Pronouncing "r"

Question

I'm having difficulty with my "r's". I'm practicing tongue rolls, but can't get it to come naturally in words. Any tips or advice?

Thanks

Jaja, los ingleses solo tienen problemas con esa letra ... los hispanohablantes casi con todas las palabras de el inglés. - fox10, Sep 29, 2011

Really? So, English speakers have trouble with one Spanish letter, while Spanish speakers have trouble with almost all English words? Interesting...encouraging words, since Spanish natives speak English very well! Thanks for commenting :) - hanginout, Sep 29, 2011

Have you tried changing the position of your mouth? Because that seems to help me with r's. - Alyssajayde2001, Sep 30, 2011

Answer 1

Try to emulate the sound of an old car acelerating. When I was a child, I used to make that sound with my car toys. The roll R isn't a difficult sound, just practice a while and you'll get it !

Or try making the sound that kids make when they play cops and robbers. You know, the automatic gun sound. - Fredbong, Sep 29, 2011

Thanks! I sound like I'm choking when I try to pronounce it. Lol! I hope I can get the hang of it! - hanginout, Sep 29, 2011

Answer 2

i have the same problem, you're not alone. i've been speaking Spanish for 5 months, practicing my RR's on and off (inconsistently). i suppose with a few weeks of consistent practice it would be possible. everything i read tells me it's not impossible, it just takes a lot of practice because the tongue is a muscle just like any other one in the body and it can be trained to move in different ways. good luck!

Answer 3

also if you have problems rolling an R at all, tilt your head back so your neck is straight and say "butter" over and over. head position restricts tongue movement, which makes the right sound in "butter."

It works! Thanks for the tip! :) - hanginout, Sep 29, 2011

Answer 4

There's a series of threads here on the topic.

I especially recommend that you go to the third link offered in this thread and read what our resident phonetics expert, Lazarus, writes.

I, too, thought it impossible until I read his post.

Let me know how it works out for you

There is an abundance of excellent threads on the topic, if you just search for "rolling."

Answer 5

think of it in a linguistics sense. make the english R sound and compare it to the english D sound. think of tongue placement and direction of air; now imagine saying "air" in english, but replace the R with a D. (...i could see where you'd be lost with my explanation.) then add "ace" to the end, this make "eres," "aird-ace"

Nope, you explained it very well...that's helpful! I'm practicing as you explained, and I think I had my tongue placement all wrong! Thank you! - hanginout, Sep 29, 2011

I would argue that the "r" is more flipped than the English D - Felixlynx, Sep 29, 2011