When L is at the end of the word, we add an extra sound before the l, and hold this sound into the L sound.  This extra sound is the vowel schwa, which sounds like "uh."  To get this sound, try slowing down and sliding from one vowel to the next.  For example, try the following words using the recording below:

tool  (too-w-uh-l)        tail (tay-y-uh-l)        feel (fee-y-uh-l)        fuel (fyoo-w-uh-l)

Changing your speech patterns takes a lot of practice, but you can have fun while you are doing it.  Many people use American movies and TV shows to listen to the American accent.  Repeating and imitating what you hear on TV can be a good way to develop your ear and try on the American style.  Even non-American actors who use their American accent professionally use this technique.  In a recent interview with Conan O'Brien, Australian actor Rebel Wilson talks about using reality TV shows to perfect her American accent.  You can hear her in action in the video below.

Correct:  Let's eat// honey!
Incorrect:  Let's eat honey!

Correct:  I find inspiration in cooking// my family// and my dog.
Incorrect:  I find inspiration// in cooking my family// and my dog.

Correct:  Thank you for this opportunity.  I really value your input.  Can you suggest// anything else// I can do to prepare?
Incorrect:  Thank you for// this opportunity I really value//  your input can// you suggest anything// else I can// do to prepare?

Have you heard the expression, "A simple yes or no will do?"  We say this when someone is giving us more information that we really wanted to know, or delivering a lecture when all we wanted was an answer.  In a recent study, it turns out that the words "yes" and "no" are not as simple as you would guess.  For example. in English, we can answer the question "you haven't fed the cat yet, have you?" with "no, I haven't," or "yes, I haven't."  These patterns are present in other languages, as well.  You can read more about the study here.

Pronouncing vowel sounds can be challenging in a foreign language.  This is because we interpret the vowels we hear through the filter of our native language.  We hear a sound close to a vowel sound in our language, and our brain lumps it together with that known sound.  Fortunately, we can learn to override this filter and adapt it to include a different set of vowels.  But we have to know which words have the new vowel sound, and with the lack of consistent spelling in English, this is a learning process.

We have been looking at the vowel sounds one sound at a time.  The best way to re-train your brain to hear these sounds is to use listening skills.  But being familiar with the variations in spelling will also help you succeed.

The sound /e/; or "vowel ay," has at least nine different ways that it is spelled in English. It is most frequently spelled with the letter a and is sometimes called "long a".  You can see examples of the sound's various spellings in the chart below. 

Watch these Irish people trying out different regional North American accents.  How did they do?