How to pronounce GIRL | American English

40,853 views ・ 2017-04-05

Accent's Way English with Hadar


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:09
Hey guys, it's Hadar.
0
9323
1179
00:10
Today we're going to talk about the word 'girl', like many of you
1
10622
3930
00:14
have asked me to do that before.
2
14552
1950
00:17
So before we begin - because I have a really, really cool trick for
3
17432
3780
00:21
you - I want you to go ahead and eliminate any representation of
4
21212
4980
00:26
the written word from your brains.
5
26192
2290
00:28
So I'm going to wait here for you to do that.
6
28847
2370
00:34
Okay, good.
7
34427
720
00:35
So now that you don't know how to write this word or you don't know how it
8
35477
4200
00:39
looks, let's start with a different word.
9
39677
2460
00:42
Let's start with a word 'bigger'.
10
42707
1980
00:45
Go ahead and say that: bigger.
11
45317
2290
00:48
Now, to make the R sound, which is the key component in this word,
12
48367
4330
00:52
you want to bring the tongue up.
13
52697
1560
00:54
Remember that there is no contact between the tongue and
14
54497
2400
00:56
the upper palate or the teeth.
15
56897
1380
00:58
And you want to around the lips: 'ur'.
16
58547
3260
01:02
So at the end of the word 'bigger', you shift from the /g/ sound to
17
62027
4080
01:06
the /r/ directly: 'bi-g'rr', g'rr.
18
66107
4870
01:11
Right?
19
71417
330
01:11
Cause it's not 'bi-gErr', all right?
20
71777
3135
01:14
It's 'bi-g'rr'.
21
74942
1180
01:16
So what happens is that the back of the tongue goes up to produce the /g/ sound,
22
76502
5840
01:22
you block the air in the back with voice.
23
82342
2740
01:25
And then as you pronounce the /g/, the tongue goes up to the middle of the
24
85922
3840
01:29
mouth, preparing for the /r/ sound, and you round the lips: 'g'rr', 'g'rr', like
25
89762
7500
01:37
when you're saying 'great' or 'green'.
26
97262
4490
01:42
'g'rr', 'g'rr'.
27
102552
1960
01:45
Now that is the beginning of the word 'girl', 'girl'.
28
105167
5250
01:50
Because there is no vowel between the G and the R.
29
110417
3210
01:53
It's like you're about to say 'grrreat' or you're ending
30
113897
3690
01:57
the word 'bigger' or 'sugar'.
31
117587
3420
02:01
Okay?
32
121367
570
02:01
So it's not 'gerl'.
33
121967
2120
02:05
It is definitely not 'geerl', there is no 'i' there.
34
125717
3900
02:10
And we already eliminated the representation of
35
130817
2790
02:13
this word from your brain.
36
133607
990
02:14
So you don't know how it's spelled, right?
37
134597
2410
02:19
So again, here it's a G to the R: 'g'rr'.
38
139424
2743
02:22
And then we have the dark L sound - /ɫ/.
39
142727
4270
02:27
Now, what is the dark L sound?
40
147017
1560
02:28
To make the L, the tip of the tongue goes up to touch the roof of the mouth.
41
148817
2970
02:32
But when the L appears at the end of the word, it's a dark l.
42
152057
3900
02:36
So basically, you're engaging the root of the tongue a lot more.
43
156167
4590
02:42
Do you hear that?
44
162137
750
02:42
It's not 'girl' [with light L], it's 'girl' [with dark L].
45
162887
6080
02:49
So, to get that sound quality, I want you to swallow.
46
169377
4970
02:56
And make this really caricature-like sound of swallowing your saliva.
47
176777
5460
03:03
Did you hear that?
48
183614
583
03:04
So when you do that, you engage the root of the tongue, right?
49
184427
5820
03:10
So this is the place where I want you to engage when you make the dark L.
50
190277
4860
03:16
/ɫ/, okay?
51
196947
1220
03:18
So that's the dark L.
52
198167
1020
03:19
But it's not enough.
53
199547
870
03:20
Because before the dark L there is a transitional vowel
54
200657
3660
03:24
that leads to the dark L.
55
204317
1450
03:26
So after this 'g'rr' sound that you now know how to pronounce properly, you shift
56
206027
5310
03:31
to an /ɫ/ sound, which is basically like a schwa sound or an 'u' as in 'good',
57
211337
8340
03:40
where the root of the mouth is engaged, like you just did when you swallowed.
58
220887
6740
03:48
/ɫ/.
59
228857
540
03:49
And then you bring the tip of the tongue up.
60
229967
1800
03:51
And you know what?
61
231797
540
03:52
You don't even have to bring the tip of the tongue up, if
62
232337
2160
03:54
you get that sound quality.
63
234497
1440
03:56
/ɫ/.
64
236327
460
03:57
So listen to it again: 'girl'.
65
237077
5481
04:03
So, don't try to bring the L immediately after the R.
66
243213
3164
04:08
You have to stretch the R and then get to that transitional
67
248597
3780
04:12
vowel, and then bring the L sound.
68
252377
2400
04:14
So, although there are only three consonants here, okay, like that's
69
254987
4140
04:19
how you should perceive it as three consonants: a G, R, and L, the
70
259127
5760
04:24
R is long, and right before the L there is a transitional sound.
71
264887
4500
04:29
'girl'.
72
269807
1170
04:31
It's a very muffled kinda like dark sound.
73
271877
3840
04:36
'girl', 'girl'.
74
276107
2280
04:38
And the L is longer.
75
278387
1350
04:40
"She's a very nice girl".
76
280607
1770
04:43
"Boys and girls".
77
283697
1470
04:45
Girls.
78
285707
930
04:47
Also, let's use it in the common phrase 'girlfriend', 'girlfriend'.
79
287807
6360
04:55
"I'm going out tonight with a few of my girlfriends".
80
295517
3300
04:59
Girlfriends.
81
299537
990
05:02
Girlfriend.
82
302177
1140
05:03
Then, it's a set phrase and the word 'girl' is a little higher in pitch.
83
303347
2930
05:06
Girlfriend.
84
306992
780
05:09
All right, that's it.
85
309692
1140
05:10
Let me know in the comments below, how's that going, if it's easy for you?
86
310832
5640
05:16
And if not, think about what part is the most difficult for you and let
87
316472
3750
05:20
me know, so I can help you out and tell you what else you need to do.
88
320222
3280
05:23
All right, that's it.
89
323502
1445
05:24
Thank you for watching.
90
324947
930
05:25
Please share this video with your friends if you liked it.
91
325877
2430
05:28
And come on over to my website to check it out, there's tons
92
328517
2700
05:31
of great content over there.
93
331217
1380
05:32
So, if you want to dive deeply into practicing your American accent,
94
332807
5490
05:38
then go ahead and check it out.
95
338597
1410
05:40
Have a great week, and I will see you next week in the next video.
96
340337
3900
05:44
Bye.
97
344747
360
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7