If the language you are learning has a rolled ‘r’ sound, some of you have already given up perhaps thinking that they simply can’t succeed. Words with rolling Rs can be impossible until you learn how to do it. Then it becomes a piece of cake.
One of the best methods is by vibrating your tongue. And you can succeed with repeating tongue twisters that use the ‘r’ sound. Besides being fun, it can be more than useful as well. But, let’s start from the beginning and see the techniques on how to roll your Rs.
The ‘rolled r,’ ‘rolling r,’ ‘trilled r,’ or sometimes called the voiced alveolar trill can be found in many different languages. It is used in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese sometimes, German, Czech, Polish, Russian, Arabic, as well as in Tagalog and Hindi. Many different languages use the ‘rolled r’ sound. However, not all of them pronounce this sound the same way. It can depend on the language, and the word and meaning as well.
The importance of rolling Rs
Language learners who already have the ‘rolled r’ in their native languages have no trouble pronouncing it in foreign languages. These students often don’t notice problems with the ‘r’ other languages learners face. The other part of learners, however, can find it challenging, almost impossible even.
English native speakers can find it hard to pronounce the ‘trilled r,’ especially double R words in Spanish. And it is essential to know how to pronounce because it isn’t the same if you want to say “pero” (but) or “perro” (dog).
Who can learn to roll Rs?
The short answer is: Everyone can learn to roll their Rs.When people struggle with the ‘trilled r,’ they often think there is something wrong with them. In case you don’t have some medical conditions that prevent you from pronouncing sounds, with practice, you can learn to roll your r.
How does the ‘rolled R’ work?
This sound can be pronounced in several different ways. Depending on the country and continent, English speakers roll their Rs differently. Their speakers pronounce the ‘R’ sound in American English, for example, by touching the tongue in the palate’s middle.
On the other hand, German and French speakers use the uvular, that is, guttural ‘R.’ And as we already mentioned, rolling R in Spanish is one of the essential sounds to learn how to pronounce since it can change the whole meaning.
Different ‘R’ parts
Along with learning how to pronounce it the right way, you will come into some terms that perhaps can be complicated to understand. To be able to succeed in your mission, it is not mandatory to comprehend these terms. The point is that you should understand how to say it.
When you want to produce the ‘R’ sound, place the tip of your tongue on the alveolar ridge, where it has to vibrate. The ‘R’ sound is an apical consonant. It means that the tip of the tongue doesn’t let the airflow. So now, we are going to explain the technique step-by-step.
The ‘rolled R’ technique:
- Relax your muscles. Your lips have to be relaxed entirely, as well.
- Exhale. You will notice that the tip of your tongue slightly vibrates. It is because the air passes the small gap between your tongue and hard palate.
- In case you can’t relax, try repeating the ‘d’ sound as ‘duh duh duh duh.’ It can help you relax your muscles.
- Gently activate your lips, making them come together. Keep them a little tense, and make the gap smaller but don’t stop the airflow.
- After you’ve understood the position of the tongue, mouth, and how the air flows, start by saying the English ‘R’.
- To produce the ‘rolling R’ make sure that your tongue goes back to your front teeth.
The words ‘butter’ and ‘ladder’ in English are an excellent exercise. Pronounce those words one after the other, slowly, at first, and then faster and faster. The faster you pronounce these words, the better the chance your tongue vibrates and produces the ‘R’ sound.
Letter Combinations Practice
Now when you’ve succeeded in vibrating your tongue, it is time to try some letter combinations. The sound you can now produce is similar to the ‘tr’ sound. Using your vocal cords, try to make a ‘dr’ sound. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t succeed right away. It is harder a bit because exhalation activates both the vibration of your tongue and your vocal cords.
When you master these sounds, go ahead with other letter combinations. Try with ‘fr,’ ‘pr,’ ‘br,’ and ‘vr.’ The ‘kr’ and ‘gr’ sounds leave for the end, that is, after you succeed in the previous ones. Remember, the key to success is practice.
Tongue twisters and ‘Rs’
Tongue twisters are a fun way of overcoming pronunciation obstacles. They can be an excellent key to your perfect ‘trilled r.’ We suggest some of them in different languages that can help you master your ‘r’ sounds.
Spanish
Spanish tongue twisters can help you not only to pronounce the always challenging ‘r’ sound but with Spanish sounds on the whole.
One of the immensely entertaining is the following one:
Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril. Rápido corren los carros, sobre los rieles del ferrocarril. (R with R cigar, R with R barrel. Quickly run the carriages on the rails of the railway.)
French
The deep-throated sound is what makes French so fascinating. However, you can’t perfect it overnight. With French tongue twisters, you can fasten a little bit.
Here is one of them:
La roue sur la rue roule; la rue sous la roue reste. (The wheel on the road rolls; the road under the wheel rests.)
Italian
The Italian ‘rolled r’ with a unique Italian accent can make you sound like a native. But before you can prove to the locals your accent and pronunciation, make sure you perfected the ‘r’ sound.
Here is one of the tongue twisters that can help you with:
Trentatré Trentini entrarono a Trento, tutti e trentatré, trotterellando. (Thirty three Trentonians [people from Trento, an Italian city] came into Trento, all thirty three trotting.)
German
Even though there are many German words in English and many similarities show that English is a Germanic language, it can’t be helpful in other language parts. One of the apparent difficulties German students suffer is the German ‘r’ sound. Try practicing with German tongue twisters, especially those made to help you improve your ‘r.’
Here is one of them:
Graben Grabengräber Gruben? Graben Grubengräber Gräben? Nein! Grabengräber graben Gräben. Grubengräber graben Gruben. (Do gravediggers dig ditches? Do ditch diggers dig graves? No! Gravediggers dig graves. Ditch Diggers dig ditches.)
Polish
It may seem that the Polish ‘r’ sound is relatively easy to pronounce. It can be correct, but just in case, practice your pronunciation with Polish tongue twisters. One of the famous ones where you can exercise to roll your ‘r’ is in the next lines:
Król Karol kupił królowej Karolinie korale koloru koralowego. (King Karol bought a coral colored necklace for queen Karoline.)
Get help from real people
When learning a language, you should always ask for help when you need it. The best help you can get is from native speakers. Maybe they can’t thoroughly explain how to pronounce it, but they can slowly produce it so you can see how they’re saying it.
If you want to check whether you are on the right path, get a detailed explanation, or simply be encouraged, you should ask LinguaLift tutors and start practicing.
