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The most difficult sound in American English? That’s easy, it’s the Dark L. If you’re learning to speak English it’s almost certain that you don’t have the Dark L locked in. It’s just and incredibly tough to master. But over the years I’ve learned how to make the American English accent approachable to every learner. Speaking English without the Dark L in place just won’t ever sound natural. But in this video I’ll teach you everything you need to know. You’ll have the opportunity to practice with me after learning the technical features of this sound. Speaking English isn’t easy but I’ve got you covered! Let’s get to work.
Study in Rachel’s online school to speak better, more confident English:
00:00 Introduction
00:04 The Dark L Sound
00:26 Rachel’s English Academy
01:01 Light and Dark L difference
03:08 Feel
03:33 Dark L to the mouth at rest comparison
04:02 Email
05:03 Dark L words
05:49 Feel with the wrong L
06:40 Other Dark L words
06:52 Rachel’s English Academy
07:02 One Tricky thing to know about Dark L
08:13 He fell in love
09:47 Check out Rachelsenglishacademy.com
Or, try out my FREE course, The Top 3 Ways to Master the American Accent!
#RachelsEnglish #LearnEnglish #EnglishPronunciation #AmericanEnglishPronunciation
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⭐⭐ Ready to improve your American English accent? Join my Academy today: https://tinyurl.com/academy-944 ⭐⭐
Thanks for all these great videos.
Very good ❤
My Teacher Thank You So Much For every lesson you give us ❤❤❤
It's like the book sound but with relaxed lips 🤔
The clear voice of this video,I like that!❤
I think there is a symbol for the dark /l/. The one that has a trace in the middle of the L.
Thanks so much
Mam can you start basic to advance to fluent and american ancient also in 60 days because i will understand english and speak little bit but the problem is adding a correct verb aur way of speaking
Hi, how many languages do you speak?
How to pronounce Antennae in American accent ? Long a or e or i
When are you going to do a black friday for us my beloved teacher ❤ , please do some for us .
Hello Miss,what happens when the L is between two vowels,like in "telling" and "really"? Is it a light or dark L?.
Hi I’m Anna from Cambodia 🇰🇭, Thanks for sharing this ❤
Can you make a video on the pronunciation of crossiant in both british accent and American so we can differentiate and know both are right ways to pronounce. Please 🥺
Amazing explanation. Thank you.
This is probably the most insightful video I’ve seen on the topic. I'll join to ur academy next month. Wow.
I would like to share that we do have a symbol for the dark L in IPA which is this symbol /ɫ/. Most resources use a simplified version of IPA so they just use /l/, but you can definitely start using /ɫ/ to show the dark L in your resources and videos. I hope this helps!
thank you💜
Rachel, thank you for your answers. I have a question. Sometimes I hear Americans replace the 'dark L' with a vowel or a 'w' sound. For example, "ball" sounds like /bɔːo/, "help" like /hɛʊp/, and "school" like /sku:w/. I know this is called L-vocalization. Is it just a feature of casual/rapid speech, or is it regional in the US? Also, do you think non-native students should learn to pronounce it this way, or stick to the standard dark L?
Thank again I regain my lost dialects almost 10yr
Thanks you
One question: valley, merriam webster puts the l into the second syllable, and that would make it a light l rather than a dark one; is this right?
Excellent content teacher Rachel 👍👍👍
Woah, thank you! I've never heard about the Dark L, but, thankfully, pronounce it correctly 😅 lots of practice, listening and speaking though.
❤❤❤
Nice! Mình rất thích cách dạy của cô ấy. 100 điểm.
Ilove you language english❤
Thank you!!
Dear Rachel. Thank you for your detailed info on this very difficult Dark L. I Love you so much.
I must be
https://youtu.be/ReuFa_D1Vok?si=k6gOzNjrnTtlG7Og
Your explanation is worth sharing It helped me understand better.
I’ve just subscribed/enrolled to learn from your content. However, I’m not sure which playlist I should start with. Could you please suggest a recommended order or learning roadmap for me?
Good teacher, I'm from Mozambique ❤
Rachel, thank you very much for your work. Your channel is an encyclopedia of the American accent. I have a question. My students ask about the differences between British and American "light" and "dark" L. Can I say that…
In General American L is velarized in all positions. So even the L at the beginning of "like" is already somewhat “dark” compared with RP. To British speakers, the two American [l] sounds come across more like a "dark L" and a "very dark L"? 🙂
The class was worth it!
The contrast between “feel” and “full” makes the point especially clear: learners often focus on the tongue position but forget that the vowel before L also changes the sound. Practising the whole syllable, not an isolated consonant, usually makes the dark L easier to hear and reproduce.
Thanks a lot. But for me, my tounge tip lightly touches the alveolar ridge, and back of the tounge rises towards the soft palate. Is it okay or should I change ?