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There’s a saying in Hong Kong kung fu movies: “Wai faai bat po.”
香港的功夫电影里有一句话：“唯快不破。”
It means "only speed is unbreakable."
意思是“（武功）只有快到极致才无法被化解。”
“Wai faai bat po.”
“唯快不破”
That’s in Cantonese, a language with tones, which English speakers have trouble distinguishing.
这是一句粤语，粤语是一种有声调的语言，而以英语为母语的人是很难区分声调的。
So when an American says that phrase with the wrong tones— “wifi bat po”—you get a Cantonese meme.
于是，当一位美国人用错误的声调来说这话的时候，就变成了“WiFi不破”，你就得到了一个粤语表情包。
"It became kind of a joke that people will send to each other.
“这句话已经变成大家互相转发的段子了。
It's like oh, this bad-ass wifi is so good.
听着就好像在说‘这个wifi真TM太好用了’一样。
‘Wai faai bat po.’
‘Wai faai不破。’
It's quite funny.”
特别搞笑。”
If English is your first language though,
如果你是以英语为母语，
you might be more familiar with a different joke:“Supplies!”
那你可能对另一个段子更熟一些：“惊不惊喜！”
That’s the notion that East Asians mix up their Rs and Ls in English: “Oh herro prease.”
说的就是东亚人会把英语里的R和L搞混这件事：“啊，你好啊。”
It’s a running gag in Lost in Translation, an Oscar-winning film about two Americans who are sad in Japan.
这句话是《迷失东京》里一个反复出现的段子，那部电影讲述的是两个老美在东京的失意生活，还荣获了奥斯卡奖。
“Lat pack. You know lat pack?”
“酥帮，你知道酥帮么？”
“Rat? Rat pack.”
“鼠？鼠帮？”
The movie makes communication with the locals seem hopeless.
这部电影把跟当地人的交流刻画地让人很绝望。
“Lip my stocking.” “Hey? Lip them?”
“舔（撕）我的丝袜。”“啥？舔你的丝袜？”
And at one point Scarlett Johansson's character asks:
其中有一幕，斯嘉丽·约翰逊饰演的角色问到：
"Why do they switch the Rs and the L’s here?"
“他们为什么要把R发成L？”
"For yucks."
“为了搞笑呗。”
This movie may be a bit rrrrr— rude, but it’s not a terrible question to ask.
这部电影或许把这个段子讲得有些过了，但这个问题提得并没有那么不堪。
Because if you’re genuinely curious,
因为如果你真的是个好奇宝宝的话，
a foreign accent gives us chance to learn something about another language.
你就会发现，了解一种外国口音其实也是给我们一个了解一种语言的机会。
So this trope has been applied to Japanese, Korean, and Chinese speakers.
这个段子不仅被用到了说日语和韩语的人身上，也被用到了说汉语的人身上。
"McFry!" "Herro." "Fa ra ra ra ra."
“麦克弗莱” “你壕” “发啦啦啦啦。”
But, all of these languages deal with Rs and Ls in different ways.
但所有这些语言处理R和L的发音的方式并不相同。
First though, we need to talk about the R sound in English.
首先，我们需要讨论下英语中R的发音。
It turns out that there isn’t just one way to pronounce it.
原来，英语中的R不止有一种发音方式。
Oh it’s incredibly varied.
“啊，这个啊，这个其实是有很多种的。”
Eleanor Lawson uses ultrasound to study English phonetics.
埃莉诺·劳森在用超声波研究英语发音。
"You have trilled rs which are sort of a rrr sound.
“有颤音R，差不多就是这种。
You can probably hear my tapped r.
或许你已经听出里面的振动了。
So I do a ra sound. Varied.
接下来我们发一个ra的音，就是Varied这个单词里R的发音。
You can have a retroflex R where your tongue essentially curls upside down under your palatal arch. Run. Run."
这个是卷舌音的R，舌头基本上要卷起来，在上颚下方倒卷过去，比如‘Run（跑）’这个单词。”“Run。”
She says the bunched-r, which is common in North American english, is particularly complex.
她说，卷舌的R——这种发音在北美英语中很常见——尤其复杂。
"Nurse." "Nurse."
“护士。”“护士。”
Say the word fur. Fur.
比如“fur（皮毛）”这个单词，fur，
How would you tell someone where to put their tongue to make that R?
你该怎么跟别人解释发这个R音的时候，舌头应该怎么做？
The middle of the tongue rises up in the mouth, while the root of the tongue is pulling backwards.
舌头中间的部分在嘴里抬起，舌根则向后缩。
You might have some lip rounding as well.
同时，嘴唇还要噘成圆形。
R sounds like this, where the air flow isn’t blocked by the tongue or the lips, are called “approximates” in phonetics.
发这种R音的时候气流是没有被舌头或者嘴唇阻断的，这种R音在语音学中称为“近音”。
So forming all of these structures at the same time could be very difficult for someone who is not used to producing that.
要同时做好这些口型和舌位对某些不经常这样发音的人来说会十分困难。
The r-sound is one of the last consonants that english-speaking kids learn to say.
以英语为母语的人小时候都是最后才学这个发音。
It takes up to 5 adorable years for them to figure it out.
而且需要多则5年的时间才能弄清楚。
“Purple. And red”
“紫色，和红色”。
And the L-sound in English can change depending on its position in a word.
而英语中L的发音也会根据它在单词中的位置发生变化。
Say the words “ladle” or “level.”
比如“ladle"或”level"这两词。
That first L is a "clear L."
者两个词的第一个L是“清晰的L”。
You can probably feel your tongue touching the top of the mouth, right behind your front teeth as in “led.”
你或许都可以感觉到你的舌头触碰到你的上颚，就在门牙后面的位置，“led"这个词里的L也是一样。
But the l at the end of the word is a “dark L,"
但位于单词末尾的L就是一个“模糊的L”，
where the tip of the tongue might not even touch top of your mouth at all.
发音的时候，舌尖可能完全不用抵到上颚。
A dark L is where the back of the tongue is moving up toward the soft palate and it gives it an o-ish sound like an O".
“发‘模糊的L’的时候，舌后部朝软腭抬高，听着会有点像O的音。
"Level." "Level."
“Level（水平）.” “Level.”
