Question for the non-native Spanish speakers

[Pool Hall Ace]

I took Spanish classes many moons ago in both junior high and high school. Lately, I've been trying to start speaking it again, but one thing I was never able to do was rrrrrolll my tongue to pronounce those double rrrrrs properly.

I remember back in school, there were some kids who were able to do it right away. The only people I speak with these days were raised in bilingual households, so they don't really have any advice for me.

Is there anyone here who was not able to roll r's, but learned through some sort of vocal exercise?

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Try to make a cat purring sound with your tongue

but don't voice it ... keep it silent. The tongue will flap up and down quickly. Might help.

[Kali]

2. it is one of those sounds that makes me REALLY self-conscious

I get shit for it from my Mexican friends but they still know what I am trying to say...

[UTUSN]

3. Darrrrrrling!1 So good to see you!1 I will TEACH you (& it ain't a big deal)

Spanish is SO easy. The written thing is correlated to the spoken COMPLETELY. All ya gotta do is shift pronunciation from the (insert Native Language here) to the Spanish: a e i o u = ah eh ee oh oo

The consonants are the same.

As for the double rr - it really ain't a big deal.


As deep as our love goes, I can teach it to you rrrrrrreally SOON!1 (& quick!1)

[Pool Hall Ace]

4. Your post . . . in itrrrigues me.

I am trying to purrrr like a kitty, as CurtEastPoint suggested. My dog is looking at me funny, but I shall purrrrsevere.

I enjoy chatting with my fluent co-workers, and I was even complimented on my pronunciation by some Spanish-speaking customers.

So you say it is not a big deal? You have a helpful hint or two? Please share!

[dimbear]

5. Everybody knows this silly rhyme, no......if I can remember....

Erre con erre barril
Erre con erre cigarro
Alla en el ferrocarril
Rapidos corren los carros.


We must have said that a thousand times in class.

[davsand]

6. Did you have Profesora Dalrymple for Spanish too?

Cuatro anos de Espanol in la escuala secondaria y yo puedo pregutar "donde esta el bano" y "Cerveza Fria, por favor..."

I am told my accent is not bad, but my spelling and punctuation suck. Could be the time I spent with a man from Mexico, I guess. We spent a lot of time in... er...um...conversation.




Laura

[Iggo]

8. Hmm...I learned it inside-out.

Ere con ere, cigarro.
Ere con ere, barril.
Rapidos corren los carros,
Los carros del ferrocarril.

[lunatica]

7. The tongue's position is different in each language

You're trying to roll your r's with your tongue's tip rolled back the way it's done in English. In Spanish the tip of the tongue is put gently just behind your upper front teeth and allowed to vibrate against the palate. It helps if you can actually see how it's done by looking at how the English and Spanish r is positioned in the mouth.

It's impossible to roll your r's when the tip of your tongue is in the rolled back position. Just try the Spanish position I mention above and let your tongue rattle gently. Then make a stronger noise. You'll see the difference.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

9. Not a native Spanish speaker, but native Italian speaker and we have the same RRRRR

my mechanics are to let some air flow under the tongue as the tongue slides toward the bottom teeth and ends up in the upper palate where the air and the tongue's vibrations produce the rolling r sounds...

When I taught Italian to adults, one way I'd teach to pronounce the r sound was to pronounce Trumpet, then Trum, then Trtrtrtrtrrtttrttrr repeatedly, then remove the 'tuh' from tr. With a bit of practice, that seemed to work well.

[Iggo]

10. That's kind of how I taught myself.

I learned to sort of "sneak up on it" with a non-voiced exhalation and a "T-r-r-r-r-r-r...."

It was hard, but I eventually got it.

(Now that I wear dentures and the roof of my mouth is hard and completely smooth, I can rip a trilled R fast enough to make it sound like a buzz. I actually have to slow it down now.)