Thread: Looking for the best substition for pronouncing "P"

ok this is my last post about rolling Russian "P", today i decided to give up, the statement "everyone is capable of rolling R with tongue tip" is equivalent to "Everyone is capable of being the president of a country", possible but extremely difficult.

The followings are what I am about to substitue "P" with, I need some opinions from NATIVE Russians, please let me know which substitution sounds the best(or the least bad) to you native Russians.

1. English "R"
2. German throat rolling "Rrrr", or single throat vibrating "R"
3. French "R"
4. Chinese or Japanese "L"

what do you think? your anwers will be greatly appreciated.

Are you assuming that all Russians know sound of Chinese L by heart?
Make a recording and we will choose!

Originally Posted by MikeM

Are you assuming that all Russians know sound of Chinese L by heart?
Make a recording and we will choose!

ok, I just make this up: if the Russians say "p-rrrrr-ah"
then the Chinese would say "p-l-ah"

Seriously, I have to hear different variants together to be able to say for sure, but I think it must be either German or French version that will work the best... On the other hand, I do still think that pretty much anyone can learn how to do Russian R... Many kids in Russia have the problem of not being able to pronounce this sound (frequently along with ш, ч, щ) by themselves. Many go to speech therapists to learn how to do it. I taught my daughter myself by helping her to place her tongue in the right position with a tea spoon

Originally Posted by awjln

ok this is my last post about rolling Russian "P", today i decided to give up, the statement "everyone is capable of rolling R with tongue tip" is equivalent to "Everyone is capable of being the president of a country", possible but extremely difficult.
...

1. English "R"
2. German throat rolling "Rrrr", or single throat vibrating "R"
3. French "R"
4. Chinese or Japanese "L"

what do you think? your anwers will be greatly appreciated.

Not everyone is capable of doing rolling them and sometimes you may need a lot of practice and time.

1. forget about this one, or maybe the Irish one.
2. there's a rolling one?
3. no, but in the south of France they kinda roll them.
4. not this on either

You don't have to roll your "Р" to pronounce Russian "Р"! You must speak, not roar!
Just like you don't have to roll your "R" like Till Lindemann does to pronounce German "R".

Originally Posted by awjln

I need some opinions from NATIVE Russians, please let me know which substitution sounds the best(or the least bad) to you native Russians.

1. English "R"

The best is the sound of English tt in gotta. It sounds to russians like "гара".

Originally Posted by awjln

ok this is my last post about rolling Russian "P", today i decided to give up, the statement "everyone is capable of rolling R with tongue tip" is equivalent to "Everyone is capable of being the president of a country", possible but extremely difficult.

The problem here is the premise. Russian consonants are generally NOT pronounced with the tip of the tongue, especially the flipped R. As usual, I recommend you buy a copy of "Pronounce It Perfectly In Russian". It's dirt cheap at $14 for book and cassette.

There's also some good beginner pointers in this thread:
http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtopic.php?t=5831

Originally Posted by awjln

The followings are what I am about to substitue "P" with, I need some opinions from NATIVE Russians, please let me know which substitution sounds the best(or the least bad) to you native Russians.

In the movie "Brave Heart", these Scottish guys say "R" exactly in Rrrrrrrrrrussian way!

Originally Posted by JJ

Originally Posted by awjln

I need some opinions from NATIVE Russians, please let me know which substitution sounds the best(or the least bad) to you native Russians.

1. English "R"

The best is the sound of English tt in gotta. It sounds to russians like "гара".

That's if an American says it. If I say it is Готта or Го-а if I'm lazy.

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by JJ

Originally Posted by awjln

I need some opinions from NATIVE Russians, please let me know which substitution sounds the best(or the least bad) to you native Russians.

1. English "R"

The best is the sound of English tt in gotta. It sounds to russians like "гара".

That's if an American says it. If I say it is Готта or Го-а if I'm lazy.

This can actually even go as годда. I never really had a problem with "Р" -- but I had a few years of Spanish prior to Russian, and I'm sure that helped, since you roll them in that language, too. So if all else fails, try to come up with an Espanol pronunciation tape.

Don't you reckon the best would be the English 'r' sound. I mean, I've heard quite a few Russians themselves on the radio who can't role their 'r's.