The R sound, also known as an alveolar vibrating consonant, is mainly used when pronouncing words in Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese. Interestingly, even native speakers of these languages have difficulty pronouncing R, and some people can never pronounce R. If you are a native English speaker, you may have never managed to pronounce R (English doesn't need this sound) and experience difficulty learning it.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Learn to Place Your Tongue Correctly
Step 1. Make precise movements with your mouth
The pronunciation of R in English results from the movement of the lower lip and upper teeth. In addition, the pronunciation of R is produced by vibrating your tongue with the back of your upper teeth, the same way your mouth moves when you pronounce the letter T of D.
- Start by saying the letter R, in English, out loud. Notice how your mouth moves when you say the letter R. Your tongue won't touch the back of your teeth, but just kind of hangs in the middle.
- Now say the letters T and D, in English, out loud. Pay attention to how your mouth moves when you say T and D. Your tongue will touch the back of your front teeth - as if your tongue is pushing your teeth forward.
- The position of the tongue when pronouncing T and D in English is the same as when you are trying to perfect the pronunciation of the letter R. But in addition to touching the back of your front teeth, your tongue must also vibrate. The vibration is what causes the vibration or wavy sound.
- In this step it is important to know how your mouth and tongue should move to pronounce the letter R. As you progress and begin to practice saying the R, pay attention to the position of your tongue.
Step 2. Transition from pronouncing the letter D or T
Begin this step by positioning your mouth and tongue on the practice site when pronouncing the letter D or T in English. In this position, your tongue should be slightly pressed against the back of your front teeth. Once your mouth is in this position, exhale only through your mouth. Keep your tongue relaxed as you do this so the vibrations hit your front teeth.
- The key to this step is to train your tongue to vibrate. By keeping your tongue relaxed inside your mouth and exhaling, the flow of air from your lungs can encourage your tongue to vibrate. If your tongue doesn't vibrate, it may be because your tongue isn't relaxed enough.
- This step, like any other step, takes practice. To help you succeed at this step, you can try saying the sounds associated with the letters T and D in English. When you pronounce the letter T or D, add an R at the end of the sound so that it sounds like “drrr” and “trrr.” Exhale as you do this and practice vibrating your tongue.
- You can also try to pronounce English words that start with the letter D, T, B, or P and follow the letter R (for example, Dracula, train, bronze, pretty). By practicing words that include D, T, B, P, and R, you are actually practicing the letter R because your tongue is in the correct position. The key is to make your tongue vibrate when you say the R so that your tongue rolls up.
Step 3. Say phrases in English that will put your tongue in the correct position
In addition to the sounds "drrr" and "trrr" there are phrases in English that can help you get your tongue in the right position to pronounce the R vibration. Use the phrase “put it away” or “putter-up” and you can feel your tongue pushing against the back of your front teeth. This position is the same as the position of your tongue when you pronounce the letter R.
Step 4. Use the butter/ladder method
The words "butter" and "ladder" in English are the same as using words that start with D, T, B, or P and are followed by an R in the second letter. These two words also place your tongue behind your front teeth, which is the position for pronouncing an R.
- In these two words, your tongue is behind your front teeth when you pronounce the syllables of the two words - when you pronounce the sounds made by "tter" and "dder."
- You can say either of these words, or both. For example, you could say “butter butter butter ladder ladder ladder” over and over, or a combination of the two words.
- Keep repeating the words more quickly. The faster you say the words, the more likely your tongue will vibrate. Finally the parts of the words "tter" and "dder" will vibrate when pronouncing the R sound.
Step 5. Practice pronouncing the single R
In this section you should know where you should position your tongue when you pronounce the letter R. You will also need to practice this movement by saying other words in English that produce the same movement. In the process it is hoped that your tongue will vibrate behind the teeth. Now take what you've learned and try to practice pronouncing the letter R.
- It may take you weeks to get to this stage and successfully pronounce the letter R. Be patient, it won't be easy.
- The key at this stage is being able to pronounce a vibrating R without additional letters or words.
- Once you've managed to pronounce the letter R, keep practicing over and over. Later it will become a natural habit so you don't even have to think about the movement of your mouth when you say the letter R.
Method 2 of 3: Using Tongue Twister for Practice
Step 1. Loosen your tongue
To pronounce the letter R, your tongue must be relaxed enough so that it can vibrate freely as you speak. Since speaking English doesn't always require a relaxed tongue, you may need to practice loosening your tongue until you can pronounce the letter R.
- Say the phrase “tee dee va” to loosen your tongue.
- Say this phrase repeatedly and as quickly as possible. Remember to keep your tongue relaxed and slack in your mouth.
- The tongue is a muscle, you need a little quick practice until your tongue is relaxed enough to pronounce the letter R.
Step 2. Practice pronouncing the letter R with a Spanish phrase
Many people, including children, are taught this rhyme to help them learn the proper pronunciation of the letter R in Spanish, which sounds the same as a vibrating R. You can use this rhyme to practice pronouncing the letter R, no matter what language you want to use the letter R in. The series of sentences that are difficult to pronounce are “El perro de san Roque no tiene rabo, porque Ramón Ramirez se lo ha robado.”
- The Indonesian translation for the sentence is “The san Roque dog has no tail, because it was stolen by Ramón Ramirez.”
- Only occasionally is the vibrating R used in Spanish: that is, when the R is the first letter of a word (eg Roque or rabo); or when there are two R's in the middle of a word (eg perro). When you rhyme, you have to say the R clearly.
- When a word in Spanish has an R in the middle, it doesn't need to be pronounced clearly (not a vibrating R). Instead the sound it produces sounds similar to the “dd” sound produced in English. If you need help pronouncing the single R correctly, take a look at this video for an example -
- If that helps, start practicing only with the words that make the R shake.
- Once you can pronounce one word correctly, you can then say the whole rhyme.
- Repeat the rhyme many times, the longer the faster. The key is being able to pronounce all of those words, including the vibrating R, without intentionally thinking about the fact that you vibrated the R.
Step 3. Try pronouncing tongue twisters
This twisting of the tongue in Indonesian can be practiced to pronounce the vibrating R sound, no matter what language you are learning: "Snakes circled in Pak Jafar's fence." Start by saying the twist of the tongue slowly. Once you get good at pronouncing it, start saying it over and over again at a faster rate.
- There is also a tongue twister in English, namely " R with R cigar, R with R barrel, swift roll the wagons, carrying sugar of the train."
- Alternative version 1 - "Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril. Rápido corren los carros, detrás del ferrocarril.”
- Alternative version 2 - "Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril. Mira que rápido ruedan, las ruedas del ferrocarril.”
- Only occasionally is the trilled R used in Spanish: that is, when the R is the first letter of a word (eg Roque or rabo); or when there are two R's in the middle of a word (eg perro). When you rhyme, that's when you should say R clearly.
- When a word in Spanish appears to have an R in the middle, it doesn't need to be pronounced clearly (not a vibrating R). Instead the sound it produces sounds similar to the “dd” sound produced in English. If you need help pronouncing the single R correctly, take a look at this video for an example -
- When you can say twists of the tongue faster, a vibrating R will sound more natural.
Step 4. Say the twist of the tongue alternately
So you don't get bored, and to make sure you can say R when you say more than one word or sentence, try a different twist of the tongue. This twist of tongue is about three sad tigers: "Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal en tres tristes trastos. En tres tristes trastos tragaban trigo tres tristes tigres."
- Alternative version 1 - "Tres tristes tigres triscaban trigo en un trigal. Un tigre, dos tigres, tres tigres trigaban en un trigal. Qué tigre trigaba más? Todos trigaban igual.”
- Alternative version 2 - "En tres tristes trastos de trigo, tres tristes tigres comían trigo. Comían trigo, tres tristes tigres, en tres tristes trastos de trigo.”
- Again, you only need to pronounce a vibrating R when the initial letter of the word is an R (e.g. Roque or rabo) or when there are two R's in the middle of the word (e.g. perro).
- If an R appears in the middle of a Spanish word, it's not a vibrating R. Instead, the letter R should sound like "dd" in English. If you need help pronouncing the single R correctly, take a look at this video for an example -
- When you can say twists of the tongue more quickly, the vibrating R will sound more natural.
Method 3 of 3: Borrowing English Words and Sounds to Pronounce R Shakes
Step 1. Try the Tiger Method
The Tiger Method helps you learn the tongue-twisting trick, which is needed to vibrate the letter R. This method is as follows:
- Cleared. The resulting sound sounds like a “ckh.” When clearing your throat, change the "ckh" sound to a "grrr" sound. The key to making this sound is to make the roof of your mouth vibrate.
- Say the letter L or N and notice where your tongue ends at the end of the letter. This point is the alveolar crest.
- Place your tongue on the alveolar crest and say the words “girl” and “hurl” without moving your tongue from the alveolar crest. Use your ' sigh regularly to start the word and change the vibration to an R vibration.
Step 2. Use the Raspberry Method
This method uses the sound you get from blowing raspberries to help you learn to pronounce the letter R. Here are the steps:
- Start blowing raspberries.
- Add your voice to the raspberry sound. To produce that sound, you can use the vocal cords.
- When you blow a raspberry with a vowel sound, lower your jaw partially without stopping the raspberry.
- Once your jaw is in a lower position, move your tongue to the edge of the alveolar portion without changing anything you are doing.
- By then you should be able to pronounce R. If not, try this method one more time until you can finally pronounce the letter R.
Step 3. Try doing the Vision Dream Method
This method requires you to speak very loudly, so do it somewhere where you don't disturb other people. Follow these steps:
- Take a deep breath.
- Say the word "vision." When pronouncing the middle part of the word (which sounds like “zh”), lengthen it about 3-4 seconds. When you extend the "zh" sound for 3-4 seconds, turn up the volume. The last part of the word ('n') should be very short, but it should also continue to increase in volume. At this point you have to be very loud.
- Add the word “dream” to form a phrase. Between ending the word "vision" and starting the word "dream" should be less than a second. When you say “dr” which is part of the word “dream”, it is the climax of the phrase.
- When it comes to “dr” in the “dream” part of the word, loosen your tongue and let it droop. Now that you're speaking very loudly, the breath coming out of your mouth should make your tongue vibrate. Leave it like this (and let your tongue relax).
- If successful, it will make a sound as if you were saying the word “dagadaga.”
- Try doing this a few times until you can pronounce the R clearly.
Tips
- The letter R is not easy to pronounce. You may not be able to pronounce it immediately or easily. You will need to practice several times a day for several weeks until you can pronounce the R clearly without thinking. Be patient and keep trying.
- In general, the sound of R is the same in many languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, etc.). The key is to be able to sound a single R successfully. If you can pronounce the R sound well, you can say the R in any language if needed.
