L and R: how to finally hear and say "light" vs "right"
For speakers of Japanese, Korean, Chinese and many other languages, L and R feel like one sound. Here is how the tongue makes them different.
HolosAccent·
·2 min read
·Updated 23 Oct 2026
Light and right. Glass and grass. Collect and correct. If your first language is Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai or Vietnamese, English L and R may sound almost identical — because in your language they are one sound, or two versions of the same one.
The difference is entirely in where the tip of your tongue is.
The L: tongue touches
Press the tip of your tongue firmly against the ridge just behind your top front teeth, and let the voice flow around the sides of the tongue.
- light, long, love, learn
You should be able to hold an L for a long time: “llllll”. If you can, your tongue is touching.
The R: tongue does not touch anything
For the English R, the tongue floats. Pull the tip of your tongue back and slightly up, without letting it touch the roof of your mouth. Round your lips a little, as if starting to say “w”.
- right, red, rice, read
The one rule to remember: for L the tip touches; for R nothing touches.
Hear it before you say it
Listen to these pairs and decide which word you heard before repeating them:
| L | R |
|---|---|
| light | right |
| lead | read |
| glass | grass |
| fly | fry |
| collect | correct |
Slow transitions
The hardest part is switching quickly between them. Start slowly and feel the tongue move from touching to floating:
la — ra — la — ra
really, rarely, rural
The red lorry is really long.
HolosAccent scores L and R as separate sounds and keeps every take, so in a week you can play back your first try and hear how far you have come.
