Pronouncing the 'R' in Spanish

[fluffy]

Hi all

I have recently started to pay some attention to trying to pronouce the 'R'/'RR' correctly. Whilst I have always thought that I simply can't do it, I think I may be benifitting from my efforts.

Am I right in thinking midword (eg 'para' or 'caro') it's more like the D sound in the american pronounciation of 'butter', or in 'ladder'? In some words I find this difficult (eg quereis).

In terms of RR & R at the beginning of a word, well I supose it's just a question of practice..


That said, how important is it to really master this? I met a spansh language teacher once who said that even she couldn't roll Rs. I assume she wasn't too much of a problem for her.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Chris