Have you ever tried to pronounce the American “R” ?

Try to pronounce this sentence:

Rihanna rode her horse in the street parade in New Orleans.

Not so easy, right. The “R” sound is one of the most difficult sounds in American English. But it’s also a very common sound. If you can pronounce it correctly, your English will sound much more natural.

So how do you pronounce the American R correctly.

You need to focus on two things: your lips and your tongue.

Your lips are in a little circle, like you want to kiss someone. Pucker up, as we say in English!
“To pucker up” means to make your mouth in the shape like you’re going to kiss someone! And it’s a good word to practice how to pronounce the American “R”.

And for your tongue… You curl your tongue just a little.

I demonstrate exactly how to do these two actions this in the video lesson, so be sure to watch it.

Practice how to pronounce the American R

You put your mouth in this position to pronounce the American R when it’s at the beginning of a word. After you watch the lesson, try to read these words out loud:
Raw – ready – real – road – rule

It’s also true when the “r” is in the middle of the word. Try this slowly, so you can put your lips and tongue in the correct position:
Learn -Berlin – French – trip

And also, when the “r” is at the end of the word. Try these:
Beer – your – more – are

And then there are the challenging ones. These are fun to try!
Rural – rare – squirrel

*Good luck with those!*

In the lesson, I demonstrate the pronunciation of all of those words. Let’s learn how to pronounce the American R together!

Now what about you?

Did this lesson help you better pronounce “r”?
Did I help you solve this problem? If you have another question about pronunciation, tell me in the comments! It could become a future video 🙂

For extra practice with the “r” sound and other sounds that learner often have difficulties with, check out this playlist of pronunciation videos.

Also, if you want me to personally coach you to improve your pronunciation, check out my page on personal fluency coaching. 

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