R vs. W Sounds - American English Pronunciation

SUBSCRIBE!: bit.ly/RE_sub, ESL: Learn the difference in the tongue position between the R and W consonants. Practice the R sound in consonant clusters/blends.
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Cải thiện nói tiếng Anh Mỹ / 미국 영어 발음 향상 / 話されているアメリカ英語を向上させる / Улучшаем произношение американского варианта английского языка / Meningkatkan berbicara bahasa Inggris Amerika / Melhore sua pronúncia do inglês americano / Mejorar el habla Inglés Americano / 美語 / बात अमेरिकी अंग्रेजी में सुधार / تحسين لهجتك الأمريكية الإنجليزية / שפר את המבטא האמריקאי שלך
...with Rachel's English!
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[@rachelsenglish]

Hi Tam, you have a good ear. You can think of it this way: the unstressed syllable is so short that the vowel sound is dropped, since the R can feel like a vowel sometimes. So you're hearing: pr-vide, etc.

[@amaliekubel8042]

so my r sounds like w “would you like to see my woom?” “my favourite colour is wed!” “so I wan over to the store the other day..” “maybe I should go for a wun?”

[@notbenet]

Same hahah

[@Shay45]

Children do this all the time. I had to go to speech therapy in elementary school nto say my R's

[@bukskiebuks6621]

Hahaha im glad i am not alone haha

[@ImSheridan]

Me too, I’m 17 and have been battling it my whole lifeeee I’ve gotten made fun of so many times but this video has helped I think

[@pantsjeanmen7875]

thanks so much . ive been bullied my whole life about the way i talk . you really helped a lot.

[@vinntran5141]

same

[@ΙερώνυμοςΚόρακας]

"About the way I SPEAK". "Talking" is when you're speaking TO someone else.

[@Richard-lx3xk]

Yes, they are losers and don't have much else to do, so they judge people that want to expose themself to positivity and learning to improve.

[@Sin-ev7tv]

Same it nice to know am not the only one

[@subbingtoeveryonewhosubsto4123]

ITS WEALLY NOT THAT HARD

[@briank2929]

This is a genius. Of course for the native speaker, it might be a boring video but for those who speak English as a second language, this is like row, no I mean wow!

[@spencerfriedman3347]

thank you rachel. ive been struggling with my speech for 20+ years and this video helped me.

[@rachelsenglish]

That's great to hear! You're welcome!:)

[@cecya.5582]

Best american english teacher ever! 👍🤟🤙😀

[@caitlinl.7048]

I have this problem, it's called rhotacism, but anyway, I showed this video to my speech teacher and now she subscribed and watches ur videos to help her students, thank you.

[@parzival8331]

I wish i had apeech teacher rip.

[@alanbenfield7893]

This is so useful, thank you Rachel. I sing in a band and at times it’s noticeable where I substitute the R for W, hopefully practicing this should help. Regards

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Alan!

[@gabrielarubileon2559]

@@rachelsenglish j vh fcrcrcv

[@rachelsenglish]

Speakers from India tend to flap the R sound, watch the video on how to make the R to work on a sound that you can hold out! Also, they tend to switch V and W sounds.

[@jackgaughan2039]

I am a speech therapist and I have never heard of the lips rounding for /r/ production like you use Rachel. Since your /r/ sounds as accurate as mine with the retracted lips, this emphasises that the key is the tongue positioning

[@annalisafusi9717]

This is actually helping me! I've been trying so hard to replicate the sound focusing on the lips as well but maybe it's not that important

[@rachelsenglish]

That's really impressive!

[@Daiki_Aomine]

Thanks, you got a new Subcsrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-iber.

[@diegofelipe8715]

ONE KISS FOR YOUR TEACHER. AMAZING JOB.

[@rachelsenglish]

Thank you!

[@diegofelipe8715]

Keep with big goals.

[@ayoubbrown_]

Thank you Mrs. Rachel The video was so helpful.

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks again!

[@bruce4551]

this language itself is hard as hell not to mention they have linking words in the conversation between natives and accents

[@susyvargas1110]

Thank you Rachel! You are such a sweetheart. Thank you for always encouraging and motivating ESL students!

[@tienganhcobinh]

A great teacher!

[@baadgallzii3506]

This helped alot , a lot of kids use to talk to me because I couldn’t speak right like I say “rat” as “wat”.

[@613FreakyFriday]

Thanks Rachel, your lessons are really helpful, keep going. I wish i have a teacher like you.

[@lukelukemusic]

omg. What a great help. I had no idea the tongue played such an important role in pronouncing the "R". As a teacher, you'd think I'd already know how to speak correctly.

[@rachelsenglish]

Luke W So glad this helps!

[@zuna5930]

Hi Rachel, my spoken English got improved a lot, thanks to your pronunciation videos. Thank you very much!

[@SergeHID]

Wow, I've been pronouncing the "R" sound incorrectly for years (like Rachel's second group). I actually felt that something was wrong, because the sound was not clear - now I understand why. Thanks a lot, Rachel!

[@alinn2630]

useful and helpful as usual 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks again Ali!

[@Forlocsake]

You are definitely the best in KZbin. I'm learning so much! Thanks a million.

[@airudemigs6363]

Thank you so much! It help me a lot! Now i'm more confident than before! :) I love you!

[@madvel4656]

I am made fun of all the time for the way I talk I think is really going to help me. Thank you!

[@awdalysaleh4045]

Thank you , really great , although I need more about 'R' .

[@mpxlflow]

Dr Phil

[@MichaelPhongMitchell]

When I first came to the USA, I was told that I had trouble with the "r" and "w" sounds. My mother used to correct me all the time when I was eleven to twelve years old. I had to go to speech therapy to correct my "r" sound. War/raw and word were excellent examples with both the "r" and "w" in the same word.

[@gdfh9006]

Oh my gosh, i just learnt gow to spell r but not that good but its a lot better than i how i used to do it,thank you a lot!

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@MrPovsekakiy]

I had broken my tongue before I understood how to pronounce R sound properly. Thanks a lot, it was very helpful!

[@PriscilaUeno]

best english teacher on youtube!

[@rachelsenglish]

Hi Alejandro, I have made up a study guide for that on the Premium Subscription portion of my website. There is also a 'where to start' study guide on my site which is free!

[@percycahill3]

Thanks for this this really help my speach impediment.

[@rachelsenglish]

Happy to hear that Killian! Keep it up!

[@JamesTownsendJian]

Thank you! This is quite helpful! I'm having a rather hard time pronouncing the R sound, depending on what other letters are in the word. For example, I can easily pronounce "reach" and "reek" (anything sounding like "e", basically), yet haven't quite mastered pronouncing R with words like "rake", "rain", "rack", "red" (words that have an "eh" or "ah" sound to them). Hopefully, I'll get 'em too, in time.

[@jamiecronce3156]

I'm a speech therapist and I just want to say that you do not round your lips for the /r/. Your lips should actually retract with the corners of your lips pulling back, if only slightly.

[@0_sand971]

Thank you I'm a native speaker and I always had difficulties pronouncing the letter r

[@jackgaughan2039]

exactly

[@karenkrayker8311]

you're an amazing teacher thank you very much you helped me a lot ❤👍

[@gomnamheros8466]

Very Good

[@-Winterwinde-]

This video helped me alot, thank you :)

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Snowfall!

[@everardos]

Rachel, again, than you very much for all your great videos. They are extremely helpful.

[@awdalysaleh4045]

Ms . Rachel I am waiting , and glad to hear you pronoun the 'R' .Thank you in advance .

[@Ivy_1057]

Love your lessons! Would you please add more videos on r especially with combinations br, tr, cr and such. It is very hard to pronounce these sounds 😳

[@rachelsenglish]

Thank you!!! :)

[@killerpotato6868]

THANK U SO MUCH!!!!!

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@jordanlabreck]

For some reason, I still can’t say girl correctly. It always comes out as gurl but not girl

[@mableclark]

Yeah, me too, same with earl, pearl, curl, and all the other words like that.

[@ThangTran-em4of]

Same

[@nielsb.rasmussen2346]

Oh yeah yeah

[@AmineBachiri13]

Oh yeah nahui

[@mr.dragoji3149]

Mate that's almost perfect as girl is actually pronounced as gurl by Google Search "meaning of girl" (Quiet silly though) and then hear the pronounciation You may tap on learn to pronounce nxt for the actual spelling of the pronounced word

[@liyah-mel]

Thank you

[@diehardfan173]

Really useful thank you for taking the time to do this, my students enjoy using this to learn from.

[@innovation20]

Many thanks, Rachel!

[@meredithcameron6533]

I disagree that there is lip rounding for R. People who isolate the tongue and keep the lips still do better in initial R in speech therapy. Lip rounding is not necessary in words like Rachel and Red.

[@catleaderk]

Thanks!

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome!

[@bearm112]

Thank you! I find it hard to say these words more difficult for me to sound True - Drew

[@israel6767]

Thanks for the lesson very helpful.

[@gauravpandey1991]

You're an angel 🙌❤

[@rachelsenglish]

Thanks Gaurav!

[@RBXTrains]

How do you start words with R though? Words like Railway I always seem to totally muck up...

[@rachelsenglish]

Have you seen my video on the R consonant? Here it is, if not: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZCygp2BgdunZqc

[@ramzy-6566]

thank you so much.

[@rachelsenglish]

You're always welcome @ramzy-6566!

[@stephengodwin9525]

I can pronounce Any word with the R in the second spot as in Proud, Tree, and even beginning with Reach. In that case I can't say Car, better, etc. Can you please help ?

[@priyanshuvasava9073]

Im From India i like Your Vidio Thank you Mame

[@russellodal1182]

People's genetics play a role in how they speak. For example, a person with predominantly French heritage naturally gravitates towards speaking with the same muscle memory that their ancestors had. I think this has a lot to do with why so many people have the R/W speech impediment, but I'm not sure. (It's a croissant, not a kwassau)

[@oliviamyers7797]

Projit sago is watching

[@rachelsenglish]

That's hard! Check out my video on how to pronounce numbers. It might help!

[@jakewood5475]

i did not know this actully until seeing this...

[@langduca5220]

Thanks Rachel!!

[@jalalbenlaidi7289]

thank you so much teacher for your precious course could you please post some idioms course because it feels us near american culture thank you so much again jalal tunisia

[@cloudunder1546]

thank you for w tongue position explanation which i didn't know

[@rachelsenglish]

Cloud Under You're very welcome.

[@citizen1184]

I always curve my tongue when pronouncing R (tip of the tongue up). Does it totally wrong? If it is so my life will never be the same... Besides there are many videos on KZbin of this technique. Many courses teach like that... Forexample how to pronaunce the word "bar" and not to curve a tongue? Please tell me the only true way of pronanciating. Thanks.

[@rachelsenglish]

Hello! There are multiple ways to pronounce the American English R sound. Some native speakers do curve the tip of the tongue up, as you do. However, I teach the R by lifting up the middle of the tongue and pulling it slightly back. Both will create good American English R sounds - so keep doing what works for you!

[@thewisedude4202]

i can say easy, short words that only have 1 r in them but words that have more Rs in them it feels really weird to say... for example: very rarely

[@richH1625]

1:28 brake - & the lips seem to stay tighter to the teeth than with bwake?

[@Officialhelpkenet]

I have always made the retroflex ɻ sound, I never realised that it was different.

[@adventurousmango]

You are talented helpful and good looking

[@الصقرالجارح-ض1ذ4ط]

rachel agreat teacher thank you

[@gk.2610]

Rachel is a great teacher....

[@gustavomenezes8159]

Rachel, I have a suggestion: why don't you analyse an American song? It's a way to practice the speech of the real life. But if you think it is a bad idea, tell me why! You're helping a lot of ESL!

[@GCurl]

it helps me a lot!

[@garyrector7394]

This is great.

[@rachelsenglish]

Gary Rector Thanks! :)

[@themythhesham]

accept my saulotion from egypt ....i know many things from your videos

[@miguelsierra0615]

Thanks.

[@gabriellecrawford9856]

Weally cool

[@Lucols4]

Oh yes, the Elmer Fudd "r".

[@alejandrocubides8739]

I am spanish speaker, do you know ways or strategies to start speaking as native english speaker

[@LizaChigrina]

I have some troubles with my "thr" sound. I can't pronounce the word "three" T.T Oh, what to do~

[@dd120uu]

sound r is soo hard to myy even my first language

[@langduca5220]

Dear Rachel, I find it so difficult to pronounce words like : prevail /prɪ'veɪl/ ; provide /prə'vaɪd/ . According to what I heard in my dictionary these two words sound more like /pɚ'veɪl/ ; /pɚ'vaɪd/ and that made me so confuse. Please teach me a way to correct this. Thank you so much Rachel.

[@sw2954]

For the W imagine playing saxophone. The air from throat is blocked by joined lips with vibration.

[@АлексейХренкто]

Order, I’m from Ukraine so I’m can’t say this, I’m saying like oude or oRder, neither first nor second are right, what to do?

[@rachelsenglish]

Unfortunately, all you can do is keep practicing. The fact that you can say the second one - with the R sound stronger than you want, is a good sign! Keep working on lightening up the R sound without losing it and you'll find the right sound for this word.

[@minareda10000]

hi Rachel i haven't understood if is i say break like bweak something good i mean is that the right pronunciation for break or not?

[@rachelsenglish]

+mina reda You want to make sure that you are using the R sound after the B in 'break' - rather than the W sound!

[@orhoushmand85]

If there is a sound harder for me to hear the difference between 'w' than 'ɹ' This is 'r'. The letter R I say 'r'.

[@mathiass1999]

I'm danish, so this r sound is really fucking hard

[@go-cm4rz]

Matti Skovbaek I'm Austrian and I feel your struggle.

[@marshiemoon]

Matti Skovbaek ive been English my whole life and r has been a struggle for me

[@moonstar-fj9wu]

Actually I can’t do this with my tongue. It’s just impossible for me...why?

[@pewdiepiejespersen7219]

00moonstar 02 practice is key

[@olympic-ass-eater]

Pewdiepie Jespersen Not if you have the accent. I have Vietnamese accent and I can't pull my tongue back.

[@eknerpyknic6219]

thank you so much and this was a bit hard because i'm actually french and people bullied me all the time because i said FWENDS or GWEAT

[@rachelsenglish]

You're welcome Ekner!

[@heyfenina]

Same

[@0_sand971]

I'm a native speaker and I have to go a speech therapist to help me pronounce and I still struggle

[@adamcarson5311]

Hey Ross, do not worry, many people have this problem. I have faith you will improve on this. If you wanted some help besides your speech therapist, our recent video we uploaded might help you. I will leave a link to the video below for you. And if the video helps you, please fee free to check out the rest of the channel. Thanks and good luck, I really hope the video helps you!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnmwc6uGoddkiM0

[@TheGeraldo1984]

help me!!!! Which pronounces of "in the" in music "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan? Would:[in'i]?

[@plin591]

nice

[@jazczrbc]

could you make a video about how to say "warranty"?. it is extremely hard to pronounce

[@jazczrbc]

***** I really really appreciate your reply my comment....but I don't know how to pronounce it... you can tell me another way to write it which sounds the same way as the first one but I still don't know how to pronounce it.

[@jazczrbc]

+Lyrics Master Thanks anyways!!!

[@aahpuuh]

andres zuñiga try 'war-ranti'

[@jesselgohary7125]

My best friend has that problem and gave it to me she doesn't have it any more instead she has a lisb but my sister bullies me from it I don't mind it although some say I don't try but I do who else gets this?

[@pilargarcia1503]

when can i drop the r

[@Kieselwyrm]

Is "w" a consonant? Isn't it actually an /u/ + following vowel? (O .0)

[@rachelsenglish]

Hi! The W is often considered a "semi-vowel" - so it does have vowel-like properties. But I would recommend thinking of it as a consonant sound and not the [u] vowel followed by another vowel. The lips are much more rounded for the beginning of the W consonant than they are for the [u] vowel. You may want to check out my video specifically on the W consonant: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIicZX9sa5Vpeqc

[@asadmazharullah2768]

I can't do the rrrr sound with my toungue up, because I'm a bottom tounguer!! So is there a video for people teaching others how to make the r sound with their toungues DOWN!!!

[@seangibbs3902]

I can't say "right" instead I always say "white"

[@Nakasofi]

Rachel, Hi, The "r" sound in words like: wrong, radical, write, and Rachel.. it is the same sound that the "r" in spanish? for say perro, carro? I mean... have we to roll our tongue for doing that sound? Please, forgive my bad grammar.

[@74jrh3]

Nakary Jimenez You only roll your tongue for /rr/, not for just /r/.

[@TheXxmad4everxx]

Nakary Jimenez there's no r roll in english

[@dhimantpanchal2376]

Dear , can you help me how to speak letter Q.

[@أحمدالدسوقي-ت9س]

Where do you feel the W sound is located?

[@rachelsenglish]

Here's my in-depth video on the W sound: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iIicZX9sa5Vpeqcsi=X6Ik-PMMKRlnic9V

[@أحمدالدسوقي-ت9س]

@@rachelsenglish How does it sound to you as a native speaker if someone does the W sound without raising the back of their tongue? Are the ears of a native speaker sensitive enough to detect such movement of the back of the sound? And does it matter very much?

[@everardos]

thank*

[@fmamamaba1460]

No matter how much I try I can’t pronounce it correctly