i'm Hispanic and I can't roll my R's

Question

So I'm Dominican and I learned both English and Spanish at the same time growing up. But I was never able to roll my R's and I still cant lol anyone else have that problem ? Everyone thinks its so funny when I talk in Spanish and say "carro" or "perro" or "rosa" etc. because it sounds funny because my R's don't roll.

Any suggestions on how to maybe help me figure out how to do it ???

Go to Scandinavia and practise, we can do it, easily. - annierats, Oct 4, 2012

The Scots do it beautifully. - ray76, Oct 13, 2012

Answer 1

Hi again muszii33....If found this video for learning how to trill. It's not professionally done by a language expert...it's just a girl who taught herself how to roll her r's. I don't know if it would work for you, but she goes into quite a bit of detail about tongue pancaking etc. and the sounds you should practice to get you started. Don't let the name of the link fool you, the leisureguy found her on youtube. I also read on another website that if you can fold your tongue vertically, you will be able to trill. If you can't fold your tongue vertically (sides up, middle down) they say it would be impossible. I don't know if that is right.

Trilling the spanish r

I can fold my tongue but this rolling thing i just cant get down. But im gonna watch the video and maybe it will help. Thank you. - muszii33, Jul 24, 2012

Thank you so much ! This actually worked ! I did it =) - muszii33, Jul 25, 2012

Yeah...we need to tell the world! Congratulations muszii!! It's forward from now on...no looking back! - 0095ca4c, Jul 25, 2012

Answer 2

Pero los perros quieren ronronear perfectamente repetidamente.

After a few hundred times you get the hang of it. he he

gracias =) - muszii33, Jul 24, 2012

Oh Iasn, at last I'm having a good laugh. - annierats, Jul 24, 2012

Answer 3

My only comment (not being an expert r roller), is to mentally see the r sounds as "dr". This sets up the tip of yor tongue to be in a position to roll those sounds a little more easily. Of course, you want to de-emphasize the "d" part of the sound.

Great tip Noetol. - 0095ca4c, Jul 24, 2012

Thanks, Margherite! - Noetol, Jul 24, 2012

Answer 4

Hi muszii33, I'm not an expert rrrrrolerrrr either, but when I starrrrrrted, I would walk around purrrrrrring like a cat for weeks on end. I even rrrrrrrolled english words as I typed. It really did help. Good luck with the trilling. I'm so envious. I wish I had been taught Spanish when I was a little girl.

I do this, too. I get some very unusuallooks from people, though! - Noetol, Jul 24, 2012

lol...I still do this sometimes for emphasis - HowardO, Jul 24, 2012

Answer 5

Well what work for me is to have saliva in my mouth. I notices when I don't have enough saliva in my mouth I can't trill my r's. Hope that helped.

A good suggestion, Roz! I notice in the morning I have more difficulty rolling the Rś. Maybe some tongue-twisters, tongue yoga or less red wine may help! - hinall01, Oct 13, 2012

Answer 6

According to one of practice partners, it is hard sound even for natives. So don't be discouraged. One tip I would give you, it is to keep your mouth open, to the tongue more to move.

This is a good point. I was interested and encouraged by watching little kids learning how and when to roll their Rś. I suppose I thought there was some genetic disposition to the Hapsburg lisp thing! - hinall01, Oct 13, 2012

Answer 7

Hi. This is just an excerpt from one of my past answers. I hope you find it useful

"I see you're from WI (or, well, America) so, if your accent isn't too different from mine (or a good portion of the US), you probably already make the trill ('rr') sound when you say words like butter, utter, cuddle, muddle, etc... If so, all you have to learn to do is extend the length of time you can make that sound, which will take practice. Hope this helps some. Buena suerte!"

Answer 8

R con erre guitarra

R con erre barril Mira que rapido ruedan las ruedas redondas del ferrocarril R es una letra palatal, you need to vibrate your tongue against your palate. but dont worry puertorriquenos pronounce l instead of r(tienes lazon) and we argentinos (mainly from Cordoba)barely pronounce the r, just enjoy your peculiar caribean accent

Gracias - muszii33, Jul 24, 2012

Answer 9

Don't worry. I'm a gringo and I can't either. jejeje.

Answer 10

Thanx you guys =)