EMAIL vs. EMAI-OH - How to make the Dark L - American English

[@CarinaFragozo]

A similar process occurs in Brazilian Portuguese. EFL learners tend to say [braˈzɪʊ] instead of [brəˈzɪl], as we don't have the dark "l' in our language (except for some dialects in the countryside). I'm a big fan of your channel, Rachel! Congratulations!

[@hadrielia]

+Carina Fragozo For me it's sort of easy to make the dark L sound because my grandmother used to say some words, like "sal" and "cal" with the dark L sound LOL She was brazilian, but her parents were portuguese, that's why she had a little bit of a portuguese (from Portugal) accent =D

[@rachelsenglish]

+Carina Fragozo Thank you, Carina! And thank you for your comments - it is great to have your input here! :)

[@AndersonSilva-tg1dt]

+Carina Fragozo Hi Carina, you around here, awesome! (I also follow your channel) Rachel is really fantastic. I'm a big fan too. My pronounce is a lot better because of her.

[@vipexpresstrading8834]

ESL, Meal, metal.

[@eds2gecilaine]

Carina Fragozo tu parece a filha do Zezé di Camargo e Luciano. Zezé di Camargo e Luciano. 😂😂😂

[@shinyta11]

Nobody ever told me there were two L pronunciations ;_; Until you mentioned them in a video. I was like, wait what?! Now I'll have to relearn all the words that have a dark L. xD Thank you! You are a very good teacher!

[@petit4489]

This video is so fascinating to me. I’m a native American English speaker, but growing up I had speech therapy because I couldn’t pronounce a dark L

[@angvanhoanh4418]

I'm Vietnamese. Thank you very much. I Love Rachel' English Channel

[@rachelsenglish]

You're very welcome Đặng and thanks for watching there!

[@yakiko567]

This video is amazing! I am Japanese, and we don't have the dark L sound. I'm always struggling to pronounce it, but finally I got something. Thank you very much!

[@rachelsenglish]

Awesome! Glad I could help!

[@cctang72]

Thanks so much. I am Chinese, I cannot realize I got this problem until I watch your video! That's helpful!

[@jorgeandrade20]

Hi Rachel, I find the dark 'L' to be one of the hardest sounds in American English, when I was training to reduce my accent, I felt the need to accentuate the 'L' sound by lifting the tip of my tongue to the alveolar ridge area of the mouth. Today, my dark 'L' is comprised of two movements: First, the back of the tongue pulls back, secondly, the tip of the tongue slightly lifts to mimic the regular 'L' sound, if I don't use that sequence, it makes me feel like I'm not pronouncing the word correctly, unless I'm speaking super fast, then there's no time to lift the tip of the tongue. What a pesky little sound!

[@octavioamaroflores8634]

That's exactly what happened to while studying bulgarian phonology!

[@tysonfitzgerald2235]

I'm a native English speaker but I still find your videos fascinating.

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks a lot Tyson!

[@jellofel8138]

I’m from Shanghai, and we have the dark l sound in Shanghai dialect that stands for the oh sound in Mandarin, so my brain spontaneously treats both sounds as the same thing since I’m constantly switching back and forth. I have to force my brain to differentiate the dark l from the oh sound when I’m listening to English. I’m glad that you addressed this particular topic. I feel more comfortable to pronounce these two sounds now. Thank you!

[@rafaelduarteaguilera9352]

This video reminds a situation a lived in the U.S. when I was told to look for a person called "Beo" (an African name pronounced like bɪoʊ) and it sounded like "Bill" (bɪl) to me. So I asked for Bill to everybody, but no one could find him. After a couple of minutes they realized that the name was actually Beo and not Bill, and I found him. Thanks for your videos, Rachel!

[@rachelsenglish]

+Rafael Duarte Aguilera Great story and example! Thank you for sharing!

[@captainamerica6031]

I'm Vietnamese and dark L is really difficult not only for me but also many other Vietnamese. I'm grateful for your instruction.

[@nguyenngocminh2102]

Can you pronounce the dark L sound now?

[@captainamerica6031]

@@nguyenngocminh2102 Yes, I can.

[@lourdespalacios6669]

First time I hear about the existence of two L! You're a wonderful teacher. I appreciate your help. God bless you!!

[@ertnara]

As a brazilian i must say it helped a lot Rachel, thanks

[@ФЕЙСАЛСайдулаев]

Rachel you're such a kind person !!!Thank you so much for giving us the oportunity to improve our prounounciation!!!

[@yuanxiangqi2519]

I have been trying to figure out the difference for more than 10years, thanks a lot

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@lucyhuynh8994]

Thank you so much Rachel! I’m one of the Vietnamese that struggles with this Dark L, I even have no idea about it until watching your video 😭😭😭

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Lucy!

[@nguyenquang1318]

Big thanks from Vietnam Rachel, I have been thought they were the same thing.

[@andreymendoza2122]

My three words with dark L: Retail, Bill and Hell. Thanks for your videos, it helps me so much to progress in my English learning.

[@KEN3359-i8f]

I like this kind of explanation for pronunciation of words. I also took many types of explanation by different coaches and/or instructors worldwide thru U-Tube videos. I appreciated my Japlish improvement getting closer to Native speakers.

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks for sharing!

[@weirdam2574]

Bright explanation! All the words that end in -all, including the very "all".

[@李若涵-l2w]

thank you so much.I am Chinese.I really think these two sounds are completely same.But I will practice.

[@automekanicsshops8827]

Special Thanks to both of You !

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@nguyenphuongneu]

I'm vietnamese. I live in Ha Noi . I have a trouble with Dark L like you show it in this video. THank you so much for made it .

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@soniacao3726]

explanation about the pronouncing part really helps!

[@rachelsenglish]

Great!

[@drogadepc]

I'm brazilian and that's true story about the Dark L and OH. Nice vídeo

[@eds2gecilaine]

5:00 ii meu!! esse troço é complicado!!! kkkj

[@juniorsilvasilva6897]

Pronúncia complicada. Rss

[@camuflagehugo5137]

" Bowl" is the perfect word to know the difference between the dark L and OH sound. OW is OH and L is the dark L. Look at yourself in the mirror. Your lip should be rounded when you pronounce the OW, whereas your lip should be relaxed when you pronounce the L in the end.

[@BobIshidaHere]

Rache! This is exactly what I needed to learn at this point of my progress. Thank you very much! Now I see my problem and can fix it with practice. People, ball, Rachel......People, ball, Rachel......People, ball, Rachel......People, ball, Rachel......

[@AndersonSilva-tg1dt]

Wow Rachel, fantastic. I think us, brazilians in general, really have a hard time to pronounce the dark L. Thank you so much! 3 words: call, fail, bail.

[@runlearn]

So clear. I've seen some instructors tell students to say oh instead as a tip. This comparison was amazing and easy to understand. I'm a big fan of yours! Thanks a lot for great lessons!

[@phannkhuong]

I'm Vietnamese and I always say EMAI-OH until I see this video, thank you! :)

[@rachelsenglish]

Hello there and thanks for watching!

[@deathkt1414]

I`m learning a lot from your book Rachel, thanks a lot , here are my 3 words: self, people, battle

[@carolineliu4227]

Thanks a lot. I cannot tell ou from dark L solely with listening. But with the help of lips, I get the difference now. Very nice teaching!

[@BarbaraBrasileiro]

Thank you so much, Rachel. I always learn so much from your lessons!

[@rachelsenglish]

My pleasure Barbara!

[@MondedeMon]

Thanks! I'm Vietnamese! I know how difficult to pronounce dark L!

[@misterio4439]

Thanks for that! I finally learned how to pronounce the "dark L".

[@rachelsenglish]

Great!

[@galladiel]

And here I was practicing "L" sound vocalization for London cockney accent. In cockney accent they do the opposite- replace dark L with "w" or "ou" sound. Vietnamese and Brasilians should have no problem with their "L" in London.

[@kathybui1918]

I think basically we have “ fe-u” Vietnamese would speak “ feuw”, English say “ feul” as FELL, so the difference is in between of the end of articulation lips “w” or tip of the tongue “l”.

[@miaminmin]

WonderFUL lesson and I'm so thankFUL!

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks a lot!

[@mestuff5712]

I like your videos very much. Your teaching is simple and easy to understand

[@rachelsenglish]

I'm glad to hear that! @mEStuff

[@stevenvillamizar2121]

I'm from Colombia, and this sound is very difficult to do, however I'm practicing it, thank you.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome @stevenvillamizar2121!

[@陆河-q2n]

It's quite helpful! Thank you! I need to add it to my practice list to practice every day!

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@onelove4714]

A million thanks Rachel. You're the best

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@tomtom3874]

pull full wolf Those are the words that I struggle with. With the dark L sound, I am finally able to pronounce them right.

[@abdulmomin1250]

Hi Rachel, I'm your very poor Fan. when I saw and hear your channel then I try as you. But I can't but trying to pronounce as you as a American.what a excellent pronunciation of yours. I'm trying from Bangladesh to be like you. Thanks a lot. God bless you.

[@mjuarez2099]

Hi Rachel, you made me realized something really important with this video, we truly substitute new sounds with known sounds from our native language. so my question is, can you make a video of the basics or common sounds in the English that we have to get familiar with. so that when we hear them we can actually repeat them??

[@benchoi9474]

dark l and light l sound has the same starting place in IPA diagram. They begin at the alveolar or the high and front of your mouse and but dark l ends in the low and back of your mouse as described in the video :)

[@AlanaAylin19]

I finally got that sound ! So difficult! Thank you for the lesson.

[@wangmaggie6758]

Rachel, you are the best!

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Wang!

[@hungtrinhquoc2091]

Thanks so lot Rachel! It is so useful.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're so welcome Hưng!

[@kaleege]

Rachel, for real, y'all helped a hell lot!

[@Jason-bx2rj]

Best explanation ever seen

[@thanhhungphan3985]

Dark L with OH is not that corect but is a great substitution. As I Know people in South Vietnam do the same for Foreign words with L ending. Thank you Rachel!!

[@dattran1725]

Thanks Rachel and chi Quyen.

[@misschaima3300]

Thank u Mrs Rachel ; From Morocco

[@SimpleEnglishVideos]

Terrific job!

[@احمدغالب-ث4ح]

Well

[@weisslin]

Thank you, Rachel.

[@rachelsenglish]

My pleasure @weisslin!

[@icyzoneinfo]

Same thing occurs in Bulgarian. Younger people (born after 1990 or so) say a "w" sound instead of a dark l, because the dark l recently disappeared from the language, but nobody is aware of that, even those who speak with a dark l don't notice it when someone substitutes w for l

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks for sharing Yordan!

[@georgydobrev3542]

But the Bulgarian dark L is pronounced by moving the tip of your tongue behind your upper front teeth. It sounds dark only because you make it really thin and spiky. So it’s quite different than the American dark L, and this makes it even more difficult for Bulgarians to pronounce it the right way.

[@metaliphuong]

A big thank from Viet Nam

[@jerstumc5033]

to make it correctly, you need to press the FLAT FRONT PART of your tounge against the roof of your mouth. So as the tip of your tounge touches the backside teeth while your front part of your tounge is flat. You don't just use your toungue tip to make the dark L. You need to use more part of your front toungue so the dark L comes out correctly. Don't focus on the sound coming in the back of the mouth because it's irrelevant, if you well-position your toungue to make the sound then the sound in the back of your mouth will come out correctly

[@marianapeixoto3991]

Fantastic video. Thank you so much!

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@叶渐师]

My three words: fall, full, battle. Thanks from China.

[@Bob-tu9jq]

Thank you, Racho. Opps, thanks Rachellllllll.

[@kozcan]

Thank you so much Rachel.

[@AngeloDeFlorio]

Hi rachel, I think a native italian speaker like me tends to make a different mistake, not changing dark L with OH but just with a light L. We tend to pronounce every letter the same way no matters where it is in the phrase. My three words ending with dark L are: drill bottle google :) Bye

[@rachelsenglish]

+Angelo De Florio Awesome job on those words - and yes - a lot of people do make the Dark L into Light L, you are not alone. The nice thing about that switch is that it is usually still clear what word you are saying and so it does not create too much confusion! :)

[@AngeloDeFlorio]

+Rachel's English Ok, but having an awesome pronunciation teacher like you, we must pronounce it the right way ;) By the way, also in Rachel we have a dark L, right?

[@rachelsenglish]

+Angelo De Florio Yes! There is a Dark L in my name!

[@dabnysenglish110]

I Love your vídeos! !!Thank for help my english. Iam from Brazil. L (él)

[@rachelsenglish]

Hello there and thanks for watching! :)

[@balonh1052]

Her accent is as good as native speakers

[@jontron6846]

Another great video!!! Haha, Rachel's English is now my only source of english pronunciation input aside from American TV shows and movies and of course KZbin videos. I love American English and it's my goal to achieve perfect american-like pronunciation. I won't settle for less. With your help it seems attainable. Thanks, Rachel. :)

[@isabellac.8155]

Thank you!

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Isabella!

[@AnNguyen-xh8io]

Đúng cái mà cháu đang tìm kiếm, đó cũng là lỗi khi phát âm của cháu. Cảm ơn cô rất nhiều.

I remember when you said that in a podcast for English Experts. It was great. You have no idea (you actually do haha) how many people in Brazil also make this substitution. This video couldn't be more helpful. :)

[@兼田義之]

I learned that the ell sound is right back there at the end!

[@ramzy-6566]

awesome video for dark l

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Ramzy!

[@teodoropina8075]

Im watching the video. Tanks a lot

[@crisrei]

My words for the challenge are: Trivial, Casual, Ball and Pull. Thank you Rachel.

[@rachelsenglish]

+María Cristina Reina M Nice! Those are all Dark Ls - well done!

[@killua99go28]

really helpful. Thanks!

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Jessica!

[@phongpt76]

Tks a lot. I am a vietnamese

[@halgaci]

My mother language is Mandarin. There is no OH sound in Mandarin. OU in Mandarin is the same as the Dark L in English. I did take some time to practice the OH sound but I found what I made sounded more like U or W rather than OH. Finally, I gave up and have to substitute OH with the Dark L when I speak English.

[@oscaroscar5315]

Rachel you are great ,thank you very much for helping learning American English,,,,I want to say that dark L is unfamiliar to arabs too and difficult, I find it more difficult in words such as: help / Google/ exactly / people/ general / article .

[@goldenmissiononlinecoachin7430]

Wall,walk , Bell,well,nail,hell.(Thank you ! Teacher.)

[@محمدأسامة-م8د]

Thanks a lot

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@evermorevictorious2742]

The British dark L is a vocalised L. That means the L has become a vowel. The dark L is in 3 forms: 1. "a schwa followed by a /u/", as in "vowel", "mail"; 2. a /u/, as in "bull"; or 3. a /o/, as in "doll". (For 2 & 3, the vocalised dark L is turned into a vowel similar to the preceding vowel, usually pronounced without lip rounding.) For the dark L, the tongue tip doesn't touch the alveolar ridge. If it does, it is not a dark L but a light L. For the light L, the tongue tip touches the alveolar ridge.

[@JayKobMusic]

Thanks Rach! Great video ^^ Here are my three Dark L words: whole, wall, possible

[@rachelsenglish]

+JayKob Yes - all of those words use the Dark L! Nice!

[@andersonteixeira4584]

Thank, Rachael.

[@starffgamer1258]

Hi, Rachel, I learned something new in this video awesome video you've made this one darl L ending OH I like a lot thanks.

[@rachelsenglish]

Glad it was helpful!

[@wonderingwhy6410]

That was very useful. Thank you!

[@hamidghorbani8465]

Thanks. I enjoyed

[@becky3422]

Great! Enjoyed

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Becky!

[@LeandroMachadoAmorim]

thanks

[@chinhle5164]

Im Vietnamese, it is too hard with me. Thank u!

[@laurauriostegui171]

THANK YOU

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome

[@tianxia1081]

special thanks from a Chinese subscriber! Although i can still not tell the difference by listening

[@jeffreyfugh7602]

+Tian Xia I am Chinese too and find saying emaioh much harder than it is to say email. Perhaps that was due to the fact that I started learning English at a very early age. The common ailment that many of my peers encounter is their tendency to speed up their speech while they are still in their early stages of building their pronunciation skills. Just practise saying words that contains the "L" slowly. Better slow than wrong! 寧慢勿錯!

[@brokenchen3818]

Thx Jeffrey

[@ponpon_2712]

Love from Vietnam ❤

[@USA_365]

Best of the best! 2 thumbs up.

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks a lot!

[@kekkoutsutayaiku]

This is a great lesson for Japanese speakers as well. We do the same substitution such as My-koh instead of Michael.

[@ユーチュブ]

2:20 4:36 4:58 7:00

[@Hermsneto1]

For me it was more difficult to learn than the "TH" sounds. Thank you for the video :)

[@carlacarolineofficial7657]

I agree. I've been studying English for more than ten years and still can't get this the proper way all the time. It's a struggle, but improving is always good

[@felipemarques3233]

Yes, it is. But with practice we can do this sound correctly.

[@Gene0723]

Great tip.

[@juniortoronto]

Well done! Thanks a lot!

[@1002videolopdaihoc]

Hello, I know the another way that is interesting to pronounce the dark l from your video.

[@M5790M]

Great!