L

Correctly pronouncing /l/ is very difficult for many non-native speakers. /l/ is commonly confused with/r/ or /w/. If you don’t have /l/ in your language, you will have to retrain your muscle memory.  You must focus on proper placement for your tongue, lips, jaw and air flow.

Making /l/

• /l/ is made differently depending on where it is in the word.
• Don’t move your jaw or lips when making /l/. Move only your tongue. Your tongue will have different places of articulation for Light L and Dark L.

Light L

• The /l/ at the beginning of a word. This is the easiest to pronounce.
• Light L is produced before a vowel.   late, like, lamp, look
• The tip of tongue touches alveolar ridge.
• Light L is a flick of the tongue against the alveolar ridge.  It has a la-la-la-la sound
• The back of the tongue remains low.

Dark L

• The /l/ at the end of the word. This is difficult to pronounce.
• Dark L is produced after a vowel (or schwa).  call, school, tell, people
• The tip of tongue touches alveolar ridge, and stays there. It is not a flick, like Light L.
• Dark L has a “uh-l” sound.
• The back of the tongue is raised toward the soft palate.

Practice both Light and Dark L

Bring your focus to the difference in tongue placement.

Practice /l/ in the initial position.

1. later
2. love
3. long
4. leave
5. left
6. location
7. lasagna
8. lamp
9. lawyer
10. listening

Practice /l/ in the final position.

1. people
2. call
3. feel
4. individual
5. pool
6. email
7. unusual
8. virtual
9. until
10. tell

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