Thread: Russian R

Ok, I'm sure you guys have gotten this before, and I've asked it in other places before as well, but how do you laern to roll your Rs? I've been trying on and off for about 2 years! I didn't really want to take up a language with rolled Rs until I could learn to do it; that' why ive put off Spanish for so long. I just can't seem to get the knack of it.

I know the tongue is supposed to be touching the top of the mouth near the front... and you apply air pressure to get it to flap, but somehow, I just can't seem to do it.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Also, my tongue is shorter than average. Could this 'cripple' my rolled Rs?

edit: found a couple of threads about this a few pages back... but stlil if anyone has anything new to say id love to hear it. I've heard that some Russians and Spaniards can't roll their Rs but I've also heard that everyone is capable of learning to do it.

I could never ever roll my Rs. I'd been trying since Spanish class in elementary school. And then magically last year, I could. I can't tell what I started doing differently.

So in summary...Rs are magic.

I thought everyone could roll their tongue. Don't all kids run around their neighbourhoods making shrill rolled tongue noises? Sheeze! OK, stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth just about where your teeth and palate meet and try to say the letter "D" or "duh" . You will have to force air from you diaphram fairly hard at first to get the tongue to begin rolling. You want to try to obtain a continuous roll like a machine gun. Once you get it, keep doing it. I mean a lot. Wake your significant other up in the morning with a shrill rolled tongue noise really loud in the ear. But make sure your are wearing protective gear first. This is important!
In no time at all it will have become second nature to you and you will be able to sound like a pompus ass at the drop of a hat.

When I do that I get a buzz. I feel my tongue flapping ever so slightly, but I think I'm doing it totally wrong because to get even the buzz flap I have to vary the force of my exhalation. I've read that when rolling Rs the exhalation force should be constant. Is this your experience?

Originally Posted by Nathan

When I do that I get a buzz.

Do you get the munchies too?

Seriously, try moving your tongue further back. The air flow should be constant.

The irony is that we don't actually roll our R's in Russian. The Russian R is actually a tap, not a roll and is therefore almost identical with the 't' in 'Betty' and 'matter' in some varieties of English.

You will have to force air from you diaphram fairly hard at first to get the tongue to begin rolling.

Forcing air from the diaphragm? Give me a break! You hardly exhale at all when saying the Russian R. Looks like you're doing something wrong.

Yes that is true. This is just a training exercise.

No, that is not true.

I speak Russian. I cannot prononce Russian "R". Nothing worked on me, my "R" is still very soft.

No diagrams, no teachers were able to teach me.

Originally Posted by Pioner

No, that is not true.

I speak Russian. I cannot prononce Russian "R". Nothing worked on me, my "R" is still very soft.

No diagrams, no teachers were able to teach me.

You mean you speak with a burr. Just like Mr Lenin.

I have problems with Russian "эр" too. Tried doing the drills and stuff, but I guess I was just too lazy to follow them through.

Ok, how exactly does one breathe 'through the diaphram'? How is this different from normal breathing.

Also, what drills?

Originally Posted by Nathan

Ok, how exactly does one breathe 'through the diaphram'? How is this different from normal breathing.

Also, what drills?

All you really need to do is contract the muscles in your abdomen while attempting to make the sound. It is not like you are blowing or anything. There will not be much actual movment of air. VM is right about that.

When I was a child, I could not pronounce RRRRR, and my parents took me to a speech doctor. And this is what as far as I can remember he suggested me to do, and it did work:

Originally Posted by DDT

OK, stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth just about where your teeth and palate meet and try to say the letter "D" or "duh" . You will have to force air from you diaphram fairly hard at first to get the tongue to begin rolling. You want to try to obtain a continuous roll like a machine gun.

D-D-D-D-D-RRRRRRRR

Originally Posted by Pioner

No, that is not true.

I speak Russian. I cannot prononce Russian "R". Nothing worked on me, my "R" is still very soft.

No diagrams, no teachers were able to teach me.

Well did you try to just say it over and over and over again... without people.....It worked for me when i was little. I couldn't say the Russian "R" and my parents took me to the doctor and I still couldn't do it, and then one day i decided to try it again and i said it over and over again for like an hour and it worked.

Originally Posted by dariushka

Originally Posted by Pioner

No, that is not true.

I speak Russian. I cannot prononce Russian "R". Nothing worked on me, my "R" is still very soft.

No diagrams, no teachers were able to teach me.

Well did you try to just say it over and over and over again... without people.....It worked for me when i was little. I couldn't say the Russian "R" and my parents took me to the doctor and I still couldn't do it, and then one day i decided to try it again and i said it over and over again for like an hour and it worked.

Well, a lot were done, nothing worked. I can't make tip of my tongue to vibrate properly. Anyhow, it does not bother me anymore, why waste my time? Actually I even heard, that it is surgical problem, "уздечка яызка" quite tough, and needed to be cut a little for that. But that should be done while I was little. It will not work now. Whatever, it is not a problem anymore, more then that many girls said that my soft "r" sounded very sexy.

*makes weird noises and spits a little*

Aww, crap, I give up!!!!
-Fantom

I learned to roll my "r"s when I was little by saying "brush" over and over but with a little "d" sound where the r would go...like saying "bdush" I guess.

On some language tape it says to say "prince of Prussia" like that (pdince of pdussia...)


To roll a German "r" I just kept saying gr

Personally, my experience with Rs suggests that faith healing is probably as effective as speech therapy in correcting wussy R syndrome

Guys, don't be put off , if you can't pronounce Russian R. Both English and French/German R sound cute when pronounced in Russian. It is in no way a problem to understanding, there are Russian who burr. We can even understand when Chinese pronounce it as L (Japanese R is also similar to L).

Just keep practising and listen to the sounds.

aren't you americans make a sound that's close to our R, when you pronounce the words, "throat" or "through"?