How to Pronounce the American L

The American L sound can be challenging for many non-native speakers of English.  Part of the difficulty may be that we make a different sound when L is at the start of the word versus the end of the word.  To make the L at the start of the word, lift the tip of your tongue and place it behind your front teeth.  If you have trouble feeling where this is, you can say the words "tot" and "tight" and feel the tongue tap up for the "t" sounds.  The L sound is made with the tongue tip in the same place.  Try saying "tot, lot" and "tight, light."  Use the recording below to practice.

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)