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Tongue twisters · ɹ · l

R and l

The English r never touches; the l always does.

Age
Ages 3–11
Skill
Speaking · Phonics
Format
Printable
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Why this sound is hard

everyone's trap

Russian and Spanish both make r with the tongue tip — a quick tap or a roll against the ridge behind the top teeth. The English r touches nothing: the tongue pulls back and the lips round a little. L is the opposite — the tip does touch the ridge — so twisters that bounce between the two train exactly that switch.

Where the mouth goes

Say a long uh and, without stopping, slowly pull the tongue tip back and up, touching nothing: that is the r at the end of her. The tip floats — it must not tap or trill. For l, press the tip behind the top teeth and let the sound flow around the sides.

The twisters, easy to hard

Listen slowly first, then at normal speed — then say it three times fast against the stopwatch. Dotted words open the picture dictionary.

Mediumr · l· traditional

Red lorry, yellow lorry.

Mediumr · l· traditional

Red leather, yellow leather.

Hardr · l· traditional

Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.

Hardr · l· traditional

Truly rural.

One card per twister, no buttons — cut them apart for a twister jar.

Practise the same sound

Train the ear first with a listen-and-pick game, then read the sound in words.

rock or lockfr-gr-tr-bl-cl-
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