rr thingy

[pierrre]

Mastering or even learning a foreign language as an adult takes considerable effort. It is not just a walk in the park. I practised rolling that double r so much that my Venezuelan friend told me that I was double rolling even the single rs. How can a learner avoid practising or rehearsing an incorrect pronunciation is something I would really like to know? Thankful for any assistance.

The audio from you tube would no doubt have provided excellent practice. Unfortunately, it is blocked because of copyright restrictions in Trinidad, West Indies. Effort appreciated though JPablo. Any other suggestion for the Caribbean enthusiasts?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Francisco Gabilondo Soler was a fantastic Mexican writer of songs for children. He's better known as "Cri Crí, el Grillo Cantor" ("cri-crí" imitates the sound of crickets, as he is known as "the Singing Cricket".)

Here's a little song for practicing "rr" sound in Spanish: http://www.cri-cri.net/Canciones/corochicharras.html
(Sorry, the spelling in the page is not perfect)

"Mp3" button plays the song.

Have fun!

[JPablo]

¡Escocia! ¡Escocia! ¡Escocia! ¡Ra!¡Ra!¡Ra! (Just to cheer things up even further!)

[swr999]

For US English native speakers, the word "arroz" may be a good way of getting the rr ball (or the tongue) rolling (so to speak).

Also, maybe this point has been made, but the rr sound is used with the rr itself, and also with a single r when it's the first letter in the word.

[Rusty]

Some people love to hear your American English accent, much like we easily detect and love to hear all kinds of accents. When you speak Spanish, since it isn't your native tongue, you'll have an accent. You can work extremely hard to erase it, sounding more like a native speaker, but your word choices may give you away.
If you simply can't roll your 'r', you may want to adopt another sound. Your listeners will dismiss it away as your particular accent. "Don't worry, be happy." - Bobby McFerrin

[SPX]

What kind of sound would you suggest adopting?

BTW, I have always wondered if anyone out there appreciates an American accent. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that they do.

Also, how often is coche actually used? I used to use it instead of carro just to avoid the RR, but I had a native speaker once basically tell me that the word is rarely actually used in conversation.

[Rusty]

Coche is used all the time in Spain. In Latin America, use carro.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Some regional accents pronounce "r" sounds differently. For example, in Puerto Rico and some places in the Caribbean, many speakers tend to pronounce "l" instead of "r" [Puelto Lico, señol...].
Some Chileans and other South Americans pronounce it more like the American "r".
But most speakers tend to use "r" and "rr" in a mostly standard way.
I wouldn't say it's a matter of difficulty; it's probably more about the influence of local indigenous languages.

Escrito originalmente por Tyrn

The fidgety bairn

Oh, nice!

[wrholt]

Escrito originalmente por AngelicaDeAlquezar

Some regional accents pronounce "r" sounds differently. For example, in Puerto Rico and some places in the Caribbean, many speakers tend to pronounce "l" instead of "r" [Puelto Lico, señol...].
Some Chileans and other South Americans pronounce it more like the American "r".
But most speakers tend to use "r" and "rr" in a mostly standard way.
I wouldn't say it's a matter of difficulty; it's probably more about the influence of local indigenous languages.



Oh, nice!

Regarding how Puerto Ricans pronounce Puerto Rico, I mostly have heard /puel-to xi-ko/; "r" before a consonant pronounced like 'l', and 'rr' pronounced like French or Brazilian Portuguese 'r', English 'h', or Spanish 'j'.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Escrito originalmente por wrholt

Regarding how Puerto Ricans pronounce Puerto Rico, I mostly have heard /puel-to xi-ko/; "r" before a consonant pronounced like 'l', and 'rr' pronounced like French or Brazilian Portuguese 'r', English 'h', or Spanish 'j'.

You're right. I've also heard many speakers pronouncing "hard r" almost gutturally.