Ah, the famous French R!
What a headache!
I'm sure you've already had trouble pronouncing it, but moreover, no one has told
you that there are three ways to pronounce it.
Yes, yes, yes.
Three different pronunciations for the same letter.
Don't panic, we will see together these different pronunciations.
When and how to pronounce them in the easiest way.
First, forget about the R in English.
It's not the same thing at all.
Let's go!
Let's start with .
This is the pronunciation of the vibrating sound
r as in .
When I pronounce re, my tongue is against the immobile bottom teeth.
My vocal cords vibrate.
And the sound really comes out of my throat and not my nose.
Then we have the pronunciation.
This is the pronunciation of the r as deaf that does not vibrate.
As in Brothers or Work.
This sound is much closer to Ur in Arabic.
I pronounce as if I wanted to pronounce R.
By blowing air out to the sides with the tongue flat against the lower teeth when
pronouncing r with or without vibration.
If you're wondering about this, you don't have to worry about it.
It is the environment, the letters and the sounds surrounding the R that determine how
your phonatory system pronounces this letter.
So let's not get lost in the details.
Look at the word brother.
If I try to vibrate the R in this word, I won't succeed.
Brother, brother, brother, it's always the letter E after that that
vibrates and not the R, unless the f becomes a V true R true R I can vibrate it
now. And finally, we have the last pronunciation of the letter R, .
This is the pronunciation of the rolled r, as in Spanish or Italian.
Have you ever tried to pronounce the word Italian ravioli?
It's exactly the same thing.
Except instead of rolling the r to the front of your mouth, you roll it to the back.
But don't panic, we don't usually roll the R in French, but it's good to know that they
exist, especially to appreciate the talented Edith Piaf.
No, nothing at all.
No, I don't regret anything.
And that's it for this course on the letter R.