The latin rrrrrrrrrr thing!

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juanita

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After 11 years speaking the language, I can?t figure out the ?rrrrrrrrrr? thing! Is it a Canadian thing that we were not born with a little hanging thing in the back of the throat that goes ?rrrrrrrrr? or is it just me. My 4 year old kid who can roll those rrrrrrrrr like no other has great pleasure making fun of me when she has me repeat ?ferro carril?! Heck! I can?t even pronounce my ex-husband?s name, Omarrrrr, it always end up sounding more like Oma?. Is there a ?rrrrrrrr? class that I could take or should I just give up? :tired:
 

Music

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That's so funny and true. It is hard for many people to use the rrrrrrr, I speak Portuguese so Spanish isn't too hard some words are very similar.
I try to teach people who only speak English not just Canadians and they cannot roll the rrrrr :laugh: Your not alone ;)
It has a roll of the tongue as well.

Hang in there and buena suerte! :classic:
 

rmary

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I only speak English so far, but I can do the rolling "R" sound. Try purring like a cat (I know a lot of people can't do that either, so may not help). Another suggestion is gargling (like with mouthwash) but without liquid.

Off topic, but has anyone ever tried the ll (double "L") sound in Welsh? VERY tricky. It's like of like a rolling "L". I can do it (sometimes) but have to concentrate really hard.

Rose
 

MaineGirl

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I teach this. When I learned Spanish I did not have this handy function. My trick was to place the tip of my tongue behind my two front teeth and say "d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d" until one day it rolled. I was so ecstatic I made two overseas phone calls to brag about it. Usually I practised the "d-d-d-d" sound while watching Venezuelan novelas.

Hope this helps!
 

clara

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Jan 6, 2005
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Juanita:
Some people simply can't role their rrrrrs. My husband is a native Spanish speaker, for example, and cannot role his r.

Clara
 

mkohn

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Start by sticking out your tongue, and shaking your head like a dog trying to dry itself. Leave your tongue out and let it flail around outside your mouth while you're shaking. This will loosen it up for the next lesson.
Try saying "atta boy" over and over. How about 'ta da' like a magician might say when pulling a rabbit out of a hat. "Had enough?" Merging the sounds in combinations like this can help you practice. Over and over. "I dunno." etc.
Try saying "pot 'o tea" with a soft t in pot. When you get that, you just might be saying "para ti." Which means 'for you.'
mkohn
para ti
 

Jon S.

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MaineGirl said:
Usually I practised the "d-d-d-d" sound while watching Venezuelan novelas.

Hehehe. Plenty of practice time..... They're like a novela factory down there.
 

juanita

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Tongue twisting and stretching

clara said:
Juanita:
Some people simply can't role their rrrrrs. My husband is a native Spanish speaker, for example, and cannot role his r.

Clara

I think I'll go with this one! All the others are definitely too much tongue twisting and stretching for my taste. But thank you all!
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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See my post below

In an exchange with Anna about regular and irregular verbs, I pontificated about how people that learn Spanish after 15 have to practice their accents.

I mentioned (much like Mkohn above) the need to find similar "sounds" in English.

I always use the word cattle and battle and rattle where the "tt" are just like the "rrrrr" sound in Spanish.

It has to do with point of pronunciation (pop), in "linguistic speak" ..the tip of the tongue lightly touches the alveolar ridge in back of the upper teeth (You can feel it there with your tongue) when you say battle or rattle or bottle....try it and think where your tongue is....

"TT" is not the "t" of "the" or "thorough". Nor like the "t" in "tough" or "towel" .
No, the "RR" and the "TT"" of "rattle" or "battle" are alike.

Try it and I'll bet you improve.

Erre con erre, cigarro
Erre con erre, Barril
R?pido corren los carros
Sobre los rieles del ferrocarril.



This goes even further. When an English Speaker (EP) says "todo" in Spanish, most Spanish speakers(SS) "hear" the word "toro" or bull. Why? Because the pop for the ES "d" is exactly the same as the SS's "r" ..so you can also use words like griddle and riddle and fiddle to practice your "rrr"

This goes on and on with things like the SS's "d" being like the ES's "t" in "the" , giving "dedo" to the ES's ear like "thetho"///..

Isn't this fun??

HB :p:p
 
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