pronunciation of "R"
How to pronounce r and rr properly? I have to pronounce dr to roll my tongue...
7 Answers
It comes with practice. Try and listen to lots of music and texts in Spanish and if no one else is around just sit there practicing. I think as English speakers our tongues aren't used to the movement. After a while you'll get it I'm sure.
Here's a page you could look at
http://www.wikihow.com/Roll-Your-"R"s
I noted many people that are learning the language pronounces well the 'r' in some words and bad in others. Mostly they pronounce well the 'r' in the word 'barba' (beard).
I used to walk along the street saying "pero el perro" out loud - I got a few strange looks but finally cracked it.
A friend of mine is named "Yanira"; she always tells native English speakers to pronounce her name "Ya need ah". If you try an English "d" for the "r" between vowels, you might feel like you're getting it. I agree with the other posters - it takes practice, but you'll get it! ... The "rr" is similar to the pretend machine gun firing that little kids sometimes make when they are playing, or the pretend sound of a phone ringing. ... another thought - native English speakers sometimes speak without moving their mouths around much; don't be afraid to let your mouth move or to open enough to make the "rr" sound.
Not too different from English r.]
The "R" sounds similar to an English "D" and the "RR" has a rolling R sound.
Yuk. The "r" sound in English ( a retroflex "r") is quite unusual (the sound in Mandarin is quite close but that is the only language that I know of that uses a retroflex "r"). All of the other languages that I've encountered use a "single tap" r (Spanish/Italian/Japanese/Vietnamese/Arabic), a "uvular" r (French) or both (Modern Greek).
In southern France they us a "trilled" (multi tap) r (but that's a regional variation).
The "R" sounds similar to an English "D" and the "RR" has a rolling R sound.
Not too different from English r.
