/L/ と /R/、英語の発音で最も難しいパートに、今回はフォーカスします。完璧にマスターするには、時間と努力が必要です。また、英語の発音をより深く勉強するなら、発音専用のコース、Pronunciation (発音)をぜひ学習して下さい。
This is our second lesson focusing on pronunciation, and it's about possibly the most common problem point for Asian non-native English speakers. Conquering this will take time and effort, but it means global business communication will be smoother, and you will make a better impression in the G.B.C. test as well as in any other interaction.
It’s a cliché that Asian people have trouble with /L/ and /R/.
The reason is that Japanese doesn't have either sound, but rather a sound kind-of in the middle that is made by flicking your tongue forward. If you aren't familiar with Japanese, you can check out the pronunciation here.
How do you feel about the L and R sounds? Have you had issues with this in the past?
Ask if your student has focused on these sounds before, and ask how it went. It can be a sore point with Japanese people who speak English, some even feel that these sounds are completely out of reach. Tell them that anyone can do it, it just takes practice.
Also, a lot of English speakers have trouble with this sound. Linguists say that British English is moving away from the hard R, and the American accent is what the British accent used to sound like. So it's a very common issue.
In the Language section, scroll down for notes.
These are some of the hardest sounds for non-native speakers, and also a key difference between English accents. For instance, in the US, a strong R is preferred, while in the UK, a weaker R is preferred.
- Americans would say "car", /KAR/
- British people would say "car", /KAA/
Actually many native English speakers prefer a weak /R/, they say it sounds smoother and more sophisticated. This is good news for non-native English speakers.
We'll look the weak /r/, strong /r/, and /l/:
/l/
This is made by putting your tongue up so the tip touches the roof of your mouth near your front teeth. It's a light sound. Try saying this five times:
/La/ is a little light sound.
Strong /r/
This is made by tensing your cheek muscles and keeping your tongue flat (your tongue should not touch the bottom or top of your mouth—similar to the /ee/ sound—but pull it back to make /r/) .
This sound is often found at the start of words, and it's more common in North American English. Try saying this set of words five times. It may take some time to say each work correctly.
Run, ran, red, room, row,
Weak /r/
This sound is often found in the middle or at the end of a word. It's smaller and weaker, and it's not the stress point of the word. Many people make the mistake of stressing /r/ in every word that has the letter r. This is counter-productive because it creates a bad habit of mispronouncing words. Try these words with a variety of weak /r/ sounds.
• surprise /su-P'rais/
• perform /pur-FOrm/
• contrast /KON-trast/
• far /FAar/
• bar /BAar/
• fare /FEer/
• bear /BEer/
Now we will try putting these together.
Say these word sets five times quickly. Your instructor will help with pronunciation
• really
• play / pray
• lock / rock
That was a very pleasant presentation.
I'd really rather run.
You will need video for this, as well as a lot of patience. Stress the fact that this is a new skill. It's great to learn new, challenging skills. In fact, the greater the challenge, the greater the improvement.
Play this by ear. If your student is getting frustrated then:
- praise their progress,
- move back to a sound that they can make, it might just be a very basic "rr"
/l/
Make this sound many times, say, "Let's try this five times: lalalalala," then move on to "la, li, lu, le, lo."
You can copy/paste this into the Skype comments: Remember this is a light sound, with and open mouth. Keep your cheeks open.
strong /r/
This is probably the /r/ sound that your student has practiced. Remember this is a strong sound. It's almost angry.
You can say, "Let's try saying this for five seconds: rrrrrrrrrr," while you count it off on your fingers.
Keep working on this until you either feel satisfied or reach a point where frustration impedes progress.
If you have any good pronunciation stories or anecdotes, you can share them to break up the monotony of practice.
weak /r/
Make sure you both say these words as a whole, as well as isolate the weak /r/ sound.
If your student is already good at this, of course praise them and move on. But it's rare for a student to be good at this right off the bat.
Pronouncing a word in context is more difficult than pronouncing the word by itself. Try answering one of these questions, and pay close attention to how you pronounce /l/ and /r/.
- What was an extravagant thing you bought?
- What do you think about free trade agreements? What are the pros and cons?
- How does entrepreneurship differ in America compared with Japan?