How to make the "L" sound

The easiest way to explain how to make the "L" sound is by asking a student who is working on it. Children typically explain it by saying: take the tip of your tongue and put it up behind your top front teeth. Make sure the tip of your tongue touches the "bump" (alveolar ridge) behind your teeth. Also, make sure your voice is on and you let air pass around your tongue when you say a word.

When practicing the "L" sound, start by "warming up" your tongue, by moving it up and down (like a tongue push up!) You can practice by saying "la, la, la" or "low, low, low". Using a mirror is also helpful, so you can see the tongue movement and make sure it is going in the right place.

After you have done that a few times, you can move on to a list of words, to help increase the speed and accuracy of the production of the sound (i.e. lip, loop, lap, leap, luck, leg, lag, log). Practicing often, even just 5 - 10 minutes a day, helps tremendously!