Some more help is requested from the native-born American speakers on this board.
Could you clarify how the following should be pronounced in American English.
1) The "L" sound in 'regular', 'long', etc.: Is the tongue placed on the RIDGE several millimeters away from the front teeth, or is it directly behind the front teeth and touching them? Same with the "N" sound.
2) The "L" sound in the words 'ball' and 'girl': does the tongue now touch the front teeth?
3) When you casually say "I'm moving to a new place", how do you pronounce the "t" in "to" -- is it an aspirated 't', a flap 't', or some other variety of "t"?
4) Other than the sound "th", which requires the teeth, does your speech pretty much always remain firmly BEHIND the front teeth, never actually touching them? This may be a weird question, but I've found that part of my accent is due to forming dental sounds which are actually far and few between in American English (in other words, the American sounds are further back in the mouth).
5) I've been told that some of my sounds are 'back-in-the-throat'. How do you change the resonation to occur in the middle of the mouth, as required for American English? By the way, the 'back-in-the-throat' is typical for speakers of Russian and I'm in that group.
Could you clarify how the following should be pronounced in American English.
1) The "L" sound in 'regular', 'long', etc.: Is the tongue placed on the RIDGE several millimeters away from the front teeth, or is it directly behind the front teeth and touching them? Same with the "N" sound.
2) The "L" sound in the words 'ball' and 'girl': does the tongue now touch the front teeth?
3) When you casually say "I'm moving to a new place", how do you pronounce the "t" in "to" -- is it an aspirated 't', a flap 't', or some other variety of "t"?
4) Other than the sound "th", which requires the teeth, does your speech pretty much always remain firmly BEHIND the front teeth, never actually touching them? This may be a weird question, but I've found that part of my accent is due to forming dental sounds which are actually far and few between in American English (in other words, the American sounds are further back in the mouth).
5) I've been told that some of my sounds are 'back-in-the-throat'. How do you change the resonation to occur in the middle of the mouth, as required for American English? By the way, the 'back-in-the-throat' is typical for speakers of Russian and I'm in that group.