Emma Stone was on the BBC America Graham Norton show when she said how Olivia Coleman had helped her to pronounce ‘bottle’ in English RP. Google modern phonetics show this is bo·tl and in google pronunciation it sounds like botul too. In RP the t is pronounced, and the tongue is stretched wide for the L. The tl sound is made together as one sound, with breath that escapes from the sides of the tongue. At Max Your Voice, I coach clients to pronounce it either way, so they have a choice in how they say it. The more upmarket you go, the more breath you can put into the accent. This is fairly advanced and John Wells, the person who is the expert and most knowledgeable on English and American pronunciation is the man to go to. He taught me at UCL and his pronunciation dictionary for American and English has a downloadable CD. It’s invaluable for advanced learners and coaches of English and American speech and easy to buy online. For anyone who wants to relax into the sounds of standard English – more modern than RP – try my downloads Speak English Clearly.
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