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English Pronunciation

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L vs R

How to Pronounce the Letter L

The tip of the tongue touches the gum ridge when pronouncing the letter L.

The tip of the tongue does not touch the back of the front teeth when pronouncing the letter L.

Now try it:-

Inside a word:-

alert - bleary - clear - dally - faulty - halt - silent

At the end of a word:-

ale - bale - coral - deal - feel - heal - peel - real - sail

At the beginning of a word:-

lack - lamp - lent - lies - light - load - lock - look - loom - loot

A tongue twister:-

Lots of little London lamp-lighters lit London's little lamps.

How to Pronounce the Letter R

The tip of the tongue curls back without touching the top of the mouth when pronouncing the letter R.

The tip of the tongue does not touch the gum ridge when pronouncing the letter R.

Now try it:-

Inside a word:-

alert - bleary - clearly - diary - fairy - marry - sorry

At the end of a word:-

bear - care - dear - fear - hair - pair - rare - shore

At the beginning of a word:-

rack - ramp - rent - rise - right - road - rock - rook - room - root

A tongue twister:-

Around the rugged rock, the ragged rascal ran.

Now try these ultimate tongue twisters, and don't forget you have to keep repeating them:-

Lick the red lolly, lick the yellow lolly.

Red lorry, yellow lorry.

For more help with English pronunciation check out my recommended self study books

November 2008