R and l, endings and clusters

Finish every word and say clusters of consonants cleanly. Lesson 17 of 58: Pronunciation, every level.

R and l

• For /l/, the tip of your tongue touches the ridge behind your top teeth. For /r/, the tongue touches nothing: curl it back slightly and round your lips. Light and right, long and wrong, collect and correct.
• In British English the r after a vowel is silent (car, hard); in American English it is said. Either is fine; just be consistent.
• light, right
• collect, correct
• really, rarely (Practice words)

Finish your words

• English depends on the last consonant. “Wait” and “way”, “bike” and “by”, “side” and “sigh” differ only at the end. Dropping final sounds is the biggest single reason for not being understood. Make every ending audible, especially -s, -t, -d and -ed.
• bike, by
• the price, the prize (/s/ or /z/ at the end)
• He asked a question. (“askt”: the -ed matters)

Clusters

• English stacks consonants: str-, spl-, -sts, -ths, -xts. Do not add a vowel to break them up: “school”, not “eschool” or “sukool”; “street”, not “istreet”. Say them slowly, then speed up.
• school, street, spring (No vowel before s)
• texts, months, asked (Hard endings)
• strengths (Six consonants together)
• Tip: If a cluster is hard, link it to the next word: “texts are” is easier than “texts.” on its own.

Lines to have ready

• That’s really right. (r and l together)
• Could you correct it? (Final t)
• I asked for the texts last month. (Clusters)
• It’s the first street on the right. (st and r)

Your turn to speak

• Record yourself reading: “Last month I asked three friends to collect the prize. We walked to the first street on the right, then waited and talked.” Listen back only to the ends of words.
• Every -ed and -s was audible
• I did not add a vowel before or inside clusters
• I kept r and l different

Related

• Lesson 16: Th, v and w
• Lesson 18: Word stress
• The whole English course

FinClamp: skills, brain and play. About · Contact · Privacy · Terms