Okay so here’s the thing – I kept messing up the word “tall”. Like, seriously, someone would ask me about a building or a person, and I’d say it sounding like “toll” or something weird. Got me some confused looks, man. Felt dumb. So I decided enough was enough, I needed to fix this stupid “tall” problem once and for all. Grabbed my phone, opened the voice recorder, and said it out loud. Played it back… yup, sounded totally off. Not good.
Starting Simple
Figured I should break it down, right? Like take the word apart. “Tall” has two parts:
- The “t” sound: Poked my tongue at the roof of my mouth just behind my teeth and made that quick tap sound.
- The “all” sound: Then I tried opening my mouth kinda wide, like dropping my jaw down. Focused hard on making that “aw” sound like when you see something cool, “awww”. Not the tiny “ah” you use for “bat”, it’s bigger, deeper in the throat.
Sat there alone in my room just going “t…aw…lll”. Must’ve looked ridiculous, but hey, practice.
The Awkward Phase
Tried saying the whole word together: “Taw-ll”. Sounded super exaggerated and forced. Annoying. I felt like my mouth just wouldn’t move right from the quick “t” to that big “aw” smoothly. Kept tripping over it. Felt stiff. Recorded myself again – progress? Maybe? Slightly less terrible?
Watched a couple of YouTube videos (not linking, obviously), just seeing how people moved their mouths. Paid attention to how their jaw dropped on the “aw”. Started mimicking that in my mirror. Felt so weird staring at myself making faces!
Finding the Flow & Practice Time
Okay, key thing I figured out: Don’t rush the “t”. Hit it clean and quick, but then let your jaw drop down naturally into that “aw” sound. Don’t force the jaw open; just let it happen as you make the vowel sound. The “l” is light at the end, just a quick touch of the tongue tip back up to the roof.
Practiced every single day. Seriously. Became a weird ritual.
- Said “tall” slowly ten times when brushing my teeth.
- Whispered it to myself while walking the dog.
- Stuck it into sentences randomly: “That tree is very tall.” “I need a tall glass of water.” Felt awkward talking about height constantly!
Took me three damn weeks of this nonsense before I started feeling consistent.
Did It Work?
Finally got up the nerve to test it on a real person. Asked my neighbor about his new flagpole: “Is that thing pretty tall?”
He just said, “Yeah, real tall!” No pause. No weird look. Nothing. Just a normal response.
Victory! Small one, maybe, but felt huge to me. Recorded myself one last time. Finally sounded like a regular English-speaking person saying “tall”. No more hidden tollbooth vibes.
The grind paid off. Focus on the jaw drop after the “t”. Don’t rush. Practice like no one’s listening (because they probably aren’t). It works.