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Pa´que sepas... - How to trill the Spanish /r/

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Lesson Information
Hosts: Estibalitz,  JP
ID: PQS0008
Difficulty: Pa´que sepas...
Published: May 4, 2008
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Lesson Introduction

In this podcast, we'll discuss only one topic: how to trill the Spanish /r/. Keep practicing, you'll get it eventually!

Comments (20) RSS

Avatar Team
jpvillanueva says
¡Hola amigos! Listen, if you're not getting your /r/ to trill after listening to this podcast, KEEP TRYING. Don't get discouraged! When I was learning French in college, I couldn't do the French /r/ (it's uvular!). So every night in bed before drifting off to sleep, I practiced the French /r/ for a minute or two. Eventually I did learn how to do it, but it took weeks... yes, weeks!... for me to even form it properly, and it took even longer to produce it in the wild. So what I'm trying to tell you that it may take you a while to teach yourself a new sound, and you may feel silly. Remember that babies are allowed months of "babbling," where they test drive and practice the sounds of their language. You should allow yourself the same luxury to babble! Give it time! :)
May 4, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar Team
jpvillanueva says
P.S., There are some fluent speakers of Spanish, including native speakers who never learn to trill their /r/... in my experience, no one gives them a hard time. But most people do learn how to do it, so it's worth trying!
May 4, 2008 from the Web.
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ctran48 says
great,, helpful and enjoyed the conversation..Thanks
May 5, 2008 from the Web.
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stevestr says
I really like this podcast and I have learned a lot. Thanks to the whole cast and crew and welcome back JP. I do have to slightly disagree with JP on the pronunciation of the letter d and I would love feed back if I am off base. I agree that the Spanish d is has JP described, simpler to the %u201Cth%u201D in the English word %u201Cthey%u201D if the d is between vowels or at the end of a work. But I believe that the Spanish d is a lot like the English d everywhere else. So, for example, I believe that the d in %u201Cda%u201D in the command %u201Cdame la pluma%u201D is very similar to an English d. Steve
May 5, 2008 from the Web.
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docmolly says
Hola. Tengo un ejercicio exelente que os va a ense
May 5, 2008 from the Web.
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docmolly says
Not sure what is happening but my comments never work out. So I'll post the awesome trick to learn to trill your double r. It will work. I was hopeless, and it worked for me. Erre con erre cigarro. Erre con erre barril. Rapido ruedan los carros... Cargados de az
May 5, 2008 from the Web.
Avatar Team
estibalitz says
docmolly, me encantan los trabalenguas, creo que el que tu has escrito puede servir para practicar la R. Pero creo que no terminaste de escribirlo.
May 5, 2008 from the Web.
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martinillo says
Since I'm German, I'm used to produce the uvular "r" and had a hard time with the Spanish "rr". For practizing I recommend to start with words that have a "tr", e.g. "trabajo" because after pronouncing the "t", the tip of your tongue is in the right place for the "rr". By the way, it's great that "pa' que sepas" is now accessible for all users! :)
May 6, 2008 from the Web.
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thesmithtopher says

Hey folks, two interesting tidbits I'll talk about:

My boss's younger daughter had troubles with her rr's when she was growing up in Venezuela, so she had to attend speech therapy classes.  When they moved here, she had no problems learning the english r, and so her problem "went away".  In reality she still can't do the rr, but his kids never speak spanish anymore so in a way, problem solved.

I learned how to do the rr in a strange way.  All my life I had never been able to do it (never really had to worry about doing it, but whenever someone asked if I could rrrr, I couldn't).  Then one day, I was in Germany camping with some people, one of them being a really annoying needy portuguese guy.  I (cruely) made fun of him behind his back, imitating his calls "Chris, wherrrr arrr you?  Wherrr arrr you?"  And, upon imitating him, I managed to accidentally imitate his rolled r's.  The rest of the day when everyone else went to to beach, I stayed in the tent practicing.  A couple years later I started learning Spanish, so it helped!

May 31, 2008 from the Web.
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anthonyaferrara says

JP:

 

My Latina friends tell me that my pronouciation is very good, except that my RRs sound very "gringo".

I am determined to overcome this Americanismo.....

 

Antonio

El gringo latino

June 6, 2008 from the Web.
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discovery says

I learned to trill my /rr/ while running on a cold day. All of a sudden, I could just do it. Of course, that doesn't mean that I can say correr all that well. I'm still working on that.

June 9, 2008 from the Web.
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thesmithtopher says

Keep on truckin' you guys, practice makes perfect.  I've been told my rr's are too strong.  At this point, being understood and getting my message across is a good accomplishment!

June 9, 2008 from the Web.
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missyag12345678910 says

i don't know spanish do you have a password journal if so can any body tell me what their saying

July 11, 2008 from the Web.
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missyag12345678910 says

thank you

July 11, 2008 from the Web.
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languagestudent says

Here's is popular tongue twister :

Erre con erre cigarro,Erre con erre barril.

Ra'pido corrren los carros, Los carros de ferrocarril.

July 13, 2008 from the Web.
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danarei says

AHH!  hasta que empece a estudiar el espanol, no he podido hacer el "r"...es muy muy frustrante!  gracias por los trabajalenguas.  Estais seguro que todo el mundo lo puede hacer con suficiente practico?  Porque he estado practicando por muchisimo tiempo!  y todavia, no "rrrr"

July 13, 2008 from the Web.
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shaine08 says

can you help me how to speak spanish?

 

how to speak in spanish the word "Good afternoon"..?

October 18, 2008 from the Web.
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stevestr says

shaine08

Buenas tardes - good afternoon

Here is a link to some Spanish greetings.

http://spanish.about.com/library/beginning/bl-beg-basics-greetings.htm

October 18, 2008 from the Web.
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abarzafuentes says

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

April 16, 2009 from the Web.
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tomo1983 says

gracias

May 12, 2010 from the Web.

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