L in Hell and tongue position

[suprunp]

I should admit, I've never changed my tongue's position the way it is suggested in the video when pronouncing 'hell' and yet (I hope) I had no problem producing those two kinds of 'l'. Would you be so kind as to tell me whether you do put your tongue the way it is shown when saying 'hell'?

Thanks.
(Perfect Pronunciation! L and R sounds; YouTube)

 

[Roman55]

No I don't. I find that very strange advice indeed.

 

[GoesStation]

I'd never noticed before, but my tongue is definitely positioned differently when making the terminal /l/ sound. I think the video demonstrates the positions very well.

You might have to concentrate closely and speak slowly to notice the difference. Or, it's possible you aren't producing the final /l/ like a native speaker.

 

[suprunp]

Or, it's possible you aren't producing the final /l/ like a native speaker.

There's always a (substantial) possiblity of my producing a wrong sound, but I think I might be doing something else.

Let's have a look first at the following screenshots, where a native English speaker does not seem to be putting her tongue in the position demonstrated in the video when pronouncing 'bell' and 'tell', but seemingly has it in the same position when saying 'let' (she does highlight the existent difference, but leaves out all the necessary technical details as to how to actually produce this difference):

Bell


Tell


Let


I'll let Peter Ladefoged explain how she may be doing it:

In most forms of British English, there is a considerable difference in the articulation of /l/ before a vowel, as in "leaf" or "feeling", as compared with /l/ before a consonant or at the end of a word, as in "field" or "feel." [...] Try to feel where the tongue is during the /l/ in "leaf." You will probably find that the tip is touching the alveolar ridge, and one or both sides are near the upper side teeth, but not quite touching. Now compare this articulation with the /l/ in "feel." Most (but not all) speakers make this sound with the tongue tip touching the alveolar ridge. But in both British and American English the center of the tongue is pulled down and the back is arched upward as in a back vowel.
(A Course in Phonetics; Peter Ladefoged)

 

[Roman55]

I agree entirely with this explanation, and it corresponds to how I pronounce these sounds. There is obviously a difference in the tongue position and consequently a difference in the sound that is produced, but I don't know any native speaker that places the tongue under the front teeth, as suggested in the video link in post #1.