A short instructor-led YouTube lesson (by Hadar Shemesh) practicing the tongue twister “A big blue bucket of blue blueberries.” The lesson targets pronunciation of B and L consonants and the vowel contrasts inside “blue” and “blueberries”: a light L moving into a tense /uː/ (back oo), a brief W glide after blue, the reduced vowel or schwa in "bucket," and a high E in "berries." The instructor demonstrates, gives articulatory cues ("swallowing" the sound, keep the oo at the back of the mouth), leads slow repetition drills, and closes with a friendly sign-off.
Chapters
Hey, everyone, it's practice time with Hadar. Today we're gonna practice the tongue twister.
A big blue bucket of blue blueberries. Okay, A lot of B's and L's.
If you struggle with B's and L's, this one is for you. Let's start from the top.
A big IH as in sit. A big blue.
Here we have the L sound. It's a light L that shifts into a tense oo sound.
Blue.
Make sure that the oo sound is not in the front of the mouth.
Bleu.
Because then it tends to reduce the word and it may sound unclear.
Blue.
Think like you're swallowing it, and you.
Allow the sound to take a tour.
Inside the back of your mouth.
Blue.
And add a little W at the end.
A big blue bucket.
Bucket. That's a cup sound. Bucket. And the second part could either be a schwa.
Bucket or bucket.
I as in sit. That's how I pronounce it.
Bucket of e sound. Blue tends to.
Another great opportunity to practice the oo sound after an L of blue.
Blueberries. Blueberries.
Now, the sound in the word berries is a high E. Now, because it's a long word, we tend to reduce it. And you might say something like blueberries.
Blueberries.
Right. Make sure it's a high E. Raise the tongue. Make it a little longer.
Blueberries.
Three vowels.
Blueberries. OO, A, E. OO, A, E. Blueberries. A big blue bucket of blue blueberries. Again, a big blue bucket of blue blueberries.
I feel like it's bubbling inside your throat, so let's do it again slowly. You don't have to get it right. It's all about organizing things in your head, understanding that each word has its own unique vowel, and then putting it together slowly but surely.
Okay, so a big blue bucket of blue blueberries. A big blue bucket of blue blueberries. A big blue bucket of blue blueberries.
Okay. Do you like blueberries?
I love blueberries.
Let me know in the comments if you're a blueberry person. Have a beautiful, beautiful blueberry day, and I'll see you in the next video.
