- Do you know how to roll your R's?
- Well, today, we're gonna talk about
the two different types of R sounds in Spanish,
how to roll your R's or do the trill sound,
and a couple of exercises to help you practice,
so you can do this.
(couple trilling)
(speaking in foreign language)
(inspiring music)
- (speaking in foreign language), Jim and May
here from Spanish and Go,
your resource for real world travel Spanish.
Today, we're gonna talk about
the the letter R in Spanish.
- Yeah, and the R sound in Spanish
isn't unique just to Spanish.
You'll find it in other languages like Italian.
But it's an important aspect of Spanish,
and it can be a little tricky.
You're not born with this ability to roll R's.
In fact, some native Spanish speakers can't do it.
- So, first of all, let's talk about the two different
sounds that letter R makes in Spanish.
And one of the them is a softer sound.
(softly trilling)
As you can see, the sound R, it's only a small
tap of your tongue on your palate like this.
(softly trilling)
So, there's a little bit of air coming out of your mouth
between your tongue and your palate when you tap.
(softly trilling)
Now, the other sound, the more strong,
the one that a lot of people think of
whenever they think Spanish, is (strongly trilling).
Now that's the one that that's a little bit harder
for people, but with practice you can get
to produce this sound, (strongly trilling).
As you can see, it's not just one tap, it's like a--
- [Jim] A trill.
- A trill, yeah, yeah (strongly trilling).
And as Jim was saying, you're not born with it.
You have to learn it.
I learned it when I was little, too.
So, you have to practice it, but you can get it.
- So, let's go back to the soft R sound
and how to practice it.
So, basically, what you're gonna put you tongue
is the same place your tongue lands
when you say the word better, for example.
You're tongue taps that little ridge
at the roof of your mouth and that's where you're going to
do the tap to do the soft R sound.
Right, May?
- Yes, (softly trilling).
Like you were saying, better, better.
It's right there, very soft, not a lot of air coming out.
- So, we're gonna give you one
of the easiest tongue twisters in Spanish.
And I'm talking easy in terms of it's just two words.
So, these two words both use the soft R.
May, can you demonstrate?
- Yes.
It is (demonstrating in foreign language).
Now, this one's really fun because it's only two words.
You can start slow and just say it in your head
or out loud, out loud is even better.
And then you can go faster if you can.
So, you can go (quickly in foreign language).
Just go (speaking in foreign language) the words.
And it's a good practice because a lot of people,
when you first started noticing the differences
between (strongly trilling) and (softly trilling)
you would say (speaking in foreign language)
instead of (speaking in foreign language).
So, it's good to practice these words.
- So, shrimp, caramel, caramel, shrimp.
(softly laughing)
So, now let's talk about the trilled R.
So, the trilled R sound is a little bit more complicated
than the soft R sound, but they're related.
You're just going to bounce your tongue off of the roof
of your mouth multiple times.
That's all there is to it, really.
Now, let's talk about some ways to go about doing that.
One technique is to, again, find that place in your mouth
where it's like day or better,
where your tongue touches the roof of your mouth
at that ridge point in your mouth.
And you're gonna gently press your tongue
to the top of your mouth and let out some air.
Now, I'm gonna show you.
It takes a little experimentation to figure out
how to get it to work, but there's a couple techniques.
If you are pressing too hard,
you're going to get a (softly hissing sound)
or like a (softly shushing) sound.
You're probably too far ahead closer
to your teeth with the tongue.
And the (softly hissing),
you're probably pressing too hard with the tongue
to the roof of your mouth.
Or, if you're pressing not hard enough
you'll get a (softly hissing)
something like that (softly hissing).
There's too much air coming out.
So, you're gonna have to play with the pressure
of your tongue on the roof of your mouth a little bit.
But the pressure you're releasing
is a little bit like a sigh.
Right, May?
It's a little bit like a (softly sighing).
And so, when your tongue is in the right spot,
if you can let out that same amount of consistent
pressure into a (softly trilling), that's what you want.
- Yeah, something that's worth mentioning is that
this is a sound that happens all right here.
I've heard a lot of people trying to do the R sound
with their throat and that's just something else.
That's like a (softly growling).
It sounds more like French.
Do it here, it's all here in between your palate
and the tip of your tongue.
- So, that's technique number one.
If you have trouble rolling your R's with this first
technique, and you're gonna have to practice a bit,
but if you still can't get it,
you're gonna wanna try the second technique.
And we learned about this from another YouTuber.
Her channel is "It's Elissa, Not Alyssa".
- So with her technique, you're gonna wanna use
a word that has the R sound in the middle.
For example, the word perro, in Spanish, dog.
So you have perro.
You notice there's double R right there.
You're going to separate it right between those two R's,
and you're gonna have two syllables.
One of them is gonna be per with the soft R,
and then ro,
Per
Ro.
And now you're gonna wanna separate any word like that
that you can't say with the R.
And just imagine that you have two soft R's.
One at the end of the first syllable.
One at the beginning of the second syllable.
And then just practice the word.
Separate it in those two syllables
and go per-ro, per-ro, per-ro.
Instead of perro, because you can't, right.
So, when you practice, she was saying that
it's like your brain gets tired of separating words
in two syllables and then it's almost like magic, I guess.
That your brain, it's like, okay let's do this quick.
So, instead of doing two soft taps,
it's gonna wanna do more like a trill.
Instead of per-ro, per-ro, per-ro, per-ro.
Eventually it's gonna be perro, perro, perro, perro.
- Right, and don't get discouraged
if this doesn't happen right away.
It's probably not going to happen over night,
but just keep practicing and you'll get it.
But the distinction is important
because there are all kinds of words in Spanish
where the soft R sound and the double R sound
will completely change the meaning of the word
that you're saying.
- Exactly, yeah, so just like the word we were using, perro,
It means dog when you say it with the R sound.
But if you say pero with the soft R, it means but.
- Or with carro, you could be talking about a car.
Or caro, would be expensive.
So, it's important to take the time to be able
to make the soft R sound and the trilled R sound.
So, let's give you an example that you can use
to practice the trill sound.
This is another tongue twister using the trilled R.
The R sound (speaking in foreign language).
No you say it fast, May.
- (speaking quickly in foreign language)
- (speaking in foreign language)
(couple laughing)
- So, this is great.
I think this is the only thing you used
when you started learning how to roll your R's, right?
- Yeah.
- I remember telling you about this tongue twister
and then you practiced and practiced and practiced.
And eventually it just happened.
But you have to practice.
- Right, yeah, I would practice on my motorcycle,
I would practice when no one was around,
I would practice in front of May
to show her how I was doing.
And eventually it just becomes much more natural.
You just have to do it over and over again.
So, that's all there is to it, guys.
Let us know if you have any other tips
for rolling your R in the comments.
If these techniques helped, which one helped you the most.
And don't forget to like and subscribe for more travel
and Spanish tips. (bell ringing)
- And remember (speaking in foreign language).
- The Journey is the destination.
(speaking in foreign language)
Adios