How can I learn to roll my R's when speaking tagalog or spanish?

Question

I don't believe I was genetically provided with the ability to roll my tongue. Does it mean I will never be able to, or is there a secret to it?

Answer 1

I've heard it gives a hard time to many people. Here, a complete explanation from a linguistics student:
"pronounce a [d] for me. Do it in slow motion. What you'll notice is that your tongue seals off the entire roof of your mouth (there is this "ring" along the inside of your teeth that your toungue keeps sealed off in all places), then builds up pressure, and then the thing just "explodes" and you hear a [d]. So what we did here was 2 things: build op pressure, then give way.

For [r], take the same start. Seal off, build up pressure as if you're about to say a [d]. Now, don't let go, but instead, relax the tongue a little, while you keep on sealing off the rest the ring (after all, we want the air to flow over the tip of the tongue, not escape along the sides). So relax it a little, especially the tip. Keep the pressure. This way, the air will force itself through a narrow opening it creates in the front. The tip of the tongue is still sort of against it, but sloppily giving way and then closing, giving way, closing.. (this happens because when the air flows it creates a low pressure zone sucking the tongue against it to restore the seal, but that's irrelevant so ignore this comment )"

You can also take a look here: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#

Answer 2

My spanish teacher (who was 1/2 spanish), said rolling"r"s was helpful, but not a requirement to speak the language effectively. With Spanish being the second most popular language in the U.S., the majority of Spanish-speaking people will be able to understand you clearly. Just be careful because some words that have double "r" need to be pronounced differently. I couldn't roll my R's and I got an "A" in the class. Good Luck!!

Answer 3

if you are an English speaker from birth it may be difficult.. I am Dutch and I can tell you how I learnt it.

rolling R's or Ahrrssh are mixture between a purring cat and a the 'brrr' sound you make when you are feeling a draft.

try the purring for a while in front of the mouth with great enthusiasm and gusto and then tone it down and bring it to the back of your mouth.. like you do a throathy RRRRRrrrr then say silly or every day words containing R. (you may want to try reading this answer with the rolling / purring R.

Then tackle the Spanish words and you'll notice that you sound a lot more genuinely Spanish (it may still sound silly to you.. but trust me this works)

Answer 4

I had to do friggin' speech therapy as a kid as I couldn't clearly pronounce my "r's", so maybe my experience can help a little bit...

When you're making an "r" sound, your tongue arches up to the roof of your mouth... If you learn how to control that, it should be pretty easy to make the roll. When you're rolling, you need to try to control the front of your tongue. It will flap against the roof of your mouth... So yeah you'll need to practice control but it should be easy to figure out if you really try.

Actually, first start off slow, like going "ar-ar-ar-ar-ar-ar" against the roof of your mouth. If you're doing it right it should sorta sound like "arashrashrash" kinda (the "sh" will be very soft)... Take that movement, then speed it up a little and see if that helps.

Maybe that doesn't help, maybe it does, but a lot of other fine folk here have given their advice, too so hopefully you get something from it :\

Answer 5

Think about the word glory - try to pronounce it glordy. Rolling the R sound is simply the act of fluttering the tongue, so next time you say glordy, try and soften the d so it sounds like it's not there - see it's easy to roll the r. All it takes is pdractice, pdractice, pdractice!

Answer 6

You are not alone,listen to a lot of English speakers who say v instead of r.

cav insuvance, veally veally vaurchie. They take the Mick out of
Jonathan Ross for saying w instead of r but they don't realise thay have a speech impediment too.I'm Welsh and we roll our r's
as well... making Spanish and Portuguese easier to pronounce.
Try pretending you're a motor bike and go Rrrrrrrum,Rrrrrrrrrrrum(not vvvvum,vvvvvvvum). Do it in private or you will get some funny looks.

Answer 7

This is a bit difficult for me to explain:

curve your tongue upwards so the tip of your tongue is very close to your inner upper gumline (right behind your front teeth).

but it's hard to start rolling your r's when your tongue is already touching the roof of your mouth. I would recommend saying "aaauuurr" and easing into it.

you must also exhale at a faster rate than normal speech (push the air from your diaphram upwards).

good luck! i hope this helps a bit.

Answer 8

This is so funny!! your question made me wanna find out so I spent like a minute trying to find the secret behind rolling R..
Well, I believe my tongue relaxes and suddenly vibrates against the inside of my upper teeth.. but that's me.. its like if you were trying to make the sound of a rumbling car, you know: rruumm..or broooom.

Answer 9

Yes, I had a lot of trouble with this when I began learning Esperanto. I practiced it for months before it became natural to do so. I learned it by practicing constantly while commuting back and forth to work or any other time I was alone. Now i can do it very well. It's just a habit that you have to acquire.

Answer 10

I am learning arabic at the moment and know a few people who can't roll their r's, I think it is something one can either do or can't as I know many people who have tried very hard but to no avail.