How to pronounce GIRL | American English

40,893 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.
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Today we're going to talk about the word 'girl', like many of you
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have asked me to do that before.
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So before we begin - because I have a really, really cool trick for
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you - I want you to go ahead and eliminate any representation of
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the written word from your brains.
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So I'm going to wait here for you to do that.
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Okay, good.
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So now that you don't know how to write this word or you don't know how it
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looks, let's start with a different word.
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Let's start with a word 'bigger'.
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Go ahead and say that: bigger.
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Now, to make the R sound, which is the key component in this word,
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you want to bring the tongue up.
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Remember that there is no contact between the tongue and
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the upper palate or the teeth.
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And you want to around the lips: 'ur'.
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01:02
So at the end of the word 'bigger', you shift from the /g/ sound to
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the /r/ directly: 'bi-g'rr', g'rr.
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01:11
Right?
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Cause it's not 'bi-gErr', all right?
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It's 'bi-g'rr'.
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So what happens is that the back of the tongue goes up to produce the /g/ sound,
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you block the air in the back with voice.
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And then as you pronounce the /g/, the tongue goes up to the middle of the
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mouth, preparing for the /r/ sound, and you round the lips: 'g'rr', 'g'rr', like
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when you're saying 'great' or 'green'.
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'g'rr', 'g'rr'.
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Now that is the beginning of the word 'girl', 'girl'.
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Because there is no vowel between the G and the R.
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It's like you're about to say 'grrreat' or you're ending
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the word 'bigger' or 'sugar'.
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02:01
Okay?
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So it's not 'gerl'.
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It is definitely not 'geerl', there is no 'i' there.
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And we already eliminated the representation of
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this word from your brain.
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So you don't know how it's spelled, right?
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So again, here it's a G to the R: 'g'rr'.
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And then we have the dark L sound - /ɫ/.
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Now, what is the dark L sound?
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To make the L, the tip of the tongue goes up to touch the roof of the mouth.
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But when the L appears at the end of the word, it's a dark l.
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So basically, you're engaging the root of the tongue a lot more.
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Do you hear that?
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It's not 'girl' [with light L], it's 'girl' [with dark L].
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So, to get that sound quality, I want you to swallow.
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And make this really caricature-like sound of swallowing your saliva.
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Did you hear that?
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So when you do that, you engage the root of the tongue, right?
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So this is the place where I want you to engage when you make the dark L.
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/ɫ/, okay?
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So that's the dark L.
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But it's not enough.
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Because before the dark L there is a transitional vowel
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that leads to the dark L.
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So after this 'g'rr' sound that you now know how to pronounce properly, you shift
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to an /ɫ/ sound, which is basically like a schwa sound or an 'u' as in 'good',
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where the root of the mouth is engaged, like you just did when you swallowed.
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/ɫ/.
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And then you bring the tip of the tongue up.
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And you know what?
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You don't even have to bring the tip of the tongue up, if
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you get that sound quality.
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/ɫ/.
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So listen to it again: 'girl'.
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So, don't try to bring the L immediately after the R.
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You have to stretch the R and then get to that transitional
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vowel, and then bring the L sound.
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So, although there are only three consonants here, okay, like that's
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how you should perceive it as three consonants: a G, R, and L, the
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R is long, and right before the L there is a transitional sound.
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'girl'.
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It's a very muffled kinda like dark sound.
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'girl', 'girl'.
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And the L is longer.
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"She's a very nice girl".
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"Boys and girls".
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Girls.
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Also, let's use it in the common phrase 'girlfriend', 'girlfriend'.
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"I'm going out tonight with a few of my girlfriends".
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Girlfriends.
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Girlfriend.
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Then, it's a set phrase and the word 'girl' is a little higher in pitch.
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Girlfriend.
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05:09
All right, that's it.
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Let me know in the comments below, how's that going, if it's easy for you?
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And if not, think about what part is the most difficult for you and let
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me know, so I can help you out and tell you what else you need to do.
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All right, that's it.
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Thank you for watching.
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Please share this video with your friends if you liked it.
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And come on over to my website to check it out, there's tons
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of great content over there.
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So, if you want to dive deeply into practicing your American accent,
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then go ahead and check it out.
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Have a great week, and I will see you next week in the next video.
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Bye.
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