Hey guys, it’s Hadar, and this is the Accent’s Way, your way to finding, clarity, confidence, and freedom in English.

Diego asked me if I can explain how to pronounce the word ‘world’, he says and I quote:

‘The sound is never perfect. I know how to say it and, in my mind, it sounds perfect, but when it comes out, it’s never correct.’

And that’s such a great point because sometimes we know exactly how a word should sound. We hear it so many times, but then when it comes out something along the way gets stuck or the tongue is not in the right position, and it just sounds off.

So today we are going to learn how to pronounce the word ‘world’. And solve all those issues around this word, because I know there are many, alright.

So let’s begin at the beginning. We begin with a ‘w’ sound, ‘w’ as in ‘wow’ so around your lips. ‘w’, and then you shift immediately towards the ‘R’. ‘w’r’ Do you hear that? So although there is the letter ‘o’ there, there is no ‘o’ sound. It’s not ‘world’, alright? ‘world’, no. ‘w’r’ ‘w’rld’

So I round my lips for the ‘w’. I keep them rounded, and then I just lift the tongue up for the ‘r’. ‘w’r’ or pull it back. ‘w’r’ as in the word ‘were’. We ‘were’ happy. We ‘were’ there. ‘were’. Do you hear that? ‘were’.

Then after the ‘R’, there is ‘L’ and ‘D’, alright. So this cluster of the ‘R’, ‘L’, ‘D’ is difficult for a lot of speakers, so let’s break it down. Your tongue is up there for the ‘R’, right? ‘R’ Then you need to shift for the ‘L’. To make an ‘L’ sound the tongue goes up to touch the roof of the mouth, right?

‘World’, but this is a dark ‘L’, which means there’s a lot of muscles engaged in the back here. ‘L’. It’s practically produced here, and not necessarily here at the front of the mouth. Do you hear that? ‘L’, ‘L’. That’s the dark ‘L’. It’s not just ‘L’. ‘World’

Alright, that’s not enough. You need that extra sound of the dark ‘L’ that will transition from the ‘R’ to the ‘L’. ‘World’. And then you bring the tongue up for the ‘L’. So everything is kind of like blended together. ‘World’.

Then you bring the tongue up, and you close it with a ‘D’. ‘World’. Alright, so basically you have the ‘R’, the transitional sound that the tongue pushes down here – ‘w’r…’, then the tongue goes up for the ‘L’.

Now imagine like the ‘L’ is longer…than just one single sound, okay. Because in many cases I hear people saying it as ‘w’r-d’. Right, and the ‘L’ just disappears. Okay, so visualize it like you have three ‘L’ s in this word, so you don’t miss it. ‘w’r-lll’d’ And then you close it with a light ‘D’. The ‘D’ is very subtle. ‘World’,

‘World’. Around the ‘world’. I like to travel around the ‘world’.

‘Worldwide’. ‘Worldwide’. The ‘world’ is yours. The ‘world’. ‘World’. Do you hear that dark ‘L’ sound? The ‘world’ is yours. ‘World’.

Alright, I know it’s a tricky word, but if you practice it and you start thinking of it differently not the way it’s written but the way you actually hear the sounds, then I bet it’s going to be a lot easier for you to pronounce it.

Alright, so thanks, Diego, again for your question and I hope it helps.

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Have a wonderful week, and I will see you in the next video. Bye!