I have been practicing dark L. I saw this video from Youtube about pronouncing dark L. Could you please watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BygKFtLVBbQ? However, I wonder American English speakers pronounce Dark L like this video or not.
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1I think there's some variation in how AmE speakers pronounce their Ls. When I pronounce an L, the tip of my tongue never touches the roof of my mouth. (Does this make me weird? I don't know.) In IPA, I think this means I have [ʟ] rather than [l] or [ɫ].– user230Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 16:39
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Ah, I found this answer on linguistics.se, which says: "Normally you should also notice, in a subsequent phase, that the tip of your tongue touches the front of your palate closer to the teeth, but since you already mentioned that you tend to finish your "dark Ls" with a "w" sound, it is possible that this part is absent in your pronunciation - which is actually quite common in America for instance." (emphasis added)– user230Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 16:57
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Thanks for your comment. I ever heard some AmE speakers don't let the tip of their tongue to the roof of their mouth but I have to choose only one way to pronounce because it's not easy to pronounce in many ways.– nkmCommented Jun 10, 2013 at 17:14
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Do American's pronounce the "l" in palm and salt? I ask because in the video he gave these words as examples. I do not pronounce the "l" in either of these words, if I speak fairly fast it comes out: /pɑːm/ and /sɔːt/.– Mari-Lou ACommented Jun 10, 2013 at 19:47
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@Mari-LouA I think some do. You may be interested in the discussion here: aschmann.net/AmEng/#PronunciationOfAlm (If it doesn't load the right section, click on The Pronunciation of “alm” and “olk” and “alk”.)– user230Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 20:08
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1 Answer
Prof: Balazer's video describes the mechanics correctly. To my ear, he over-articulates, giving the impression of a very old-school "elocution" teacher; but this may in fact be desirable for beginning students.
OP finds that the teacher, "Rachel", in this video speaks too fast for his comfort; but students with more experience listening to American English may find her video useful. She speaks more naturally than Prof. Balazer, and she describes the subtleties of actual American speech more precisely. "Rachel"has many videos on YouTube, and I have found all of those I have seen accurate and "student-friendly", with non-technical language.
answered Jun 10, 2013 at 16:08
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Thank you so much StoneyB for your help and watching the video. Your recommend is really useful. I ever seen the video that you recommended few days ago too but for me, the speaker spoke very fast and it was too difficult to see how she pronounced.– nkmCommented Jun 10, 2013 at 16:22
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@nkm Ah, then you would do well to work with Prof. Balazer's video until you are more comfortable. Perhaps I have done him an injustice, and he is right to speak very slowly and precisely for beginners. I will edit my answer to reflect your observations. Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 16:40
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Yes, Prof. Balazer spoke very slowly and I could see very well how he moved his tongue when he pronounced final L sound and it was easy to learn and do like him. However, I ever pronounced like that to an American too, he said I over pronounced too. That's why I asked here that Prof. Balazer's video was correct or not. Right now I understand Prof.Balazer's video describes the mechanics correctly but for myself I have to keep practing to be more natural. Thank you so much for your answer. It's really helpful.– nkmCommented Jun 10, 2013 at 17:01
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2I can't help feeling Prof. Balazer's video is reminiscent of the blind leading the blind. Maybe there's some subtle advantage to being taught by someone who learn English himself later in life, but I can't see it. He'd certainly never pass for a "native speaker". Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 22:40
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1@FumbleFingers That's OK. You're the main guy making me rewrite my answers--about one in three, I think. And you're the author of the Best Line Ever on ELL: "don’t use Past Perfect unless you really have to." I quote that at least once a week. Commented Jun 11, 2013 at 0:20