2007-01-02 19:10:46 · 4 answers · asked by Rockhound 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
You got a good answer about the 'back r' from your other post.
To do the 'barely there' r (as in 'er' Vater, Mutter, Garten), simply drop your jaw as you say the vowel. As several posters said, the best way to 'get it' is to listen to a lot of German. (I studied German for 7 years before I had control over the 'back r', and I said the barely there 'r' like errr in US English for several years more...but once I had a stay in Germany, suddenly I could hear what the sounds sounded like, and I could do them.) (I also randomly used u and ü--what a mess I was!)
30+ years teaching German
2007-01-03 02:31:51 · answer #1 · answered by frauholzer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I wasn't able to find too much about pronunciation of "r", but you should remember that it's going to be affected by the vowel sounds around it. If the vowel that precedes the "r" is a back vowel, you'll get the uvular "r", but if the vowel is farther forward, you'll get a farther forward "r". I don't know how much you know about phonetics, but if this makes any sense at all to you hopefully it'll help.
E-mail me if you need more specific instructions.
2007-01-03 03:18:40 · answer #2 · answered by drshorty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
press you tongue agains your teeth and speak an r.
2007-01-03 08:31:30 · answer #3 · answered by Lizzy 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
r is gargling, move back of your tongue
2007-01-03 05:16:39 · answer #4 · answered by Neighbour 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋