Ask a Question

(Create a thread)
Go Back   Spanish language learning forums > Spanish & English Languages > Grammar

rr thingy

 

Grammar questions– conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax, etc.


 
 
Thread Tools
 
Old October 29, 2009, 05:39 PM
brute's Avatar
brute brute is offline
Emerald
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: en el norte de Inglaterra
Posts: 526
Native Language: British English
brute is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChicadeJeep View Post
Thank you.

What is a "French r"?
To me it is a soft gargling sound
   
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
 
Old October 29, 2009, 07:45 PM
ChicadeJeep's Avatar
ChicadeJeep ChicadeJeep is offline
Ruby
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Alberta, Canada
Posts: 94
Native Language: English
ChicadeJeep is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by brute View Post
To me it is a soft gargling sound
Oh! I can kind of do that!
Thank you.
 
Old April 09, 2010, 08:21 PM
MadreDeLeila MadreDeLeila is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1
MadreDeLeila is on a distinguished road
RR

I know this post is very old, but I have a useful tip. Saying the word "ladder" several times in a row can help to achieve the trill of the rr's.

I hope this is helpful to someone.
 
Old September 15, 2010, 06:04 PM
Feliz Feliz is offline
Ruby
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 72
Native Language: American English
Feliz is on a distinguished road
Reply to Thread

I just came upon this interesting thread, and have read it all the way through. I read a lot of good advice here that I hadn't thought of before. I'd like to share with you how I overcame my inability to say the Spanish r. To do that, I have to thank my neighbor and his motorcycle. Almost every evening that he was a neighbor, he fine-tuned his motorcycle. What a racket! After a while, in frustration from the noise, I began to mimic the sound that I was hearing just to keep my cool and entertain myself at the same time. The sound that I made was: "rrrrumm, rrrrumm, rrrrumm." I trilled my tongue against my palate like the sound of that revving 2-cylinder motorcycle engine. When it came time to overcome my inability to trill the Spanish r, I remembered how that sound of the motorcycle was much like what I needed. So, now, instead of trying to trill the Spanish r, I trill the air-only sound of that motorcycle engine. When I'm saying Ricardo, for instance, the ear hears "r" but I'm not saying "r." The only actual letters of the alphabet that I'm speaking are i(e), c(k), a, d, and o. So, for me, there is no "r" in the "spoken" Spanish language when I'm trilling the Spanish r. There is just the fluttering of air that sounds like rr or rrrrrr to the ears. Gracias.
 
Old October 28, 2010, 09:05 AM
Dale's Avatar
Dale Dale is offline
Ruby
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 39
Native Language: English
Dale is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perikles View Post
I have - I had a French girlfriend once. "mon amour" gave me goosebumps.

Eso es tan divertido

He aprendido de este hilo. Gracias.




 
Old October 28, 2010, 08:38 PM
Feliz Feliz is offline
Ruby
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 72
Native Language: American English
Feliz is on a distinguished road
Reply to thread

@Dale: I wondered when you were going to find this thread. When I noticed your great looking icon as a new member, I knew I was in trouble. I hope that you didn't take offense if you read my post. By way of explanation, and if my memory serves me correctly, we also had a 2 cylinder 4 stroke which wasn't as good as his Harley with a 2 cylinder 4 stroke. He just had a loud muffler. The rrrummm really helped me nail the Spanish rr sound though.
__________________

 
Old November 01, 2010, 08:02 AM
Dale's Avatar
Dale Dale is offline
Ruby
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 39
Native Language: English
Dale is on a distinguished road
@Feliz: As far as I can tell, the only thing that loud pipes do is annoy those who have to listen to them...

Interesting that you have discovered another use for them... the RR thingy...

Dale
 
Old November 01, 2010, 08:23 AM
JPablo's Avatar
JPablo JPablo is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5,579
Native Language: Spanish (Castilian, peninsular)
JPablo is on a distinguished road
Well, if you want to have some "audio" on this "rr" thing, you can listen to Carlos (Spanish) and David (who, while shows a bit of his American accent, does the "r" and "rr" correctly.)

(Quiéreme/borra el dolor/no quiero llorar/regresa a mí...)



(Hope this helps!) (Otherwise, just enjoy the music!)
__________________
Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie.
"An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you."
 
Old December 03, 2010, 12:44 PM
Jessicake Jessicake is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 16
Native Language: English (USA)
Jessicake is on a distinguished road
I still don't have it down, but I've managed to do it a couple of times (I just started practicing this morning!). Adding a very quick D sound sort of helps with getting the hang of it. Instead of saying "practice" try "pdactice." (I wouldn't rely on that though.)
 
Old December 14, 2010, 08:55 PM
pierrre's Avatar
pierrre pierrre is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 27
pierrre is on a distinguished road
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?

Last edited by Rusty; December 14, 2010 at 09:04 PM. Reason: merged back-to-back posts
 
Old December 19, 2010, 02:58 PM
Vincamerica Vincamerica is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New York
Posts: 9
Native Language: American English
Vincamerica is on a distinguished road
If I may. Another good way to practice the "rr" sound is to make the sound a person makes when they feel very cold. The word is "burr". But if you exaggerate the word you will roll the r's with your tongue more easily, like "burrrrr..."
 
Old December 20, 2010, 08:08 AM
AngelicaDeAlquezar's Avatar
AngelicaDeAlquezar AngelicaDeAlquezar is offline
Obsidiana
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Mexico City
Posts: 9,126
Native Language: Mexican Spanish
AngelicaDeAlquezar is on a distinguished road
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!
__________________
Ain't it wonderful to be alive when the Rock'n'Roll plays...
 
Old January 19, 2011, 05:20 AM
elgrego elgrego is offline
Opal
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Kilmarnock, Scotland
Posts: 3
Native Language: English
elgrego is on a distinguished road
Makes me glad that I'm Scottish

People in Scotland have it easier when learning Spanish. We roll our "r's" and our vowel sounds are similar to that of Spanish
 
Old January 19, 2011, 05:27 AM
poli's Avatar
poli poli is offline
rule 1: gravity
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: In and around New York
Posts: 7,908
Native Language: English
poli will become famous soon enoughpoli will become famous soon enough
Yes that's true. Being Scottish puts you at an advantage in the rr
department
__________________
Me ayuda si corrige mis errores. Gracias.
 
Old January 19, 2011, 08:58 PM
JPablo's Avatar
JPablo JPablo is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Southern California
Posts: 5,579
Native Language: Spanish (Castilian, peninsular)
JPablo is on a distinguished road
¡Escocia! ¡Escocia! ¡Escocia! ¡Ra!¡Ra!¡Ra! (Just to cheer things up even further!)
__________________
Lo propio de la verdad es que se basta a sí misma, aquel que la posee no intenta convencer a nadie.
"An enemy is somebody who flatters you. A friend is somebody who criticizes the living daylights out of you."
 
Old August 30, 2011, 10:48 PM
swr999 swr999 is offline
Ruby
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 33
Native Language: US English
swr999 is on a distinguished road
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.
 
Old August 31, 2011, 08:26 AM
Don José Don José is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: España
Posts: 454
Native Language: Español
Don José is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by irmamar View Post
Some Spanish speaker people have this problem as well. They usually pronounce a soft r or a French r. There's no problem if you can't say a strong r, everybody will understand you
A friend of mine suffered from that problem. Being a teenager, he wouldn't ask for a 'cigarro' (cigarrete) but for the more colloquial 'pitillo' instead, just to avoid people joking and imitating him. So I wonder if they develop a vocabulary where those rr words are absent.

In Spain it's well known that many foreigners wouldn't pronounce the rr properly. We are used to it and we understand them. However, when speaking Spanish, your english r sounds much better than the French r. A French friend who has been living for many years (at least 10) in Spain can't pronounce the rr yet.
 
Old August 31, 2011, 10:31 AM
Caballero's Avatar
Caballero Caballero is offline
Emerald
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 505
Caballero is on a distinguished road
What do you think of the Costa Rican r?
__________________
Corrections are welcome.
 
Old August 31, 2011, 05:43 PM
SPX SPX is offline
Pearl
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 166
SPX is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don José View Post
A friend of mine suffered from that problem. Being a teenager, he wouldn't ask for a 'cigarro' (cigarrete) but for the more colloquial 'pitillo' instead, just to avoid people joking and imitating him. So I wonder if they develop a vocabulary where those rr words are absent.

In Spain it's well known that many foreigners wouldn't pronounce the rr properly. We are used to it and we understand them. However, when speaking Spanish, your english r sounds much better than the French r. A French friend who has been living for many years (at least 10) in Spain can't pronounce the rr yet.

Yeah, I am one of those people who simply can't do the RR. I've tried and tried and tried and the closest I can come is the French R, and even it is unreliable when it comes to my ability to do it.

I think it's interesting that you say the English R sounds better than the French R. Why is that? Because with a French R there at least is a roll, even if it sounds a little different. (To me, they sound very similar.) But with an English R, there is no roll.

I want to make sure I am understood. I'd also prefer to not sound ridiculous. Would you suggest that I pronounce RR words--as well as words that begin with R--simply like a hard English R instead of attempting to roll it French-style?

I remember talking once to a Guatemalan Spanish about the word "rey." I pronounced it simply like the English word "ray," which he seemed to find quite unacceptable, ha ha.

I also am concerned about how to make the differentiation between words like caro/carro and pero/perro.
 
Old August 31, 2011, 06:54 PM
Rusty's Avatar
Rusty Rusty is offline
Señor Speedy
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: USA
Posts: 11,398
Native Language: American English
Rusty has a spectacular aura aboutRusty has a spectacular aura about
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

Last edited by Rusty; September 01, 2011 at 10:39 PM.
 

Tags
pronunciation, r vs rr, rr

Link to this thread
URL: 
HTML Link: 
BB Code: 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Site Rules


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:46 AM.

Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.

X