10 Tips For Rolling The Spanish R - Trevor Huxham

Home » How To Roll R In Spanish » 10 Tips For Rolling The Spanish R - Trevor Huxham

Maybe your like

Skip to main content

10 Tips for Rolling the Spanish R

February 15, 2014 The infamous Spanish trilled R is found in words like perro (“dog”), rama (“branch”), and ferrocarril (“railway”), and I’m sure this double R has probably caused more grief to students of Spanish than the subjunctive, conditional, and imperfect…combined. Although most intermediate Spanish learners tend to pick up on how to “tap” or “flap” their Rs—think the way Americans pronounce the “TT” sound in the word butter—trilling or rolling their double Rs is almost always a lot trickier.
Rolling the Spanish R
(Source: chrisinplymouth)
The main reason it’s so hard to trill the Spanish R is because many native speakers of English simply can’t reproduce the sound—no matter how hard they try—since the English language has no place for the alveolar trill in its set of sounds, preferring instead the R we all know and love, found in words like wrap, ream, and terabyte. Nevertheless, everyone is born with the ability to make all the sounds in every human language, from the clicks of the Khoi-San languages to the rounded vowels of French. But infants, mere months out of the womb, begin trying to figure out what sounds belong to the language they’re hearing…and discard the ones they don’t hear. Even at the age of six months, babies have already made serious progress in determining the phonemic system of their new mother tongue, focusing on the sounds they’re hearing and forgetting (most) all the rest. Of course, many native English-speaking children are still able to roll their Rs despite not being Scottish (ahem), but if you were anything like me, all you could do was blow raspberries with your lips—no such luck with trilling your tongue. However, once I began seriously studying Spanish in college, I set my heart on learning (re-learning?) how to roll my Rs. Two years of practice later, and a lively, strong trilled R rolled out of my mouth one cold December night. It is still one of the happiest days of my life; I had finally figured out how to roll my Rs! If you’re still struggling to get to that point, read through these tips and suggestions below. I hope they help you in your quest to sound more native than gringo or guiri in your Spanish accent!

1) Understand what a trill is

This is just the technical stuff, but it helps to know what exactly is going on before you attempt to learn this sound. Wikipedia describes an alveolar trill in simple, easy-to-understand English:
The sound of this consonant is formed by placing the tip of your tongue against the ridge just behind the top row of your teeth. This is what is meant by “alveolar.” The sound is then made by vibrating your tongue against that ridge. This makes it a trill consonant.
So, to sum up: the rolled R is alveolar—meaning it’s produced in the same place you would make the T, D, S, Z, N, and L sounds—and a trill—meaning it’s like that repeated sound you make when imitating a motorcycle or when you gargle mouthwash in the back of your throat.

2) Substitute a breathy/airy flap to make a bridge between the flap and the trill

If you make a transition zone between the tapped R that you can make and the rolled R you can’t, you might be able to trick your tongue into inadvertently going full speed ahead and trilling that R. Practice saying “rhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhrhr” over and over again (alone, so people don’t think you’re strange). The extra breath you’re giving to your flapped R might just tip you into the Land of Rolled Rs.

3) Listen to other people make the sound

If you have friends who do know how to trill, ask them to demonstrate it for you so you can “take notes,” if you will. Plus, simply hearing other people doing it live will subconsciously help you mimic the sound, giving you a little more edge to get over the rolling-the-R bar. If you don’t know anyone who can roll their Rs (or think it would be weird), listen to Peruvian singer Susana Baca belt ’em out in her song “Resbalosas.” There’s a particularly mournful part of the song near the end where Baca drags out the word cierra that really helped me to hear the rolled R. Your mileage may vary, but it worked for me.

4) Make two flaps in a row

This method can get a little tiring after a while, but if you attempt to do two tapped Rs in a row (remember, it’s that sound Americans make for the TT sound in butter), you’re basically 75% of the way there. If you keep it up, you might accidentally stumble upon a rolled R! It’s not for nothing that a rolled R is called a vibrante múltiple in Spanish linguistics; if you can approximate a trill with a series of flaps, you’ll be doing the real deal in no time!

5) Move your tongue back

I make my best RRs if my tongue is a little farther back in my mouth. Too close to my teeth, and tierra sounds more like tiezha, but toward the back (near that “alveolar ridge” right before the roof of your mouth rises up) and it’s perfect. Play around to see what fits you best; as long as you can end up rolling the R, it’s not too important to have the tip of your tongue in a precise location.
Rolling the Spanish R
(Source: chrisinplymouth)

6) Move your jaw around

When I was first getting used to this new sound my mouth could create, I had trouble making it unless I moved my jaw to the right. This might be because my face isn’t perfectly symmetrical (one of my ears is lower than the other…whomp, whomp), but for all I know, moving my jaw side to side or forward and back helps those rolled Rs to, uh, roll along. I recommend taking a look at this super-helpful website where you can listen to native speakers make all the sounds in the Spanish language, complete with videos so you can see how to position your jaw correctly.

7) Release your inhibitions

I don’t know if this just a problem I have, but when I was still learning how to roll my Rs, I had trouble doing it unless I was by myself in my room or driving in the car. (Kind of like how I can’t sing solos but I can sing in a choir…whatever.) If you’re more extroverted or don’t have stage fright, walk around saying hrhrhrhrhrhrhr all you want, but you’ll feel more relaxed and able if you go for a drive or find a quiet place.

8) Support it with voice

I can make both the typical voiced trill and Icelandic-style voiceless one, but it’s a lot easier to make the rolled R sound if you support it with voice. So speak up; it will help!

9) Support it with your diaphragm

Like #8, support your attempts to roll your R with your diaphragm. By this, I mean when you practice saying names like Fuencarral, Tarragona, or Ferrol, suck in your stomach to raise your diaphragm muscle, which will help push more air out and make it easier to trill that R. (Props to my high school choir teacher for teaching me this singing tip, which oddly helps in speaking Spanish.)

10) Focus on getting it between vowels first

When you’re first learning the rolled R, it’s hardest to make the sound on its own, independent from a word or syllable. Then comes the initial position; in Spanish, Rs at the starts of words are rolled, but don’t stress about those at the beginning. Focus on practicing the trill in the intervocalic position; i.e., when it appears between two vowels. Intervocalic Rs are easiest for me between one or two As, so words like arranca, arrabal, arrecife, arroz, etc., might be better to practice on than irreducible, for example. Be persistent! I can’t repeat it enough that it took me two years of college to finally learn how to roll my Rs in Spanish. Remember that, unless you have an actual disability with your tongue, you can physically make the sound…you just have to trick your body into doing it, and once you’ve gotten past that initial time, the muscle memory will stick with you like riding a bike. Good luck! What tips have you found most helpful in figuring out how to trill your Rs in Spanish? Add them to the discussion below! language spanish tips

What others are reading:

My 10 Favorite Cathedrals in Spain

October 25, 2017 Image Eighty-seven—that’s the number of Catholic cathedrals in Spain today. Although I didn’t grow up Catholic (I’m a Southern Baptist turned Episcopalian), this church nerd managed to visit 26 of Spain’s cathedrals that span a multitude of architectural styles and layouts when I lived in the country from 2012 to 2015. Why cathedrals? There’s nothing intrinsic about a cathedral that automatically makes them big and beautiful; they’re simply home to the cathedra or seat of a bishop. But from the Middle Ages onward, bishops enjoyed great social status, and the churches where they presided reflected this prestige with monumental works of architecture. (Fun fact: Barcelona’s soaring Sagrada Família is not a cathedral, as it is not the seat of the bishop of the diocese of Barcelona). With so many cathedrals to see in Spain, it’s hard to know what to focus on. Below I’ve composed a list of my top ten favorite ones, which includes crowd-favorites like the cathedral of Sevilla as well as of... keep reading...

My 10 Favorite Churches in Rome

March 13, 2014 Image When I was back home in Texas last summer, I decided to educate myself on all the architectural styles that have left their mark across the centuries in western Europe. I had a vague idea of what Romanesque , Gothic , or Classical Revival  buildings looked like, but I would have been stumped had you asked me to explain what exactly made each time period stand out from the others. So I embarked on  History of Architecture I ,  a free iTunes U course taught by Ohio State University professor Jacqueline Gargus. Although I have no background in architecture, engineering, or design, I found it super easy to jump right to Prof. Gargus’s lively discussion of western architecture. Ceiling of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore Watching these lectures really helped me to grow in my knowledge of the major styles, and I now feel comfortable explaining the differences and revolutionary ideas of each era. I also enjoyed being introduced to some of the most significant exam... keep reading...

Is St. James Really Buried in Santiago de Compostela, Spain?

October 30, 2018 Image As you head down a curve of the busy San Pedro street, you catch your first view of the twin bell towers of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela—and you catch your breath. Petite hatchbacks rattle across the cobblestone as your feet seem drawn farther down the path, although that might just be gravity pulling you downhill toward the old zone. You cinch up your backpack’s sternum strap for the final approach of this multiple-night pilgrimage. For not the first time on your Camino, you lose your sense of direction as you enter Santiago’s old town: granite flagstones at your feet, stone-and-graying-plaster houses on either side, and overcast skies above disorient you—yet your eyes eventually lock on to a spray-painted yellow arrow on the side of a building. Once you’re back on autopilot, you start to reflect on why you started this crazy, 70-mile-plus hike in the first place. Rúa de San Pedro, Santiago de Compostela Maybe you hiked from Sarria farther inland as a cheap and hea... keep reading...

browse by tag

spain219 travel189 galicia75 photo66 food38 santiago de compostela33 living abroad31 pueblos29 andalucia28 architecture25 tips25 a coruña18 catalunya18 update18 arizona17 history17 auxiliares de conversacion16 jaen16 ruins16 france14 united states14 churches13 language13 rant13 rias baixas13 barcelona12 confession12 culture shock12 gaudi12 hiking12 texas12 castilla y leon11 mountains11 national monument11 nerd alert10 cathedrals9 roman9 morocco8 national park service8 spanish8 thoughts8 aragon7 asturias7 beaches7 camino de santiago7 madrid7 pontevedra7 portugal7 school7 castilla6 coconino county6 culture6 houston6 italy6 park6 coffee5 creative5 girona5 homesickness5 ubeda5 utah5 azahar4 cantabria4 castles4 festivals4 flagstaff4 leon4 meta4 modernista4 restaurants4 sinagua4 ancestral puebloan3 arizona state park3 boiro3 camp verde3 chefchaouen3 cooking3 cordoba3 dallas3 flagstaff daytrips3 galician3 gard3 languedoc3 lisbon3 lugo3 market3 new mexico3 oregon3 ourense3 phoenix daytrips3 provence3 recipes3 route 663 study abroad3 teruel3 trains3 verde valley3 wine3 yavapai county3 arles2 art2 baeza2 basque country2 bend2 bierzo2 blogging2 bouches-du-rhone2 campania2 cars2 castros2 chateaux2 christmas2 contest2 costa da morte2 education2 el escorial2 family2 ferrol2 fez2 fisterra2 flowers2 forest service2 germany2 granada2 grand staircase-escalante national monument2 holidays2 hoodoos2 itineraries2 kanab2 la rioja2 lake powell2 loire valley2 malaga2 maps2 maricopa county2 meknes2 museums2 national park2 navajo county2 nie2 normandy2 padron2 picos de europa2 pinal county2 porto2 public transit2 review2 rheinland2 sand dunes2 segovia2 sevilla2 soup2 spring2 street art2 tapas2 tempe2 thanksgiving2 tie2 tuscany2 urbanism2 valencia2 vigo2 villanueva del arzobispo2 visa2 volcanoes2 winslow2 zamora2 zaragoza2 a guarda1 aachen1 abanqueiro1 accents1 africa1 ajo1 alamogordo1 albarracin1 albuquerque1 alcala de henares1 alcazar de san juan1 alicante1 almeria1 antequera1 apache county1 arabic1 aranjuez1 arboretum1 astorga1 avignon1 avila1 azay-le-rideau1 badajoz1 balloons1 bayeux1 belem1 besalu1 betanzos1 bilbao1 boqueixon1 boyce thompson arboretum1 brittany1 bueu1 burgos1 cactus1 campo de criptana1 cangas de onis1 cannon beach1 canyons1 carmona1 carnota1 casa grande ruins national monument1 catalan1 caves1 cazorla1 central arizona1 ceuta1 chinon1 cies1 coconino national forest1 cologne1 combarro1 comillas1 coolidge1 coral pink sand dunes state park1 costa brava1 costa rica1 covadonga1 dc1 elections1 europe1 extremadura1 fall1 fashion1 figueres1 florence1 flying1 fort verde state historic park1 galveston1 gibraltar1 glen canyon dam1 glen canyon national recreation area1 greek1 harry potter1 hohokam1 holbrook1 holy week1 homolovi state park1 huesca1 islands1 iznatoraf1 jewish1 la mancha1 lastres1 lazio1 linares1 llanes1 logroño1 luanco1 melilla1 menswear1 merida1 meteor crater1 monahans1 monahans sandhills state park1 mondoñedo1 mont-saint-michel1 montezuma castle national monument1 moorish1 mosques1 moulay idriss1 mudejar1 muros1 music1 muxia1 naples1 national recreation area1 navarra1 newberry national volcanic monument1 nimes1 noia1 ordes1 organ pipe cactus national monument1 oviedo1 page1 painted desert1 pamplona1 pandemic1 paris1 permian basin1 petrified forest national park1 petroglyphs1 photography1 pima county1 pompeii1 ponferrada1 pre-romanesque1 prehistoric1 puente viesgo1 rain1 rainbow bridge national monument1 recycling1 regions1 reus1 ribadavia1 ribadeo1 ribadesella1 ribeira1 ribeira sacra1 ribeiro1 romanesque1 rome1 sabiote1 saint-malo1 salamanca1 san jacinto1 san millan de la cogolla1 san sebastian1 santa fe1 santillana del mar1 sanxenxo1 siena1 sintra1 space1 stereotypes1 sunset crater volcano national monument1 superior1 synagogues1 tarragona1 taxes1 texas state park1 the wave1 toledo1 toro1 tui1 united kingdom1 university1 utah state park1 valença do minho1 vaucluse1 vermilion cliffs national monument1 vermouth1 villeneuve-les-avignon1 volubilis1 voting1 walkability1 walnut canyon national monument1 waterfall1 weather1 white sands national park1 windmills1 winter1 wupatki national monument1 Show more

Tag » How To Roll R In Spanish