Hello everyone. In this video you'll learn how to pronounce the American R.
The American R sound can be tricky to pronounce, as most of you already know. The R sound is not
a visual sound like the M in mom. To make the R sound, you need to pull the tongue far back into
the mouth, which makes it nearly impossible to watch someone's tongue as they make this sound.
This also makes the American R difficult to teach. But if you want a good American accent, it's very
important to learn how to make a good American R. Americans love the R sound. It's a very common
sound in many American English words, and it's one of the sounds that makes Americans sound American.
The R sound is special because it can function as both a consonant and a vowel. The R is a consonant
when it comes at the beginning of a word or syllable, like in the words red, arranged,
and pirate. Or in R clusters, like in the words bread, green, and pretty. The R functions as a
vowel when the letter R comes after a vowel in the middle or end of a word, like in the words mother,
bird, and party. To make the American R sound, let's talk about three things: the lips, tongue,
and tension. First, the lips are rounded and the corners come in, which pushes the lips away from
the teeth. This is what your lips should look like from the front and from the side. Second,
the tongue is high and pulled back into the mouth so that the sides of the tongue touch the inside
of the upper back teeth or maybe even along the gum line. This placement is very important - if
the tongue is too low, the R sound will have a muffled or a hollow quality to it, like this.
And if the tongue is not high enough and not touching the inside of the upper teeth,
you will not make a true R sound; rather, the R might sound like an L or an UH.
Here's a trick to help with tongue positioning. Start with the vowel EE.
Notice that the tongue is high in the mouth and the sides of the tongue are
touching the inside of the upper teeth. Now slide the tongue backwards, making sure that
you keep the sides of the tongue touching the inside of the teeth the whole time. Ear, ear,
ear. Essentially you've just said the word ear. Listen to how I say the word again. Ear, ear, ear.
Another thing to consider when talking about tongue positioning is the tongue tip:
is it up or down? When I make the R sound, my tongue tip is neutral. It merely pulls
back into itself when I pull the entire tongue back into my mouth, so try to keep your tongue
tip neutral as you make this sound. And thirdly, let's consider tension. The tongue should feel
very tense or tight when making the R sound. In fact if you were to say her, her, her repeatedly,
I bet your tongue would feel very tired. The R is not a lazy sound. The tension is key to
making it sound clear and distinct. Here is a tip about what not to do when making the American R
sound. A common error that some of my clients make is they tap the tip of their tongue to the
roof of their mouth when making the rR sound like this. This is how you make an R sound in
other languages but not American English. With American English, the tongue tip never touches
anything else in the mouth. Remember the tongue tip remains neutral. You should be able to hold
out the R sound like this red or mother. If you can't hold it ,out you're not making the correct
American R. Here are some practice words and sentences with the American R sound. Bread. I
love the smell of freshly baked bread. Party. Are you going to the party? Right. Turn right
at the end of the street. Correct. Your answer was correct. Practice. I need to practice the guitar.
Thanks for watching ,and let me know if you would like some help with the American R sound.