Proper R sound

[sharkerr]

Hi guys,

No I'm at total loss when it comes to pronounce an English R.

Some of teachers say that to make proper R sound you need to curl you tongue:
SPEECH: R set 1 - YouTube

But some others like:
English: How to Pronounce R [?] Consonant: American Accent - YouTube
(0:42) say that actually curling your tongue is an incorrect version of R !

I'm obviously hopeless at this, so any hints would be more than welcomed!

 

[5jj]

There are more variations of /r/ than of any other consonant phoneme in English. It can be an approximant[FONT=&quot] [ɾ], an alveolar tap [ɹ] or (with more retroflexion) [/FONT][FONT=&quot][ [FONT=&quot]ʈ[/FONT]], a lingual trill [r], an uvular trill [ʀ], or an uvular fricative [ʁ][/FONT]. You'll just have to go with the the /r/ that your teacher or coursebook CD presents.

 

[SlickVic9000]

(Not a Teacher)

I feel the tip of my tongue curling back whenever I make an "r" sound, if it's anything to you. I'm a southern AmE speaker.

 

[N Senbei]

Hello sharkerr,

I’m not a native speaker of English, sorry, but I think this blog post by John Wells, a notable phonetician, indirectly answers your question.
John Wells?s phonetic blog: bunched/molar r
In short, both types of /r/, a retroflex (curled) R and a bunched R, are commonly used by native speakers of English, and both types of /r/ sound almost the same.
So it is incorrect to say “curling your tongue is an incorrect version of R.”

 

[thatone]

There's more than one way to pronounce the English r:

Alveolar approximant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Retroflex approximant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[N Senbei]

Somehow my previous post hasn’t shown up yet, so I'm trying it again…

Hello sharkerr,

There are mainly two types of articulations in English /r/.
One is a retroflex R (this includes a retroflex approximant and an alveolar approximant, your tongue tip is curling or pointing up in this type of R), and the other is a bunched R (also known as a molar R) which is the articulation recommended in the second video in your post.
Both types of /r/ are commonly used by native speakers of English, and both types of /r/ sound almost the same.
So it is incorrect to say “curling your tongue is an incorrect version of R.”

 

[kiezel52]

It really doesn't matter how you pronounce it. It changes depending on your location. (USA, UK, varies from cities to cities in UK as well.)