how to pronounce the "tr-" sound

[missbambooo]

My ESL teacher tells me that I have problem pronouncing words beginning with "tr." Specifically, she says sometimes I make it sound like "tw" in "twenty" When I say "train" it sounds like "twain". She teaches me to pronounce that sound by saying a "t" then a "r" really fast. Thus "train" would sound like a fast version of "terrain", "track" as "terack" etc. I don't know because it just seems kind of weird to me since I've always pronounced it like a full "tr" sound not like "t" and "r" combined. However when I do the "terrain" version for "train", my ESL teacher says it's much better than my normal "tr".
I can't really hear myself but I still think "tr" sounds better "t-r", but my teacher just thinks the opposite. I can't say that she's wrong and I'm right because I'm not a native English speaker while she is. I'm just confused. can someone tell me how to pronounce it properly? thanks.

 

[Raymott]

My ESL teacher tells me that I have problem pronouncing words beginning with "tr." Specifically, she says sometimes I make it sound like "tw" in "twenty" When I say "train" it sounds like "twain". She teaches me to pronounce that sound by saying a "t" then a "r" really fast. Thus "train" would sound like a fast version of "terrain", "track" as "terack" etc. I don't know because it just seems kind of weird to me since I've always pronounced it like a full "tr" sound not like "t" and "r" combined. However when I do the "terrain" version for "train", my ESL teacher says it's much better than my normal "tr".
I can't really hear myself but I still think "tr" sounds better "t-r", but my teacher just thinks the opposite. I can't say that she's wrong and I'm right because I'm not a native English speaker while she is. I'm just confused. can someone tell me how to pronounce it properly? thanks.

It's not uncommon for even native speakers to have an /r/ that tends to /w/. A good example is the cartoon character Elmer Fudd, who calls Bugs Bunny a "wascally wabbit". It's not easy to overcome.
If your teacher tells you you sound better, it's worth trying for a while since she is there to monitor your progress.
If you're not convinced, find yourself a tape-recorder, or record your voice on your computer and listen to it yourself.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1751950522074936560#docid=1661954687975599938

 

[EhabIsaac]

hmm, ya you can say train as twain but try to get the "r" as 2% with the W .. Like hmm lemme Record my voice lol ..


um okay

listen how do i pronounce Train, Tragedy and Training.

tr.mp3

Hint : I'm not a native speaker ..

 

[Dacre]

Personally, when I say train, it's almost as if I am saying "chrain."
If you have to break it into two syllables to improve, I think a better approximation would be cha-rain (train), cha-ry (try), etc.

But, as you said, it's important that it is said quickly or it will sound odd. You're right it is pronounced as a combination, not as t-r, but often times that is better than saying it as "Tw" because people often find a pronunciation of Tr as Tw humorous (unfortunately).

 

[yangmuye]

English tr is usually affricative.
Vietnamese has a tr[tʂ] sound, which is similar to English tr. However, it has a allomorph [ʈ].

Always try to make an affricative[tʂ] instead of a pure stop [ʈ].