Li:   大家好我是杨莉，欢迎收听你问我答节目，I’m Yang Li. 

Einstein. Do you know where to put your tongue?

 
 
William:    Herro! My name is Wirriam Klemer.
 
Li:     William, why did you say that? 
 
William:    Well, because it's my name, Li.
 
Li:      But why did you say Herro like that? You should say 'Hello' in your nice English accent. 
 
William:    Well do you know what Ri? I think you're absolutely light!
 
Li:    Oh stop it William! 我是正确的。“正确的” 这个词英语是right, I'm right, 不是light. Light 这个词的意思是“轻的”。
 
William:    Oh dear, I shouldn't laugh. Getting these sounds, /r/ and /l/, mixed up could be very serious. It could mean the difference between some lips... Lips FX   ... and some rips – 撕碎。
 
William:      It's also the difference between rice...
 
Li:    Hmmm... 大米。
 
William:    And lice. 
 
Li:    Ugh... lice, 虱子! 但愿你没在餐厅里把米饭说成虱子，来一碗虱子?! 那可就太可笑了。
 
Insert
 
Customer:  Can I have a bowl of lice please?
Snooty waiter: What kind of establishment do you think this is?!
 
William:    OK, so it's a very important topic and this week we've got a question about it from our listener Duke in China. Let's listen to Duke now:
 
Insert
 
Hi I'm Duke from Guangzhou, Guandong Province, China. I'm confused about the pronunciation of the letters R and L in some words, for example, 'reader' & 'leader".  
 
Li:   听上去 Duke 想请教一下如何正确地发音。一个是  r 另一个是  l ，William我能想象出来对于中国某些地区的人来说这可能比较难区分。
 
William:    Yes, I think it's a problem for people in different parts of Asia. But as they say, practice... 
 
Li:    Practice makes perfect! 
 
William:    Exactly. And to help us practise today I'm very pleased to be joined by a volunteer - Simmy! Hi Simmy!
 
Li:    Hi Simmy. Welcome. 
 
Simmy:    Hi. Thank you.
 
Li:    你好 Simmy. 经常听我们节目的人可能对 Simmy 都不陌生，因为他是商务英语 Business Class 中的一个优秀的学生，好，Simmy希望今天的问题比商务英语挑战要容易一些... Simmy你觉得 l和r这两个辅音字母的发音难不难？ 
 
Simmy:   对我来讲好像没有什么很难的，因为我是从北方过来的，所以本来在汉语里我们就可以把这两个音分得很清楚。
 
Li:   好, 说汉语这两个音不难，但是未必英语当中就不难。好Simmy 我们现在就来做个练习。William 和我将读出一些英语单词，看看你能不能区分  /r/ 和  /l/, 这两个音，那么你听清楚之后，你就说是/r/ 还是/l/ . 
 
Simmy:    OK.
 
Li:  OK, 准备好了吗？
 
William:    Ok, you ready Simmy? 
 
Simmy:    Yeah. 
 
William:    Ok. First one. Lead. 
 
Simmy:    L.
 
William:    Good.  
 
Li:   好，下一个... rent.
 
Simmy:    R.
 
William:    Excellent and next one: right. 
 
Simmy:    R
 
Li:   最后一个主意听  - law.
 
Simmy:    It's L. 
 
William:    Excellent. So you got all of them right so you're obviously finding this very easy. But before we move on from listening practice, it's worth mentioning the L or /l/ sound that you sometimes get in the middle or at the end of words. And this is sometimes called the 'dark L' and it's less distinct than the L at the beginning of words...
 
Li:      L 这个字母的发音和它的位置有关，一般情况下如果是在一个词的中间位置，那么就不特别明显  less distinct, Simmy, 你能不能告诉我们下面这些词里到底有没有l 这个字母，有，你就说yes. 没有，你就说 no. 
 
Simmy:    Ok.
 
Li:      Ok?
 
Simmy:    Ok.
 
William:    First one. Mall.
 
Simmy:    I think it's [got an] L in it. 
 
William:    Yeah that's right. 
 
Li:    Next one. How about this word: mink?
 
Simmy:    There is [an] R or L in it? 
 
Li:    Mink.
 
Simmy:    I don't know...
 
William:    No, that one doesn't. That's mink, M-I-N-K. 
 
Simmy:    Yeah, that's why...
 
William:    It sounds a bit like milk or you know... 
 
Simmy:    Yeah there is no R or L in it. 
 
William:    No there isn't, no. Let's try another one. Sulk. 
 
Simmy:    It's L. 
 
William:    Yes, very good, excellent. Ok you did very well on that. 
 
Li:    OK. Will 我们做了不少练习，那么在读L这个音的时候，要领是什么？Duke 想知道舌头的位置在哪个部位  tongue, 舌头... 
 
William:    Yes, that is important. So let's start practising the /l/ sound. Step One!
 
Li:   怎么样?
 
William:    Open your mouth slightly. Step two; put your tongue behind your teeth near the top of your mouth. 
 
Li:   也就是说把舌头放在口腔上方的牙齿的后面，靠近齿龈的地方。 
 
William:    Step three. Make the sound by moving your tongue away from the roof of your mouth and opening your mouth wider. 
 
Li:   然后舌头离开齿龈，同时口型张开。出声  /l/...
 
William:    /l/...
 
Li:    /l/...
 
William:    /l/...
 
Li:    /l/...
 
William:    Ok, Simmy? /l/...
 
Simmy:    /l/...
 
William:    Perfect! Now repeat after me. Lead. 
 
Simmy:    Lead.
 
Li:    Lead.
 
Simmy:    Lead.
 
William:    Now if you find this quite difficult another way to do it is to put your tongue on the right or the left hand side, at the top of your mouth. 
 
Li:   如果你觉得太难，不妨可以试试先把舌头放在一侧 （类似汉语里的Li my Li, 杨莉的 Li.）
 
William:    OK, now to make the /r/ sound you don't put your tongue near your teeth but you move it back in your mouth and then you use your lips to make the sound. 
 
Li:   另一个字母 R /r/ 接近汉语里的/ri /日期的日，日历中的日，就是一个卷舌音，把舌头往后拉，然后移动嘴唇。
 
William:    Ok Simmy? Rain.  
 
Simmy:    Rain. 
 
William:    You got the vowel sound slightly wrong there. Rain.  
 
Simmy:    Rain. 
 
William:    Let's try royal. 
 
Simmy:    Royal. 
 
William:    That's good. You've done very well here! Let's just finish by doing a mix of /r/ and /l/ words. I'll say a word and you repeat it, OK? 
 
Simmy:    OK. 
 
William:    That's a very good start – ok, ok, that's good repetition! First word: Wrong.  
 
Simmy:    Wrong. 
 
William:    Do it again: Wrong. 
 
Simmy:    Wrong. 
 
William:    Now say long. 
 
Simmy:    Long. 
 
William:    Good. Long. 
 
Simmy:    Long. 
 
William:    And now try loyal.  
 
Simmy:    loyal.
 
William:    Make it a little bit clearer at the start. Loyal.
 
Simmy:    Loyal.
 
William:    Good. And how about royal?
 
Simmy:    Royal.
 
William:    Try moving your lips a little bit more. Royal.
 
Simmy:    Royal.
 
William:    Good. And misread.  
 
Simmy:    Misread.
 
William:    Good, very clear. Now try misled.   
 
Simmy:    Misled.
 
William:    Excellent! Ok, very last one... let's try belly. 
 
Simmy:    Belly. 
 
William:    And now let's try berry.
 
Simmy:    Berry. 
 
William:    Try again, moving your lips, berry. 
 
Simmy:    Berry. 
 
William:    Excellent! Well done Simmy! 
 
Li:    Simmy你现在对这两个音是不是更有信心了？
 
Simmy:  Yeah It's very interesting, the way you teach it...
 
Li:   其实，就是对英国人来说，这两个发音也不容易，尤其是在提高语速，就是说得特别快的时候更容易出错。最后我们就来测试一下BBC Learning English 的同事们让他们快速地重复 Red Lorry Yellow Lorry 听听他们的发音，然后你可以给他们打个分...
 
Insert
 
[Four native English speakers trying to say 'Red Lorry Yellow Lorry']
 
Rob:    ... It's impossible!
 
William:    Red lorry yellow lorry red lorry yellow lorry.... 
 
Li:    Ok, I'll try. Red lorry yellow lorry red lorry yellow lorry. 
 
William:    Simmy, you have a go. 
 
Simmy:    Red lorry yellow lorry red lorry yellow lorry....
 
William:    She's better than us! 
 
Li:    Excellent! I'm impressed! 随后为了帮助大家掌握正确的发音我们专门增加了一个音频练习，大家可以上网下载，反复收听反复练习，good luck.
 
William:    Yes and thanks again Simmy for your help today and thanks Duke for your question – I do hope that this has helped. Remember that if you have a question that you would like us to answer, you can email us at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk.  
 
Li:  谢谢大家收听我们下次节目再会。 
 
Simmy:    Bye bye.
 
William:    Bye bye. 
 
Li:    Bye!

Today Duke asks us about a pronunciation point that some Chinese learners find easy and some find very difficult: how to say the sounds /r/ and /l/.

Yang Li and William Kremer practise the sounds in this programme with a volunteer, Simmy. Listen to the programme to hear lots of examples of the two sounds.

To make the /l/ sound:

Put your tongue behind your teeth near the top of your mouth. Make the sound by moving your tongue away from the roof of your mouth and opening your mouth wider.

To make the /r/ sound:

Don't put your tongue near your teeth but move it back in your mouth and then use your lips to make the sound.