How can people roll there r's with there tongue???????!!!!?

Question

I'm learning spanish but I can't roll my R's any suggestions.

Answer 1

There is a tongue exercise that can help many people say "r": say this three sounds: t-d-v-t-d-v-t-d-v-t-d-v many times. Try to say the "t" with your teeth against the lower teeth - not behind the upper teeth, but the "d" in upper position. If you practice, and say the sequence quite fast, soon your tongue will make more and more "rolled-r-movements". No vowel sounds, so not teedeevee or something like that, just t-d-v! (Hm, I wish I could show you instead of trying to describe it ....)

Actually, I tried this on my wife (she's Chinese, and hence has ten times more problems saying rolled "r" than most English speakers ...), since she's learning Swedish, where you need rolled "r" all the time, and lo, alreday after five minutes she could for the first time in her life produce at least a flipped "r" - so i think soon she will also be able to roll it!

Good luck!

Answer 2

Try saying "Doctor Maddy" out loud.
Say it out loud, several times, really fast :
Doctor Maddy
Doctor Maddy
Doctor Maddy
Doctor Maddy
Add an "a" : Doctor Maddy-ah
This is pronounced the same as "Doctor Maria".
The sound that your toungue makes with that "dd" should be the same as a normal "r" in Spanish. It is just a light sort of tickling on the back of your teeth with your toungue, just a tick, for the one single "r".
To make the rolling "rrrrr" sound you have to extend it, keep it going. It isn't easy, and there may be a certain place with your teeth that you have to do it. I have to tilt my head back a little, which even if it doesn't come out right, gives a visual clue that I meant for that to be the "rr" sound.
If you can't do it, and some people can't, but making an effort to pronounce it correctly is better than not trying at all. A lot of people in the real world (outside of school) are understanding, because they have as much trouble with some words in English...

Answer 3

You have to relax your tongue to roll roll your R's. OK. Curl up the tip of your toungue and place it on the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Now, keeping the tip of your tounge touching the roof of your mouth, start wiping you tongue backwards along the roof while forcing air out over the top of your tounge. You will reach a point where your toungue will start to bounce or vibrate on the roof of your mouth. That is what you are doing when you trill the R or RR sound in Spanish. One bounce for R, two bounces for RR. Be sure and keep the toungue as relaxed as possible. You are not trying to consciously move your tounge at all. It just bounces in the air being blown between it and the roof of your mouth. Hope this helps. Buenos Dias Y buena suerte!

Answer 4

Hold a pencil (horizontal) with your teeth, then roll the tongue to the back, then pronunce for example the word PERRO, you'll roll the tongue without touching the pencil with it...and you are supposed to get that RR sound.
try to to read some texts in Spanish keeping the pencil in your mouth, with that the tongue gets agile.

try to imitate the sound of a car or motorcycle..rrrrrrrr, make the tongue vibrate for a long time.

try this too...

R con R cigarro, R con R barril, rápido ruedan carros del ferrocaril.

Answer 5

I suppose it's more difficult to some people, depending on their native laguage. in my laguage, R is pronounced the same as the Spanish R, but different than English or French ones. That's why I had problems pronouncing the French R, but Spanish one is easy to me.
I don't know, try imitating a cat when it says "prrr" :-) It sounds stupid, but might help you...
Good luck!

Answer 6

Sounds kinda dumb, but try to mimic a dog growling. It is roughly the same sound, coming from a human.

Answer 7

Well, I don't have any suggestions but I know that some people just can' do it. Me and my mom can do it really good but my brother can't! I think its just a knack that people have but keep trying.

Darn! I can't do it now!

Answer 8

Lift your tongue up to your pallet middle of your mouth create pressure in your mouth only(not from you lungs) and blow forward thus making you tongue vibrate. try it for a wile it worked for me.

Answer 9

put ur tounge like a half an inch or less on top of ur mouth and make a motor boat sound....hope it helps

Answer 10

This question has been asked here many times on Yahoo! Answers. See this link to read my answer to one version:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006022701762