Shadowing Practice: The Light L /l/ and Dark L [ɫ] in English - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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Hi there, in today's lesson we're going to talk about the difference between the light L and the dark L in English.
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Hi there, in today's lesson we're going to talk about the difference between the light L and the dark L in English.
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By the end of today's video you will know exactly what the difference is between the two types of L
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and you will also be able to pronounce them, especially the dark L.
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Before we get started, hello and welcome back if you are a returning subscriber.
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If you are completely new here, then hello and welcome.
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If you are interested in improving your British accent pronunciation, and also you're interested in improving your listening skills with British English,
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or you're interested in some culture or grammar, vocabulary, or related to British English, then consider subscribing to my channel.
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I post new videos every single Friday.
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L is in words like light.
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Okay.
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So you can see the tip of my tongue here, it comes up to touch the top of my mouth and it kind of flops back down again.
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It releases, okay.
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And it creates this L, L, L sound.
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Okay.
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As in light.
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Light.
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Lucky.
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Lucky.
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Lovely.
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Lovely.
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And the last one, lonely.
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lonely.
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So what tends to happen here is whenever you have a L and then you have a vowel after it, you're probably going to get what's called the light L.
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So the light L appears before vowel sounds.
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Contrary to this, we have the dark L and this comes after a vowel sound.
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So let's take a word Fall.
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okay like the light l for la I hold it. For.
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And don't keep the sound going, OK?
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Don't say foo.
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Okay, I hear a lot of students doing that.
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You need to cut that sound, but keep your tongue in that position where it's touching the top of your mouth.
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Okay, some people describe it where you're not really touching the top of your mouth, but a lot of the time it usually is.
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So let's go back to our target word, fall.
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or or or or okay you can see i'm not releasing it i'm holding it at the top of my mouth
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fall full Another example is pull.
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pull.
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So I'm not releasing it, not pull.
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Pull.
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O.
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poll.
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Fool.
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FULL -A.
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Fool.
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Fool.
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hold it, okay?
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This part stays at the top.
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Fool.
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And the last one, mole.
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Mole.
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I'm holding it.
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Mole.
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Mole.
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Mole.
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Let's have a practice in some sentences.
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So I'm going to read the sentence and you just listen and repeat in your own time.
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Do pause the video if you need a little bit more time.
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She's so lucky to live in such a lovely location.
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she's so lucky to live in such a lovely location.
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She's so lucky to live in such a lovely location.
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And the next one with dark L.
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Paul fell in the mole and looked like a fool.
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Paul, so careful, you're not releasing it, yeah, it's not Paula.
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Paul fell in the mall and looked like a fool.
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Paul fell in the mall and looked like a fool.
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And that's it for this video.
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I hope you've enjoyed it and you've learnt something new.
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If you have, don't forget to give this video a thumbs up.
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That is a lovely free way just to help me out.
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And if you haven't yet already, don't forget to click the subscribe button
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and also press the bell notification icon as well to receive notifications every single time I post a new video
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or I go live.
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Have a wonderful week and I will see you very, very soon.
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Bye -bye!
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I'm going to go ahead and get started you you

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About This Lesson

You're practicing English with "The Light L /l/ and Dark L [ɫ] in English" using the Shadowing technique — a method originally developed for professional interpreter training.

Focus on sounding like the speaker — not just repeating words. With 15–30 minutes of daily practice, you'll build real-world speaking confidence.

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.