Master the American Accent! How the Dark L Influences Vowels

[@roymuston5148]

Dark L really is tough for non native speakers. Good video!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thank you for your comment :) I'm happy that my video was helpful!

[@bobosofyan5801]

Thanks

[@ramzy-6566]

Thank you Miss. Julie. for the Dark L video .

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

You're welcome! :) I'm glad the video was helpful! :)

[@amyfranklin38]

THANK YOU !

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Amy - Thanks so much for your comment :) You're very welcome - I'm glad this video was helpful! :)

[@ivomoreira42]

The Dark L is the most difficult sound in American English, not on its own, but within words, because it changes the quality of the vowel that comes before. For some natives, words like knoll, null, bowl and bull rhyme; for others there's a clear distinction between the patterns bull/pull/full, dull/null/lull and fool/cool/pool (I think that would be the "standard pronunciation"). But some natives merger cot and caught and pronounce bull as ball for natives that do not merge them. Omg, the thing is a mess!!! I wish there were a reform on spelling and also in the phonetic transcription, at least for the R-Colored vowels and the ones followed by the Dark L. Good video by the way, all your effort is awesome. Keep it up the good work!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thank you for your comment! You are absolutely right - the dark L IS a mess, haha ;-) And there is so much variability with how native speakers pronounce the vowel + dark L combination - I could make hundreds of videos about it, and there would still be more to discuss!

[@ivomoreira42]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent there are sole silent/mute consonants, which includes the L, although most of the time the L is moot haha

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@ivomoreira42 Very true! :)

[@animalslovers55223]

Thank you somuch I really I appreciate the efforts you doing to making understand the dark L I had huge problems to understand it

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Berno - Thanks for your comment! The Dark L is a very tricky sound, so I'm glad my video was helpful! I'll probably make more videos on the Dark L sound at some point in the future, so stay tuned :)

[@animalslovers55223]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent thanks a lot teacher

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@animalslovers55223 You're welcome! :)

[@adrielrodriguez8750]

I love this video! Cool! Thanks for teach us!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Adriel - Thanks for your comment! I'm so glad this video was helpful! In case you're interested, I have a conversation group on Saturdays that is free to join - I'd love it if you could join us! Here's the link to register: offers.sandiegovoiceandaccent.com/juliesconversationclub.

[@ericb9609]

Great lesson for those who want to understand how the dark l works. Something they never teach us at school...

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Eric! Thanks for your comment - you're exactly right! I'm glad you liked the video :)

[@ramzy-6566]

I noticed. your tongue for the dark l touch lower teeth then the upper teeth. is that right? Thank you. Miss. Julie.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Ramzy - I'll probably do another lesson on the Dark L at my live English class (Julie's Conversation Club: courses.sandiegovoiceandaccent.com/courses/julies-conversation-club), so I'd be happy to answer your question there! It will be much more effective if I can show you how to pronounce the Dark L rather than type the directions in a comment. :)

[@Max-yk2kw]

Great video. Thank you!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Max - Thanks for your comment! I'm glad you liked the video :)

[@ramzy-6566]

2:20 you said ( another vowel is inserted between the uh and the dark l ) is this sound or vowel more like stressed schwa /ʌ/ or unstressed /ə/ ? Thank you. Miss. Julie.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Ramzy - Thanks for your question :) It's difficult for me to give a good answer in a comment - it's much easier if I answer your question in real-time and can demonstrate the pronunciation. If you join my live English class (courses.sandiegovoiceandaccent.com/courses/julies-conversation-club), I can answer your question during the class! I hope you can join us! :)

[@ramzy-6566]

Hi for dark L, after the back of the tongue touching the throat, is always the top of the tongue come to touch the teeth.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks for your question :) The tongue tip doesn't always touch the teeth. Sometimes the tongue tip remains low in the mouth, and it doesn't touch anything - only the back of the tongue tenses. It depends on what sound comes next - the tongue might need to touch the teeth in order to prepare for the next sound. I hope this was helpful! :)

[@ramzy-6566]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent Yes, very helpful reply. Thank you so much.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@ramzy-6566 Great! You're welcome :)

[@avishek6359]

Could you make a video on voice placement?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Yes, definitely! Check out my KZbin channel kzbin.info and you'll see a playlist called "Voice Placement and Public Speaking". Good luck!

[@mattkohenoglu9768]

Can you make more videos about the gaps in the IPA? thanks.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi! Thanks for your video suggestion :) Can you be more specific? What gaps would you like to know about? Thanks!

[@mattkohenoglu9768]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent things like ae,i nasalization, flap t, or things that aren't specified in ipa.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@mattkohenoglu9768 Oh, I see. Definitely! I've started to make these types of videos - here's a link to one about the nasalization of vowels: kzbin.info/www/bejne/paOkY3ugd5yjlZI; syllabic consonants: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6nCl3pmospqZ7M; and nasal plosion: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4eWaq2Ci8mVbaM. I plan on making more about flaps, nasal flaps, etc. Thanks for your suggestion! :)

[@ramzy-6566]

everyday San Diego Voice and Accent

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Awesome!

[@yungwest00]

Could you possibly do more lessons like this? Where we study the mouth positions zoomed in?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Yungwest00 - Thanks for your comment! I'll definitely try to include zoomed in mouth positions in future videos - I know this is very helpful when learning how to pronounce a language :)

[@yungwest00]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent it's very helpful indeed! Do you know of any other teacher who use this technique?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@yungwest00 I'm not sure of anyone specific, but I'd assume that there must be other KZbin teachers who use zoomed in shots of the pronunciation in their videos! :)

[@fidelspagolla22]

Non-native here. I have the impression words like culture, adult, cult, etc., have more of a ʊl sound thank a ʌl as written in dictionaries. Does it make any sense?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Fidel - thanks for your question! You are completely right! I pronounce "culture", "adult", "cult" with the /ʊl/ sound...most of the time :) It could be due to differences in regional pronunciation (I was raised in California, so I may pronounce these words differently than someone who was raised on the eastern coast of the US), or possibly there's been an actual shift in the pronunciation. I'm not entirely sure - I'll have to research this more. But you have great ears if you can hear the difference between /ʊl/ and /ʌl/, especially with the influence of the Dark L! Either pronunciation is correct - /ʊl/ or /ʌl/. I would say to use the one that is spoken in your region (if you are in the US), or use the one that is the easiest for you to pronounce!

[@fidelspagolla22]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent I really appreciate your thorough response! I've been learning English for quite a while and am passionate about phonetics and pronunciation. Great to know I was not hearing things and that both forms are possible in the US. The /oɫ/ puzzles me at times as well. Loved this video about how vowels change when followed by the dark l. Your channel is amazing!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@fidelspagolla22 Thank you! And you're very welcome - I'm glad I was able to help! And thank you for your thoughtful questions :)

[@richardfrangie3518]

👍

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Awesome! I'm glad you liked the video! :)

[@tobiasariastoya1485]

I want to watch a video of English with a British accent

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Tobias - I hope you're able to find a good video! I'm sure there are many British English teachers out there on KZbin :)

[@tobiasariastoya1485]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent What I want is a video of the pronunciation difference between American English and British English

[@SajiSNairNair-tu9dk]

👉dark planet?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Saji - Thanks for your comment! (Though I'm not sure I understand what it means...??) 🙃

[@ivomoreira42]

Ok, I made my outburst, now let me say something: the ul/ull patterns sound basically as they were genuinely the consonant before and a pure long Dark L sound in itself, so words like /culture/ would be ['kʰɫ̩:t͡ʃɚ] and full, bull and pull respectively [fɫ̩:], [bɫ̩:] and [pʰɫ̩:]. Is there any chance that could remotely be right?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Ivo - I apologize for my late response; I just saw your comment. Hmm...I could agree with you about "culture", that maybe some speakers don't pronounce a vowel before the Dark L, so the L becomes a "syllabic consonant". But for "full, bull, pull", I think the vowel is there - at least when I pronounce them! Even when I pronounce those words quickly, I still feel my lips flare out from my teeth as I say the vowel, and if I omit the vowel completely, it feels and sounds very strange to me. Thanks for your comment! :)

[@ivomoreira42]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent Thank You!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@ivomoreira42 I'm happy to help! :)

[@evermorevictorious2742]

This cannot be right. The vowels are clearly there.

[@austinswift9386]

[æɫ] sounds like [æʊ] to me. HELLLLLP🥲🥲🥲

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi! Yes, I can see how [æɫ] and [æʊ] sound alike - they do sound very similar!! It may be too challenging to explain in writing how they sound different - you need to be able to hear them side by side. But I'll do my best to explain: [æʊ] will have more lip rounding at the end, so it might sound closer to "aaow" (like in the word "how"), but [æɫ] won't have that lip rounding, so it might sound closer to "aauhl" (like in the word "Alabama"). I know that isn't the best explanation, but hopefully it helped!! :)

[@austinswift9386]

@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent Thank you so much. It really helps!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@austinswift9386 That's great to hear - I'm happy I could help! :)