An Easy Way to Make the
Rolling "r" Sound in a Foreign Language
Copyright © September 12, 2020 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
People who grow up speaking a single language sometimes experience difficulty with a few of the sounds required to speak a different language.
For example, people who do not learn English as a child may have trouble correctly pronouncing the letter "w" in English. And some people may have trouble correctly pronouncing the letter "v" in English.
And people who only know how to speak English may have trouble with the rolling "r" sound in some foreign languages such as Spanish and French.
The purpose of this very short tutorial is to help almost anyone easily and quickly learn to how make the rolling "r" sound.
Discussion
Speak the letter "r" in English and think about how your lips and tongue are used to make the "r" sound. Your lips remain open and your tongue rests normally in the bottom of your mouth.
Now speak the word "duh" in English and think about how your lips and tongue are used to make that sound. Your lips remain open but the front of your tongue rises up and touches the roof of your mouth and then your tongue quickly drops down away from the roof of your mouth.
Now speak the letter "r" and immediately speak the word "duh" in English without pausing between the two sounds. You have just made the rolling "r" sound.
This is an "imitation" rolling "r" but it can be successfully used to help you learn how to say many words in a foreign language that require the rolling "r" sound.
If you wish to speak in a foreign language so that other people can understand you then this "imitation" rolling "r" may help you to more easily achieve your objective.
Conclusion
If you wish to make a continuous stream of rolling "r" sounds then you will need to practice starting with the letter "r" and then tapping your tongue on the roof of your mouth rapidly by using your breath to exhale while you allow the tip of your tongue to vibrate quickly up and down against the roof of your mouth. Once you understand that it is the tip of your tongue that makes this sound then this knowledge may help you to master this technique.
However it is not necessary to make a "perfect" rolling "r" sound in order to be successful at speaking a foreign language. The reason is because almost nobody can detect that you are making an "imitation" rolling "r" sound because people listen to entire words and sentences and they do not pay attention to one specific sound in isolation.
Respectfully,
Grandpappy.
Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com