Dark /L/ Part 1

The Dark L: the /l/ at the end of a word

English has two Ls. The light one appears at the start of a word and resembles the Spanish l. The dark one appears at the end of a word or before a consonant, and it's made by raising the back of the tongue: it comes out deeper, lower, almost like a u. Spanish has no equivalent for that second one.

How it's made

• 👄 Mouth: slightly open and relaxed.
• 👅 Tongue: the tip may touch the roof, but what matters is that the back rises.
• 🔊 Voice: voiced, low and sustained — you can stretch it.

You hear it in: feel · call · milk · cold · well

⚠️ The typical Spanish-speaker mistake: using the light Spanish l in every position. Feel with a Spanish l sounds short and flat; the dark L makes the word end differently.

By the end you'll be able to: tell the light L from the dark one and produce the dark one at the end of a word.