Pronouncing 'r'

I do not pronounce the French R very well, especially when the it is in the middle/end of the word (as in notre or merci). Any suggestions, explanations, practice methods, etc? Merci!

I'm still getting the hang of it myself. It's useful to remember that the tip of your tongue should touch behind your lower teeth, and the back of your tongue should be bunched up against the throat, which should almost be closed, as if you're trying to keep from swallowing some liquid. Anyway, that's a helpful way of thinking about it for me. You might want to look at some YouTube videos, such as: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQA4Wyhb8BU I can say from experience learning other languages is that mostly it just takes lots of practice speaking - I went through the same thing with the trilled 'r' in Spanish, for example. First I couldn't do it, then I could but it sounded either really bad or overdone, and over time it got better a little at a time, until other students were commenting on how good it sounded, and how did I learn to do that? :) Good luck! ~Doug

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=BsErE00ItH0&feature=share&list=TLXbNpg9LI6c professor in french (her vocus is prenunciation)! The R is diffrent at the begining middle and end. (your toung touches your bottom front teeth, gargle slightly at the back... (Meh-rgh-see). (English/Spanish native...learning french)

http://www.youtube.com/watchv=quiez2Y2gcM&feature=share&list=TLXbNpg9LIGc (Same person, but it has more tips and you more for you I think... Bonne chance!!) (try seeing french media on youtube, and hearning audio book while reading book you already know) I just use rocket languge when I need to record my self to hear what I need to improve on. But try to immerse your self in the languege. -JM

Wonderful question and responses. Glad to know it's not just me. The japanese "r" is also a unique sound. It's going to take practice, but at least I have better chance of learning with the right technique. Je vous remercie! Vincent

My English tongue also struggles with that R. I've studied German and Spanish and couldn't master their Rs either. I even lived in Mexico when I was learning Spanish and that didn't help with my R-pronunciation.

Something that has helped me is the press the back of my hand under my chin while I'm attempting to say words with an r. I got this from a newsletter; here is the excerpt: "Anne Morton demonstrated a trick she learned from her teacher, "Sandrine de Paris" to help pronounce the guttural French R (known as a rhotic consonant) which could be the toughest sound to make. The trick is to place the back of your hand under your chin, pressing the throat so that when you say "merci" the R makes the guttural sound that the French find so natural. For a time Anne was practicing it a lot and every time she'd utter "merci," to a waiter or just about to anyone, I'd catch her pressing her throat! I'm sure they didn't have a clue why!" The entire newsletter can be found here: http://www.adrianleeds.com/component/acymailing/archive/view/mailid-589/key-0fbf817b020385db4e753c528d5a36ae/subid-21154-3ae4255215b6816e3ffb5fc2bdda3a79/tmpl-component