My tongue won't do that. Now what?
Ok...I'm trying to pronounce 'el cocodrilo' and it's not working out very well. That 'dr" coming after the long 'o' just doesn't want to form.
I can say dragón, dril, and drástico. But cocodrilo, not so much. Well, if I jerk my head I can get it to come out a little bit. 
If I am talking to someone and struggling to roll the Rs, is it better for me to give an English pronunciation, not rolling the 'r' ?
Or should I stick to my attempts at it, even though it doesn't come out correctly?
8 Answers
Update! Wow... it was almost exactly 2 years ago that I posted this question. I find it really funny that I couldn't pronounce 'cocodrilo'. That seems so easy to me now!
The lesson: Keep working. Little by little, you will learn it all.
La lección: Sigue trabajando. Poco a poco vas a aprenderlo todo.
I normally do not have a problem rolling "r" or "rr" but with this word, for some reason, I am having to force myself into not pronouncing the "l" as a "ll". Really weird.
Quote from Lazarus Try this (I know it is too abstract): Put the tip of your tongue on your upper teeth, roughly between your teeth, and move it as if you were about to pronounce a typical American D/T. That'll give you the Spanish "DR..." part. After that (and I've talking milliseconds), you need to get your mouth ready for a Spanish "a". Try it."
I can do it that way, and I can make the R sound about right, I think.. But then the D is more like the way I would pronounce a hard "TH". Is that correct?
I usually pronounce my single 'r's somewhat like I pronounce a d, perhaps a little softer.
So drástico comes out phonetically dedástico, or close to it, with that e an extremely short sound.
Am I doing that incorrectly?
Not really. My mistake. The Spanish single R is similar to the American D/T. Maybe the problem is that in "dr", the tongue goes from the teeth (something English speakers never get right) to the alveolar ridge, before pronouncing the vowel ("a"). The English "d" is already alveolar, so going from alveolar to alveolar, you get nothing. If you try to get a vowel in between ("d-ed-r..."), the result is even worse, because you are moving the tongue away.
Try this (I know it is too abstract): Put the tip of your tongue on your upper teeth, roughly between your teeth, and move it as if you were about to pronounce a typical American D/T. That'll give you the Spanish "DR..." part. After that (and I've talking milliseconds), you need to get your mouth ready for a Spanish "a". Try it.
Can you say-
the dilo ?
notice how your tongue moves from your upper teeth ("the") across that "ridge" on the roof of your mouth. Practise making it faster and faster. Let us know how you get on.
Quote from Lazarus If you don't mind my asking: how are you trying to pronounce the Spanish thrilled R? (ie. what do you do with your tongue, the air,...)
I usually pronounce my single 'r's somewhat like I pronounce a d, perhaps a little softer.
So drástico comes out phonetically dedástico, or close to it, with that e an extremely short sound.
Am I doing that incorrectly?
Listen: 99.999 percent of the people who are born in a Spanish speaking language can make that sound, so, most likely, there is nothing wrong with your mouth.
If you don't mind my asking: how are you trying to pronounce the Spanish trilled R? (ie. what do you do with your tongue, the air,...). Maybe I can help you here (the more detail you give me, the more I'll be able to help you).
Try just taking a bit longer to say the "R" - that way the Spanish speaker will hear it even if it is not "rolled" I used to have this problem.
