Is there a way to teach yourself to roll your R's?

Question

I want to learn the Greek language, but I can't roll my tounge at all!

Answer 1

Yes, there is, and I know because I used to not be able to roll my R's for Spanish, so this is what I did, on the advice of my Spanish instructor:

1. Curl your tongue and very lightly touch the very edge of it to the top of your mouth, the part where that ridge is at the very front of the hard palette.
2. Make an R sound and hold it for a bit longer. Also, get some air behind it. Keep in mind that this itself won't make your mouth do the right sound, so don't get frustrated.
3. Pick a couple of different words with different vowel sounds to practice with. When I was learning Spanish, I used "perro" a lot.
4. Do this at every opportunity throughout the day: while driving, while sitting at home, while doing the dishes, while walking through the grocery store (if you're in public, you might want to whisper instead of saying it aloud :) )
5. At some point, almost as if by magic, your mouth will make the sound. It just will! Once it makes the sound for the first time, don't stop, keep practicing. I did this a year ago and I was able to roll my R's within a few days, and I still practice from time to time so I can improve the sound.

Another thing that really helped me was listening to music in your target language (Spanish for me, Greek for you), in which the singer makes very clear rolled R sounds. After I was able to make my mouth make the sound, I found that developing it was a bit easier while singing along than it was while talking (though keep practicing it while talking).

Do all of this until you get absolutely sick of it!! It will work, I promise!!

Good luck :)

Answer 2

Put the tip of your tounge to the roof of your mouth and "cup" your tounge and blow. Try using different amounts of force while blowing to see what works for you.

Answer 3

Teach Yourself R

Answer 4

It is very difficult - try saying the word gutter in rapid succession, and let the air blow the tip of your tongue back and forth as you exhale. Practice, practice, practice. It does not happen naturally.

Answer 5

This question was posted about 2 months ago and I saved it because I was curious about this myself.

Answer 6

start repeating words with lots of RRRR"S in them:

* Carmen
* Carro
* Cigarro
* Carill

Answer 7

you know when you stick your tongue out and vibrate it like a " rasberry" , well do that and gradually slide your tongue back into your mouth..i learned when i was a kid ( first language is russian)

Answer 8

good question, FINALLY! I don't know though, i cannot roll my R's either!

Answer 9

speach therapy

Answer 10

spanish first