Thread: rolling R's

Is it absolutly essential to roll the R sound in russian? I simply cannot do it and I'm not sure if thats something that can be learned. I have the same problem with spanish, I just sort of add an L before the R to try to make it work (maria becomes malria).

Thanks!

Try using a D instead of an L when trying to roll your R's. I had the same problem in spanish and that cured me.

I'd say that not rolling your R in Russian is like not pronouncing TH in English. We can always say "da Eart" and be understood, but it sounds bad.

If you can't figure it out by yourself, I'd suggest you make a visit to a speech pathologist to get the instruction from a trained professional.

In American English the T in the middle of WATER when quickly spoken is very close to a "rolled R".

Hello, ladies and dudes...

Hi, I'm Adam; this is my first post, oh boy. I been trying to learn some of this русский язык and hopefully y'all can help me out. In return, I hope this helps, at least one person, with "р" (рыба not pistol) troubles.

As the gentleman above this post pointed out, the "t" in "water," when said extremely quickly, is quite close to what you want.

I might add, if i may, that in the phrase, "What are you doing?" spoken at about 300 km/h produces it, too. (at least in my accent) This helped out my momma when she was hablo-ing some espa

I have a question; Is it only American speakers of English that find it difficult to roll and R?

I simply don't see how this is difficult!

Originally Posted by DDT

I have a question; Is it only American speakers of English that find it difficult to roll and R?

I simply don't see how this is difficult!

I think just English speakers in general. Latin derived languages usually tend to have no trouble (portuguese, spanish, catalan, italian, french) as the rolled R is usually present in the language.

On the other hand, portuguese/spanish speakers are usually useless at pronouncing TH, it is either T or D. I had a lot of trouble learning it, and usually used to pronounce THE as DE, thing as FING, etc.

Just goes both ways I guess.

Originally Posted by Chancellor Kremlin

Originally Posted by DDT

I have a question; Is it only American speakers of English that find it difficult to roll and R?

I simply don't see how this is difficult!

I think just English speakers in general. Latin derived languages usually tend to have no trouble (portuguese, spanish, catalan, italian, french) as the rolled R is usually present in the language.

On the other hand, portuguese/spanish speakers are usually useless at pronouncing TH, it is either T or D. I had a lot of trouble learning it, and usually used to pronounce THE as DE, thing as FING, etc.

Just goes both ways I guess.

In French they don't roll their Rs, they pronounce R at the back of the throat. IPA [R]. As far as I'm aware the same is true of Portuguese (European Portugueuse).

Regarding Spanish speakers and Th. Spanish does have a Th sound

e.g. dedo (finger), is pronounced "detho" (th like in th). D is pronounced like this when between two vowels.

Spanish/Portuguese speakers are no worse at pronouncing Th than Russians, French speakers, anyone from a language that doesn't have a Th sound.

Exactly.

In Brazil we do have a rolled r sound. Strangely it is pronounced when two rr's are present in a word, or when the single r is at the end of a word. Cargueiro = Tanker/Transporter.

I suppose if you can make a slight vibrating noise when saying it you are right. My girlfriend is american and she can't do it, and in my previous russian class, almost none of the english students could either.

I'm trying to teach myself Russian with a little aid from a friend in college who's majoring in a related field, however they can't seem to help me much with this problem because "they just got it."

I started yesterday, memorized all the sounds/characters of the alphabet and am working in pronunciation. I spent maybe 20 minutes learning the others (except for ы) but P is still giving me a hard time. I'm capable of it in words beginning with an consonate+r sound (http://www.soundupload.com/audio/oocex7oh1jfoe36e including other consonates, not just a D sound) and words that just begin with r (http://www.soundupload.com/audio/5ujr2vsvhxtvqtiu). I cannot seem to roll the actual letter P, any word that goes from a vowel sound to r (air like the letter P, armitage) or any word with an r in the middle (Доброе). My friend said I'm the only person she knows who has this problem.

Can anyone give me any tips for this (other than practice?)


Edit: Here's me attempting to say ресторан: http://www.soundupload.com/audio/mqp74u39t3f6oguc

Originally Posted by Manathane

Edit: Here's me attempting to say ресторан: http://www.soundupload.com/audio/mqp74u39t3f6oguc

Sounds very much like the English word "restaurant". It even has two stressed syllables in it, whereas the Russian has only one.
Second, you pronounce every unstressed vowel like it looks in writing. That's not right. In fact, that's how the word is pronounced:
ri (sort of ree, but "ee" is short) - stah - ran

And, third, your 'r' is not Russian yet, indeed

Originally Posted by Оля

Originally Posted by Manathane

Edit: Here's me attempting to say ресторан: http://www.soundupload.com/audio/mqp74u39t3f6oguc

Sounds very much like the English word "restaurant". It even has two stressed syllables in it, whereas the Russian has only one.
Second, you pronounce every unstressed vowel like it looks in writing. That's not right. In fact, that's how the word is pronounced:
ri (sort of ree, but "ee" is short) - stah - ran

And, third, your 'r' is not Russian yet, indeed

Like I said, I'm teaching myself. As I said in my previous post, I'm having a lot of trouble going from a vowel to an r. Any tips?

And in the song, it sounds almost exactly like English "restaurant" to me. -_-

Originally Posted by Manathane

Any tips?

I thought my post contained tips.

As for the 'r', I really don't know how to help. I used to have much troubles with the French 'r', but I was trying all the time to pronounce it correctly, going in a street and pronouncing it again and again, and I think it helped.

Originally Posted by Оля

...and I think it helped.

You think.

I can roll my r in a word only.......

I cannot trill like "rrrrrrrrrr"

I'm amazed that so many people can do that.

It's also difficult for German learners of Russian. For some reason, I seem to be able to do it, at least my Russian acquaintances tell me so. The other way round not one of them is able to pronounce a German r correctly, so I'd call it even.

Robin

I can Roll the R xD
thats because i was born in Russia
To Russian Parents..who then surrendered me to an Orphanage

Well, I'm Russian and can't roll my 'r' for various unclear reasons. There are a lot of people in Russia who can't, actually. There's a theory that if you were on artificial feeding as a baby your tongue muscles don't get to be strong enough and [r] is the most difficult sound in Russian. If you haven't learnt to pronoune it correctly in childhood, the chances that you will as an adult are very small because the habit of pronouncing incorrectly gets too deeply ingrained. I pronounce 'r' French-style, gutturally, and neither I nor anyone around me has any difficulty about it. It doesn't hinder understanding. I'm quite good with English and, obviously, French 'r', so no worries there.

Originally Posted by DDT

I have a question; Is it only American speakers of English that find it difficult to roll and R?

I simply don't see how this is difficult!

You make me laugh! I was born, raised and still live in America....etc, etc, etc... and there is NO sound in the Russian language I cannot say. HOWEVER! I cannot say the word for the number 7 in Swedish. SO, NYEH!! LoL (I'm teasing you no malice intended. )

Originally Posted by Chelle

You make me laugh! I was born, raised and still live in America....etc, etc, etc... and there is NO sound in the Russian language I cannot say.

Now I'm eager to hear it. )) Could you record your voice reading the Russian alphabet and upload it so we can listen to the audio? Please, don't be afraid, even if you don't pronounce anything properly, we won't attack you, but we can say what is to be improved. ) If there is something. )

Upd
Oh, I didn't notice the words "I'm teasing you." Anyway, despite the fact it was a joke, my offer still stands.

Sure!! I'd love to, however, I do not own the equipment to do so or I'd be more than happy to. I meant more that if you say a word to me or, even a sentence, I don't usually need to have it repeated to me to repeat it back properly. I had a grade school teacher who was from Greece and she was always trying to teach us to say one thing or another in Greek (not as a language study, but for fun) so I guess I learned to parrot things back to people because of that.
No complaints!