How do you roll r's?

Answer 1

There are three types of R-sounds, depending on the position of that essential organ of speech, the tongue. The trilled R as heard in some Mediterranean languages such as Italian & Spanish, but also in Asian languages such as Indonesian, Javanese and Sundanese is made by moving the tongue up and down in rapid succession (much like a tremolo made on a mandolin) right behind the front teeth. For the rolled R (used in English), you literally roll back your tongue underneath your palate. The guttural R (further back) actually sounds more like the [x] sound in Loch Ness, and is prominent in Dutch, French and Portuguese. Chinese speakers of English are notorious for confusing r for l, as in "Do you rike lice?"

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Other ways:

American and other English speakers may be surprised to hear that many of them can already produce a rolled 'r' sound!!

When you say the word "butter" quickly, the 'tt' sound is produced by flapping your tongue against the roof of your mouth, rather than a normal 't' sound (like tree).

It may not be precisely the same as a rolled 'r' (depending on the language and dialect you are aiming for), but it is mountains more convincing than the English 'r' at the end of the same word is.

Try changing one letter at a time from 'butter' until you have your target word (e.g. caro)

For more sharper rolling of the r, try blowing a long raspberry and then slowly bring the tongue back into the month and put it to the roof of your tongue, giving more sharper results and you'll seem like a native Russian.

Alternatively, try curling your tongue (same thing as folding your tongue in half) within your mouth and then blow. If you feel some turbulence or a slight r, then you may try blowing with more force. Make sure to relax your tongue and try again if you do not have success the first time.