How to pronounce 'r' with 'd' and 't'

Question

I'm having a vastly difficult time with the pronunciation of the single 'r'. I know it's supposed to be pronounced as an alveolar tap/flap like 'tt' in 'butter' or 'dd' or 'ladder'. In between vowels like in para I have no problem doing this. Also no problem after certain consonants like in grande or pobre.

What messes me up - when r is before or after 'd' or 't' like in cortina, concierto, vidrio, verde I find I either have to add in an "uh" sound to make the transition from the tap to 'd' or 't' or vice versa, which makes me pronounce the word with an extra sound/syllable, or I just have to resort to pronouncing the 'r' like an English 'r'. I find it impossible to pronounce the correct way.

I've searched endlessly online, including this site and listened to dozens of speakers, and I can't find a satisfactory answer for how to approach this kind of sound. I've been stuck in this for the past few days. Please help.

Thanks for filling out your profile! A vote from me. - Jubilado, Jul 3, 2016

Answer 1

Since you've given us no information about yourself in your profile I am going to assume that you are fluent in English and at best intermediate in Spanish. See my comment If you have learned to pronounce the erre in Spanish, you might try saying that in these situations. I think it will train your tongue to be in the right place while pronouncing these blends. You can always "back off" a little from the erre sound. This seems to work for me and my accent is fairly good from what I am told.

That's the way to do it. - Daniela2041, Jul 3, 2016

Erre is the 'rr' sound, the trill? No, I can't do that. I just kinda do an elongated English 'r' or something that ends up souding like 'thr'. But isn't the tongue in the same place for 'ere' & 'erre'? - lonewolf13, Jul 3, 2016