I'm teaching Spanish to a Chinese guy. I'm his private tutor. He's doing great, he's making a big effort, but I can't get him to pronounce the Spanish double Rs, the "rolling Rs". It seems like Chinese people can't even listen to Rs. I tried telling him, do like the lions do "GRRRAH", he goes "WAHHH". He can't seem to distinguish and R from a W. What can I do?
2006-10-06 16:22:59 · 4 answers · asked by Document Guy 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
Try teaching Chinese to say V (when trying to teach them English). You just have to be very, very patient and hope that one day, maybe, they'll be able to say it. We all have problems. Try teaching an English speaker to says the four or six different tones in Chinese. It's a hilarious and often totally futile experience. You'll probably just have to settle for Chinspan--the Chinese way of saying Spanish. If he can at least communicate, then that is really primary and pronunciation secondary.
2006-10-06 16:31:54 · answer #1 · answered by Pandak 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would start with an isolated /r/ before the trilled /r/. Asians have a tendency to reverse the /l/ with an /r/ and and /r/ with an /l/. If your student can pronounce the /r/ in "yellow", then pull out the /r/ and isolate it. This will give you something to work with. FYI: Trilling is genetic. Not all people can do it. You might have to just settle for the /r/ sound. If you are determined to get the trill...have the student watch for tongue location within your mouth. You will have to work with the /r/ sound in the beginning of a word, middle, and end to have it with fluency. ie: rock, creep, car. Good luck...I hope this helps.
2006-10-06 17:35:55 · answer #2 · answered by Mulan 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
unfortunatly you may have to resign yourself to the fact he can't do it.
it is quite difficult to do. I myself speak fluent spanish, Fluent to the extent i cannot roll my r's very well. But i can't do it very well in english either.
Saying this i have never, ever had any problem being understood in spanish. usually people know what i mean from the context of our conversation. (most people do have a bit of a giggle when i talk about dogs tho!)
2006-10-08 13:48:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a spanish speaker myself, I advise you to teach him the proper mouth movements.
-Hold your tongue at the roof of your mouth
-Blow over your tongue
-Allow the tongue vibrate
If these steps are followed correctly, then he should be able to roll his R's.Que te' vaya bien, y buena suerte.
2006-10-06 16:35:25 · answer #4 · answered by pxa007 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋