I can manage the single R just fine. It's pronounced like the English letter d. But the double r is beyond me.
A friend from Guatemala, who taught young children, tried to get me to learn it. She said, "We have to teach the children how to pronounce it correctly. They don't get it naturally. We all have to be taught."
Of course, I wanted to know the method. Maybe it would work for me!
She explained: "We have them move their arm in a circle, like a car starting its engine, while saying 'rrrrr' like a car starting up, only trill the tongue in the double r sound."
I tried it, and it does work. I trilled my tongue while moving my arm in the circular motion, as one would do to illustrate an engine starting. Whenever I want to make the double r sound, I just move my arm and trill my tongue. Rrrrrrrr.
Except I can't get it any other way. I just can't seem to trill my tongue without also moving my arm like a 5-year-old starting his imaginary car.
I took Spanish for four years in high school and my wife is fluent in Spanish, but I could NEVER roll my r's. I wind up either spiting on myself or getting a cramp in my tongue.
ReplyDeleteDid your wife learn the double R when she was young? Did they teach by the car trick?
DeleteI just tried it and I couldn't roll my r's with or without the arm action.
ReplyDeleteBut it was fun trying.
I began Spanish in 7th grade, so I was able to do the rolling R pretty well. I never became as fluent as I would have liked though...
ReplyDeleteIt did not occur to me that the rolled r must be taught. But it makes sense. There are some sounds that just aren't made in various languages, and it's hard to learn to do them in adulthood. I think of the various Asian immigrants here and the sounds they can't quite do.
ReplyDeleteSadly, NEVER could roll my r's!
DeleteThis is a great story! Now I am picturing schoolrooms of swinging arms!
ReplyDeleteGood tip, Karen :)
ReplyDeleteThe only Rrrrs I can roll is the one I carry behind me.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a second, and then I lol'd at your comment. Clever!
DeleteIt must be entertaining for anyone watching. 🤣😂
ReplyDeleteI do better the longer I'm speaking in Spanish, like I have to warm up to it. But I can't just roll an R sitting here. It has to be in the middle of a word/sentence. @samanthabwriter from
ReplyDeleteBalancing Act
I started to learn Spanish in 7th grade and I was able to roll my r's. I can also do the guttural German ch, perhaps because I was exposed to Yiddish as a child (both my parents spoke it). There are other sounds, like the French or German r that I can't do, though. I haven't heard of the car engine starting motion as an aid to rolling the r's. And, I have lost almost all my Spanish. I didn't have the gift of languages that some of my relatives have, sadly.
ReplyDeleteI can do the French R, learned it in school, and it wasn't as difficult for me as for others in the class. But that double R, that one is tough.
DeleteMy father was proud of all his Rs, including the long rolling ones in Spanish, differentiating the word "but" from the word for "dog' by a single extra R. [pero vs. perro] He taught me how to roll the letter, not a small feat for the Hebrew speaking wee-me with our throaty scratching R.
ReplyDeleteThat is something to be proud of, wish I could do it. I can if I practice with the perro and pero, but to speak to people no, I don't do it. Only in private practice where I don't feel as silly.
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