very much for your answer. I find it hard to pronounce L followed by a vowel if the tip of my tongue doesn't touch the alveolar ridge or the back of my front upper teeth. Again, for example, the L in melon. I understand how the L has to be Dark right after "e", but if I have to keep it Dark for pronouncing the following "lo" which is L plus a vowel, it's very difficult. But I will try. Once again, Thank you very much for your prompt reply.
I can see how that would feel challenging. Try to keep that tongue tip anchored on the back of your lower front teeth for the Dark L as you pronounce words like that. 🙂
@@pronunciationsnippets Thanks very much again for your advice. Yes, I will practice it till it's not challenging. Please take care and keep up the good work.
Thank you, Saud! I'm so sorry it took me a long time to reply. This comment got placed in my "Held for Review" section, and I'm not sure why. I really appreciate you watching my video!
I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with this sound. If I was able to work with you in a live Zoom lesson, I think I could help you with that, but otherwise all I can do is give you the examples that I have provided in the video. This is the limitation of RUclips videos--they can't replace live instruction. However, I will tell you that your listener will still understand you if you use a light L instead of a dark L. You may not sound like a native speaker, but you will be clearly understood.
Hi Michael--Canadians and Americans sound very similar, except for the vowels on certain words (like "sorry" and "about"), so if you can't find a Canadian program that you like, an American English pronunciation training program will do the job for you! 😉
@@pronunciationsnippets for the record I am Canadian and I don’t say aboot I say about in fact all the Canadians I know say about I don’t know one Canadian that says aboot there is this one Canadian RUclipsr that actually does say aboot but all the Canadians including myself that I know personally say about not aboot same with sorry me and every Canadian I know say sarry not soarry
@@pronunciationsnippets there are some Canadians that say aboot and things like that but I think they are more in the western parts of Canada I live more in the eastern part in Toronto where we say about and sarry
Hi Katie--the L is definitely silent in the word "salmon" in American English. You'll hear a lot of variation from native speakers (as you've already discovered) on words like "palm", "calm", and "balm." Some pronounce the L and some don't, so either way is acceptable. I pronounce the L in these words in order to be clear in my meaning (because, for example, "balm" can be mistaken for "bomb" if the L is not pronounced). Thanks for the interaction, and thanks for watching my video!
I have always pronounced l the same no matter what word ------- with the tip of the tongue directly behind the front teeth. No need to confuse. One l or two ------ we still pronounce them as one l. To say ball without the tip of the tongue ending behind the front teeth sounds more like one is saying bowl than ball. Maybe this teaching is why I've been hearing some people pronounce two ls on the end of words as a w. They sound like toddlers.
Hi Trenchant--thanks for your comment. Yes, I'm familiar with what you're describing. It's the tendency to use the lips to make the Dark L sound rather than using the tongue. I teach my students to keep the lips completely out of the L sound (light or dark L), and only use the tongue.
Thank you Lori! This is very interesting and helpful, as I never heard of a "dark l" before!
I'm glad you found it useful! :-)
Hi Lori. It's definitely surprising. I have tried several times and it worked well for me . Thanks.
THIS TEACHER IS ADORABLE AND GIVES ME PEACE AND CONFIDENCE AS I LEARN
Thanks, Daniel--it's a high compliment to hear that my videos give you peace and confidence as you learn to speak American English (not an easy task!).
@@pronunciationsnippets it's definitely not easy specially for me staying in Brazil, where everyone speaks only Portuguese 😅
Thanks a million for these L sounds. You rock! Have a great one.
You're very welcome! In the near future I'll be redoing the Dark L video, because I want to give more examples and further explanation. So be watching for that in the upcoming weeks! 🙂
Hello dear professor
Your lessons are really interesting and crucial,i do appreciate your job,i wish you peace and happiness under the sky of prosperity,all the best. Take care and have a good time.
Your Student from Algeria
Thank you so much for your comment! I so appreciate your support of my channel. 🙂
This is helpful!
Greetings from Egypt!
So glad to hear that--thanks for watching!
Hi, Lori, I love how you teach!!
Thank you so much, Ebenezer--I really appreciate that. Thanks for watching my video!
I love it! you are the best Teacher!
Thank you, Meva!
Thank you for a great video.
You're so welcome, Ramzy--thank you for watching!
If you don’t mind; Can you please teach me how to pronounce the letter “p” after a vowel or in the middle of the word. For example: shepherd, trumpet, special, space, speech. I heard that the “p” is pronounced as “b” sound in these words.
Thank you so much for your wonderful videos!
Hi Huong, yes, I'll put that on my list for future video topics. 🙂It's really not a true /b/ sound, but it's not the same /p/ that happens at the beginning of words either. It's just a brief stopping of the voice.
Great teacher! very helpful!
Glad it was useful for you, Emilce!
It's the great lesson. Thanks
You're very welcome--thanks for watching! 🙂
Can you show example exactly how to make the sound by touching tip of the tongue on back of bottom front teeth?
Thanks for this comment. I have plan to redo the Dark L video with more explanation and practice sentences. So I will demonstrate what it looks like in that video.
Great technique!
I'm really glad you found it useful, Onyinyechi. Thanks for subscribing! 🙂
Wonderful 👍
Thank you! 🙂
It would be great if you mention more words with dark L and have us practice after you mentioned how the tongue position needs to be
Hi Malini--thanks for your comment! I didn't include a lot of words in this video because Module 3 of our program has a pretty good list of Dark L words in it already. If you want more practice words, a quick Internet search for "words ending with L" will give you a lengthy list! Another suggestion is to do an Internet search for the "500 most frequently used words in the English language," find all of the words in that list that contain an L after a vowel sound, and then ask yourself which of those words frequently occur in your own daily speech. Then practice those specific words in phrases and sentences that are meaningful to you. This will create a new habit for you, which will likely carry over to other words containing the Dark L sound as well!
Woooaoowww it helps me a lot🎉
I'm so glad to hear that! Thank you for letting me know! 🙂
Thanks very much for your very helpful explanation. I have a question. How about if "l" is sandwiched between vowels like in "military"? Do you pronounce the Dark L right after "mi" and quickly shift to the Light L before you pronounce the next "i"? And, just to give you another example, how about the word "melon" or "mellow"? Do you use the Dark L right after "e" and quickly pronounce the Light L right before "o"? Thanks very much in advance.
Thanks for your question! In each of those words you mentioned, there is only one L sound, the Dark L. We don't switch from a Dark L into a Light L just because there are vowel sounds after it. In these cases, it's the vowel coming before the L that forces it to be a Dark L, and that's the only L sound we use in that case. I hope that cleared up this question for you.
@@pronunciationsnippets Thank you very much for your answer. I find it hard to pronounce L followed by a vowel if the tip of my tongue doesn't touch the alveolar ridge or the back of my front upper teeth. Again, for example, the L in melon. I understand how the L has to be Dark right after "e", but if I have to keep it Dark for pronouncing the following "lo" which is L plus a vowel, it's very difficult. But I will try. Once again, Thank you very much for your prompt reply.
I can see how that would feel challenging. Try to keep that tongue tip anchored on the back of your lower front teeth for the Dark L as you pronounce words like that. 🙂
@@pronunciationsnippets Thanks very much again for your advice. Yes, I will practice it till it's not challenging. Please take care and keep up the good work.
Good job.👩🎓👩🎓
Thank you, Saud! I'm so sorry it took me a long time to reply. This comment got placed in my "Held for Review" section, and I'm not sure why. I really appreciate you watching my video!
Lori, when i try to pronounce the dark l , i end up making the dental lateral approximant i just cant help it
I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with this sound. If I was able to work with you in a live Zoom lesson, I think I could help you with that, but otherwise all I can do is give you the examples that I have provided in the video. This is the limitation of RUclips videos--they can't replace live instruction. However, I will tell you that your listener will still understand you if you use a light L instead of a dark L. You may not sound like a native speaker, but you will be clearly understood.
Hướng dẫn các bài xuân đi ạ!
Great!
Thank you, Faye--and thanks for supporting my channel! 🙂
What if you want to sound like a Canadian English speaker?
Hi Michael--Canadians and Americans sound very similar, except for the vowels on certain words (like "sorry" and "about"), so if you can't find a Canadian program that you like, an American English pronunciation training program will do the job for you! 😉
@@pronunciationsnippets for the record I am Canadian and I don’t say aboot I say about in fact all the Canadians I know say about I don’t know one Canadian that says aboot there is this one Canadian RUclipsr that actually does say aboot but all the Canadians including myself that I know personally say about not aboot same with sorry me and every Canadian I know say sarry not soarry
Well then, clearly I've been operating under a misconception! Thanks for clearing that up!
@@pronunciationsnippets there are some Canadians that say aboot and things like that but I think they are more in the western parts of Canada I live more in the eastern part in Toronto where we say about and sarry
Makes total sense. Dialectical differences within languages are fascinating, aren't they? I appreciate the interaction, Michael!
How about the l after the a in palm, or, salmon?. Pronounced or silent. I'm a native speaker hear both ways.
Hi Katie--the L is definitely silent in the word "salmon" in American English.
You'll hear a lot of variation from native speakers (as you've already discovered) on words like "palm", "calm", and "balm." Some pronounce the L and some don't, so either way is acceptable. I pronounce the L in these words in order to be clear in my meaning (because, for example, "balm" can be mistaken for "bomb" if the L is not pronounced).
Thanks for the interaction, and thanks for watching my video!
Thank you for responding. I love the study of language. I'm from a Northern state living in a Southern. It took quite a while to learn nuances.
I have always pronounced l the same no matter what word ------- with the tip of the tongue directly behind the front teeth. No need to confuse. One l or two ------ we still pronounce them as one l. To say ball without the tip of the tongue ending behind the front teeth sounds more like one is saying bowl than ball.
Maybe this teaching is why I've been hearing some people pronounce two ls on the end of words as a w. They sound like toddlers.
Hi Trenchant--thanks for your comment. Yes, I'm familiar with what you're describing. It's the tendency to use the lips to make the Dark L sound rather than using the tongue. I teach my students to keep the lips completely out of the L sound (light or dark L), and only use the tongue.
No, but I have a hard time with bad sounding ugoobers
Michel, can you please explain this another way? I'd like to respond to you, but I just didn't understand your comment.