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Hear both words in 10 voices
Each row is one speaker saying both words. Play one, then the other, and switch to slow when the difference hides.
- American woman, younger
- American woman, older
- American man, younger
- American man, older
- British woman, younger
- British woman, older
- British man, younger
- British man, older
- Australian woman
- Australian man
What's different
Both words are stressed on the second syllable, so the first is a weak "kuh", not the コ of katakana. The L or R comes just before the stress, with a vowel on each side, so you can hear the tongue move through it instead of guessing from a consonant cluster.
In correct, the r colors the weak vowel before it, and American voices often blur the start into "krrect". In collect, that vowel stays neutral and the l is a quick, light touch: "kuh-lect". If the first syllable already sounds like r, it's correct.
Studies: Logan et al. 1991 · Lively et al. 1993 · Lively et al. 1994 · Bradlow et al. 1997 · Bradlow et al. 1999
R has a darker, rounded ring. L sounds lighter and clearer.
More word pairs with these sounds
Hearing L and R apart: all 42 pairs →Start hearing the difference.
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