Pronounce your "R" in Spanish like a Native Speaker

Why the "r" sound is difficult

The "R" is probable the most difficult sound for students of Spanish as a foreign language. I know because I still remember how hard it was to learn even for me as a native speaker. But don’t panic! It just takes time and practice. The difficulty in the articulation of this particular sound is due to the rolling movement it requires from the tongue. Speakers of languages in which there are no rolling consonants need some thorough practice in order to get it right.

Video: how to pronounce the rolling "R" in Spanish

Our tongue needs to be trained in order to achieve the fast vibrating movement against the palate which produces this rhythmic sound. In just 4 minutes, this video will give you some tips for the pronunciation of this sound:

Tongue twister

Would you like some more practice? Then listen to this famous Spanish tongue twister, which consists of a phrase full of strong rolling r's:



Text of the tongue twister:

El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo, porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha cortado. El perro de Ramón Ramírez no tiene rabo porque se lo han robado ¿Quién le ha robado el rabo al perro de San Roque? ¿Ramón Ramírez ha robado el rabo del perro de San Roque?

First steps with Spanish

If you are starting out with Spanish, our first piece of advice is quite simple: take it easy! You can't learn to speak a foreign language fluently overnight, but if you're patient and constant, you'll soon feel you're progressing.

Listen, listen & listen

No one starts to speak a language without listening first. That's how we all learnt our mother language when we were babies. We just took out time and exposed ourselves to oral language for months before starting to utter our first few words.

So listen to as much authentic Spanish as possible. Our videos and podcasts will help you here.

Listen & repeat

Yes, constant repetition is also a good practice. After all, babies also do that everyday, until they refine their pronunciation. They end up being fluent speakers, so you'd better follow their example.

A few new words everyday

It's good to set up a discipline to learn a few new words everyday. As many as possible, but not too many. Always learn the new words in the context of phrases or situations, not from a cold wordlist. Always start by reviewing the words from the previous day.

Be curious

Curiosity is a great resource for language learners. If you don't understand something, do your best to find out -use dictionaries, Google search or ask a friend, whatever. But take every opportunity to learn something new. It'll keep you young, too!