Shadowing Practice: American Accent Training | R vs. L - Learn English Speaking with Video
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The American R is a truly unique sound and one of the hardest sounds for non -native speakers to get.
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But also mastering the American R is one of the best things you can do to sound natural speaking English.
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You just need to learn the basics of the mouth position and train the sound over and over, your ear will get it.
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Today we're learning about the sound, we're training with up -close slow -motion footage of a ton of R words, and we're comparing it with L,
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a sound that some language groups mix up with the R.
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Be sure to download my Sounds of American English Cheat Sheet.
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It's free.
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It's an illustrated reference guide for you for the sounds of American English, including the phonetic symbols you need to know.
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Link here and in the video description.
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To start, let's take the word race.
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Race.
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It's a beginning R.
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Look at how much the lips round for this.
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I mean they almost completely close.
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So there's a lot of lip rounding for a beginning R.
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Right now, round your lips and try to match this sound.
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I'm going to hold it out.
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You hold it out as well as long you can.
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It helps to approach learning a sound two ways.
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First, just try to match the sound with your ears.
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Second, think about the mouth position and try to do it.
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This is what my tongue looks like inside of my mouth.
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The tip is pulled back and up a little bit.
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Some people make it by flipping the tip up, instead of pulling the tip up and back a little bit,
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they may get a sound that sounds pretty good, but also sometimes they get a sound that sounds kind of hollow, errr.
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We want errr, a more focused sound.
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See that my jaw hardly drops for this sound.
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Errr.
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If you're dropping your jaw a lot, errr, that's a sign that it's not the right sound.
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A lot of my students make this sound as a flap.
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If they're from India, if their native language is Spanish or Arabic.
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That's not a sound that you can hold out.
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But the American R, you can hold out.
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And actually, you should hold it out when you're practicing it and finding it.
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That does really help.
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Now we'll look at a couple of words up close and in slow motion where the R is not the first sound.
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The lips round less so you get to see inside the mouth a little bit more.
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And I want to take a quick second to shout out this member of my Rachel's Superstars in my YouTube membership.
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He's been asking for more of this zoomed up footage for years, so YoungWest00, this one's for you.
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By the way, do you see this pink badge next to his name?
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That means he's one of my supporting members here on YouTube, click join to learn more.
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But my Rachel Circle and Rachel's Superstar supporters help make this channel possible, thank you.
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They get badges to make their comments stand out and the top level gets exclusive audio lessons each month.
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So huge thanks to you guys again and click join on YouTube to learn more.
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This is the word anchor.
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Ends with schwa R.
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Anchor.
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See how my tongue tip pulls back and up.
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See how my lips are still flared, but they don't come into the tight circle that they do for a beginning R.
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The lip position is more relaxed.
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This is the word branch.
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My lips have just parted from the B, and now you're seeing the R.
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This is the underside of my tongue because the tip is pulled back and up.
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There's so much jaw drop here because I'm moving into position for the AA vowel.
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You'll see my tongue tip come forward again for that vowel.
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So for the R, tongue tip pulls back and up, but it's still in the front half of the mouth.
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The lips flare, and if it's a beginning R, they really do make a tight circle.
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L, on the other hand, is very different.
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And it really looks different too.
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We just saw branch.
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Now this is blanche.
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You probably know branch, like the branch on a tree.
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The word blanche is used in cooking.
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It's when you cook something for a short time and then try to cool it down quickly so it stops cooking.
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Like with vegetables.
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You cook them in boiling water for a period then you put them into ice water.
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Blanche.
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The L.
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The lips are totally relaxed and the tongue tip is at the roof of the mouth.
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What you're seeing here of the tongue is still the underside of the tongue,
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but you can tell the tip of the tongue is behind my top front teeth, not further back like it is for the R.
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This is an illustration of what the tongue looks like in the mouth.
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This is the light L.
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We actually have two different positions that you'll see natives do for this.
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For the other one, the tongue tip comes through the teeth so it looks a little bit like a TH.
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L, L, L, and the tongue tip presses up on the front teeth here.
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L, L, like.
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We're going to watch a whole bunch of words comparing R and L in various places in the word, so you might see both positions.
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Tongue tip behind the teeth, uh, and tongue tip coming out of the teeth, uh.
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To be honest, I have no idea which one I'm doing most of the time.
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It's just not something I think about just like you don't think about the sounds that you make for your native language.
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So comparing branch and blanche, comparing the R and the L.
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We saw how the ending R is different from the beginning R and that the lips are more relaxed.
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An L at the beginning of a word is also different from an L at the end of the word.
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To get all the details, check out this complete video on L.
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Just know that the first one is called light L.
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That's the one we've studied already here.
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The one at the end of a word is a dark L, and that has a dark sound we make with the back of the tongue,
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pressing down and back a little bit, l, l.
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So for this dark sound, you don't need your tongue tip.
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It usually just stays down.
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l, l, l.
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And that's crazy for my students.
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They're so used to thinking L, lift the tongue tip, but not for the dark L.
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It's harder to see the tongue position for the dark L
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because the part of the tongue making the sound is at the back.
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But let's take a look at the word candle.
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Candle.
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Ends in an L, that's a dark L.
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I'm going to take you through the D sound and we'll pause it.
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Candle.
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Okay, here's the D and the next sound is the dark L.
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Behind the teeth right here, you'll see the tongue tip come down.
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It's not up for the dark L.
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L
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-l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l
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Then there's a list of several tricky words with an R and an L.
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Each time you'll hear it and see it first in slow motion, then at regular pace.
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Race.
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Race.
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Lace.
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Lace.
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Rack.
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Rack.
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Lack lack, lack, rad, rad,
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lad, lad, raft, raft, laughed,
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laughed, rag, rag, lag, lag,
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raid, raid, laid, laid, rain,
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rain, lane, lane, raise, raise,
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lays, lays, raise, rake, rake.
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Lake, lake.
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Ramp, ramp.
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Lamp, lamp.
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Wrap, wrap.
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Lap, lap rare rare lair
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lair rash rash
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lash lash rate rate late late Raw.
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Raw.
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Law.
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Law.
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Razor.
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Razor.
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Laser.
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Laser.
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Reach.
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Reach.
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Leech.
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Leech.
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Read.
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Read.
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Lead.
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Lead.
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Reap.
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Reap.
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Leap.
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Leap.
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Reef.
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Reef.
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Leaf.
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Leaf.
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Reek.
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Reek.
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Leek, leek.
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Regal, regal.
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Legal, legal.
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Rent, rent.
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Lent, lent.
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Rhyme, rhyme.
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Lime, lime.
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Lime.
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Rice.
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Rice.
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Lice.
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Lice.
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Rick.
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Rick.
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Lick.
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Lick.
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Riddle.
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Riddle.
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Little.
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Little.
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Rife.
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Rife.
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Life.
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Life.
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Rink.
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Rink.
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Link.
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Link.
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Rise.
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Rise.
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Lies.
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Lies.
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Road, road.
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Load, load.
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Rob, rob.
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Lob, lob.
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Rocked, rocked.
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Locked, locked.
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Room, room.
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Loom, loom.
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Root, root.
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Loot, loot.
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Rose, rose.
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Lowe's, Lowe's.
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Ross, Ross, Loss, Loss, Rot,
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Rot, Lot, Lot, Row, Row, Low,
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Low, Royal.
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Royal.
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Royal.
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Royal.
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Royal.
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Rug.
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Rug.
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Lug.
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Lug.
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Rump.
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Rump.
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Lump.
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Lump ruse, ruse, lose, lose,
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rust, rust, lust, wrist, wrist,
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list, list, list, right, right,
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right, light, light, wrong, wrong,
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long, long, rung, rung, long,
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long, rye, rye, lie, Lie.
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Lie.
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blade, blade, braid, braid, blanch,
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blanch, branch, branch, bland, bland,
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brand, brand, Bleach.
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Bleach.
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Breach.
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Breach.
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Bleed.
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Bleed.
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Breed.
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Breed.
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Blessed.
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Blessed.
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Breast.
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Breast.
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Blight.
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Blight.
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Bright.
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Bright.
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Blind.
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Blind.
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Brined.
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Brined.
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Blink.
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Blink.
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Brink.
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Brink.
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Bloom.
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Bloom.
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Broom.
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Broom.
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Blow.
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Blow.
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Bro.
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Bro.
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Blue.
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Blue.
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Brew.
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Brew.
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Blush.
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Blush.
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Brush.
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rush.
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Clack, clack, crack, crack.
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Clam, clam, cram, cram, clamp, clamp,
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cramp, cramp.
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Clank, clank, crank, crank.
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Clap, clap, crap, crap.
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Class, class, crass, crass climb,
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climb, crime, crime, cloak, cloak,
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croak, croak, clock, clock, crock,
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crock, close, close, crows, crows,
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cloud, cloud, crowd, crowd, clown,
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clown, crown, crown, clue, clue,
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crew, crew, flail, flail, frail,
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frail, flame, flame, frame, frame,
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flat, flat, frat, frat, Flee, flee.
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Free, free.
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Flesh, flesh.
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Fresh, fresh.
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Flock, flock, frock, frock.
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Flossed, flossed, frost, frost.
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Flows, flows, froze, froze.
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Flute, flute, fruit,
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fruit fly fly fry fry glad glad grad
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grad, glade, glade, grade, grade.
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Glamour, glamour, grammar, grammar.
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Gland, gland, grand, grand glass,
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glass, grass, grass, gloom, gloom,
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groom, groom, glow, grow, grow,
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glue, glue, grew, grew, plank, plank, prank, prank.
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Plants, plants, prance, prance.
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Plays, plays, praise,
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praise plow plow prow prow
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ply ply pry pry aloof aloof
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a roof a roof ankle ankle anchor anchor beetle, beetle, beater, beater.
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Bobble, bobble, bobber, bobber.
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Bottle, bottle, botter, botter.
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Candle, candle.
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Candor, candor.
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Eagle, eagle.
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Eager, eager.
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Fiddle, fiddle fitter, fitter, ladle,
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ladle, later, later, mail, mail,
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mayor, mayor, metal, metal, metter,
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metter, paddle, paddle, patter, patter,
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pale, pale, pair, pair, pull, pull, pour, pour, Ripple.
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Ripple.
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Ripper.
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Ripper.
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Roll.
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Roll.
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Roar.
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Roar.
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Tile.
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Tile.
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Tire.
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Tiled.
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Tiled.
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Tired.
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Tired.
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Title.
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Title.
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Tider.
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Tighter.
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Alligator.
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Alligator.
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Calculator.
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Calculator.
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Comfortable.
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Comfortable.
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Culture.
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Culture.
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Curl.
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Curl difficult, difficult, durable, durable,
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girl, girl, hireable, hireable, learn,
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learn, letter, letter, liberator, liberator.
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Literal, literal.
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Operable, operable.
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Predictable, predictable probable probable rattle rattle
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really really rehearsal rehearsal riddle riddle rule rule
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Taller Trial Trickle World
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Folks, we went deep on R and R versus L.
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I love to be thorough in my teaching.
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If you think you want to learn more about the American accent and train your American voice,
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check out my collection of online courses to help you reach your spoken English goals at rachelsenglishacademy .com.
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Keep your learning going now with this video
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and don't forget to subscribe with notifications on on YouTube and follow my page on Facebook.
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I love being your English teacher and accent coach.
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That's it and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “American Accent Training”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sound, tongue, tip, word, lip. This video has 435 sentences and 1970 words to shadow. The speech runs for 24:58. The speaker talks slowly, about 79 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. Only 65% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| lip noun | /lɪp/ | Either of the two fleshy protrusions around the opening of the mouth. |
| candle noun | /ˈkæn.dəl/ | A light source consisting of a wick embedded in a solid, flammable substance such as wax, tallow, or paraffin. |
| compare verb | /kəmˈpɛɚ/ | To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it… |
| anchor noun | /ˈæŋ.kəː/ | A tool used to moor a vessel to the bottom of a sea or river to resist movement. |
| tile noun | /ˈtaɪ.əl/ | A regularly-shaped slab of clay or other material, affixed to cover or decorate a surface, as in a roof-tile, glazed tile, stove tile, carpet tile, etc. |
| relax verb | /ɹɪˈlæks/ | To make something loose. |
| lime noun | /laɪm/ | Any of several green citrus fruit, somewhat smaller and sharper-tasting than a lemon. |
| cloud noun | /ˈklaʊ̯d/ | A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air. |
| clock noun | /klɑk/ | A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day. |
| crack noun | /kɹæk/ | A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material. |
| grass noun | /ɡɹɑːs/ | Any plant of the family Poaceae, characterized by leaves that arise from nodes in the stem and leaf bases that wrap around the stem, especially those grown as… |
| breast noun | /bɹɛst/ | Either of the two organs on the front of a female human's chest, which contain the mammary glands; also the analogous organs in males. |
| rick noun | /ɹɪk/ | Straw, hay etc. stored in a stack for winter fodder, commonly protected with thatch. |
| footage noun | /ˈfʊtɪd͡ʒ/ | An amount of film or tape that has been used to record something, or the content of the recording. |
| praise verb | /pɹeɪz/ | To give praise to; to commend, glorify, or worship. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pull back verb | To retreat. |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). |
| hold out verb | To hold (something) out; to extend (something) forward. |
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. |
| come forward verb | To offer help or information, especially about a crime. |
| come through verb | To come into a room or other space through a door or passageway. |
| stand out verb | To jut out, protrude (from a surface etc.). |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- To start, let's take the word race.
- I'm going to hold it out.
- That's not a sound that you can hold out.
- That's the one we've studied already here.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is pulled · are still flared · is used |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have just parted · we've studied |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 25 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, I'm, we're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: flesh /flɛʃ/, rash /ɹæʃ/, blush /ˈblʌʃ/, rush /ɹʌʃ/, brush /bɹʌʃ/
- Long words — get the stress right: predictable /pɹəˈdɪktəbləl/, calculator /kæl.kjə.leɪ.tɚ/, illustration /ˌɪləsˈtɹeɪ̯ʃən/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/, alligator /ˈæl.ɪ.ɡeɪ.tɚ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like lip, candle, compare.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.