Rolling your R’s feels impossible—until you know how to do it.
… And then it’s easy.
You are viewing: Why Can’t I Roll My Rs
When I was learning, most of what I found on the web was frustrating. A huge amount of “tips” and “tricks” that didn’t help and wasted my time.
But here’s the thing:
A rolled R is not a “trick”—it’s a skill. Any skill can be learned if you have two things:
- A clear understanding of the goal; (What is a rolled R, actually?)
- A way to break it down into simple steps that are readily learned.
And that’s exactly what we give you in this guide: a series of simple steps—each one very easy—that gradually teach you this skill.
It works because it’s based on the science of how the trilled R actually works.
As a bonus, the awareness that you develop by learning to roll your R’s will help improve all aspects of your Spanish pronunciation.
What is a rolled R?
Linguists call the rolled R a “trill”. Here’s what it sounds like:
Your browser does not support the audio element.
Here’s what a trill isn’t:
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Tapping your tongue really-really-really fast!
No one can do that.
Instead, a trill is made by forcing air past your tongue in such a way that the tongue vibrates.
That’s a really important concept. Even though your tongue is making a rat-a-tat sound, it’s barely working—it’s relaxed.
Does that hammering sound come from your tongue hitting the roof of your mouth?
No. The vibration of the tongue is simply interrupting the sound coming from your vocal cords. Here’s what a trill sounds like without any vibration of the vocal cords:
Your browser does not support the audio element.
Human languages have various types of trills. The rolled R is the most common trill—it’s the one used in Spanish, Italian, Russian, Arabic, and many other languages.
Technically, it’s called an “apical-alveolar trill”—because all the action happens at the tip (“apex”) of the tongue as it approaches the “alveolar ridge” of your mouth.
Can everyone roll their R’s?
The short answer is:
Yes, you can roll your R’s!
Assuming that your tongue is reasonably normal, you can learn to roll your R’s.
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(There’s a rare medical condition that inhibits mobility of the tongue. In some of these cases, an alveolar trill may be impossible.)
People often worry that their inability to trill is genetic.1
But the reason people struggle with the trill is simply that it’s not obvious how to do it. Everything takes place out-of-sight, inside the mouth, where most of us have very little awareness of what our mouth parts are doing.
Even among native speakers, the rolled R is typically mastered later than any other sound. And surprisingly, even many native speakers need help before they get it. Yet, nearly all do so.2
Is it important to roll your R’s in Spanish?
In a word: yes—although not as important as mastering the simple R tap.
You can get away with using the simple Spanish R (instead of the trill) everywhere, because native Spanish speakers perceive the two sounds to be closely related. In fact, in rapid speech they will sometimes use a tap where a trill is expected.3 So, yes, you can get away with it.
But …. you will sound quite foreign. Also, there are plenty of words in Spanish where the meaning changes if you fail to roll the R. For example:
Since it’s really not that hard to learn, there’s no reason not to do it.
Let’s do it!
Spanish tongue twisters
When you’re comfortable rolling your R’s, take it to the next level by practicing some Spanish tongue twisters. For maximum benefit, memorize and try to work up to high speed.
Here are four of our favorites:
- (Easy) Rosa Rosales cortó una rosa. ¡Que roja la rosa de Rosa Rosales!
- (Hard) Rosa Rizo reza en ruso, en ruso reza Rosa Rizo.
- (Impossible) Borracho un ratón robó un ramo de rosas rojas; el rabo se le enredó y rodó de rosa en rosa.
- (Silly) El perro perra encontró pera, pero perro perra peras no come; en cambio perra perro peros no encontró para comerse la pera que perro perra dejó.
Other types of trills
Now that you know how trills work and you have expanded your awareness of your mouth and tongue, adding other trills to your linguistic repertoire will be much easier. Although the alveolar trill is the most common, world languages use at least four types of trills:
Footnotes
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY
