We went downtown again today to check out some of the live events.  We walked around for about three hours, but couldn’t get into any events because the line ups were too long.  It’s great just to be with all of the tourists and other Canadians celebrating our great city.     While we were out and about ( pronounced as an au diphthong on the west coast), we were trying to see the Olympic cauldron.  We were a bit lost, so we had asked a volunteer who told us that the cauldron was on Bulald street.    Being Vancouverites, we were a little confused an then realized that he was saying “Burrard St.”

Place: Waterfront Station

Who: Vancouver 2010 Volunteer

Word on the Street: “It’s on Bulald St.” 

Substitution : l for r

Canadian Pronunciation: “ It’s on Burrard St.”

The substitution of / l/  for/ r/  is very common in many languages.   The key to producing sounds that have er combinations is to accurately pronounce both the er sound as well as the proceeding vowel, so that you hear two sounds.

For example  in Burrard, this ar combo should sound like a+er as in car.   The first syllable of this word rhymes with her and is just an er sound.    Try it:  Ber rhymes with her and ard rhymes with car.  Now we have ber+ra+erd.

Tune in tomorrow for Day 5 at the Olympics…….

If you are in the neighbourhood of Kerrisdale call for an appointment and get a free assessment  at

L2 Accent Reduction Centre.