The best trilled [r] video yet!

On this channel I make videos on topics in Spanish language and linguistics. Mostly phonetics and phonology, but also dialectology, sociolinguistics, and historical linguistics. Many of my videos come from questions asked by viewers in the comment section.
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Phonetics and phonology
Spanish R
Spanish r
Spanish rolled r
how to roll spanish r

[@manofcorn5930]

Every trilled R tutorial: Step 1: Place you tongue like so Step 2: Trill your R's

[@MissCE010]

😂 accurate

[@diegocalvo6261]

This one is no exception

[@thinkpad20]

5:00 ah the inevitable moment in seemingly every trilled R video where you've been correctly doing everything they ask until finally they're like, "and then you go rrrrrrrrr" and I just go "pfftththdhdhdhththth" 😑

[@megahern8467]

EXACTLY. I was really excited about the level of detail in this video for the first few minutes. Then they're like, "and then you just trill your tongue." GAHHHHHH

[@terencechengde]

@@megahern8467 hahaha it went exactly the same for me

[@DAMfoxygrampa]

Same here. It's like I'm missing a step or something

[@fragglegoth]

I can actually trill my rs. But when I followed the steps in this video and then built up pressure in my mouth, it didn't work for me. So I don't know if there's something missing, or if I'm trilling my rs wrong for Spanish. Being able to purr like a cat helps though - maybe having cats growing up helped :)

[@Eyiza]

I am some what there, im in the in between stage, still kinda messy but its actually starting to sound like trilling my r's

[@briannalove749]

EDIT: One day, a few weeks ago, I randomly got it. And I'm honestly a bit frustrated about it because I have no idea what I did differently, if I even did in the first place. I had hoped that if the time ever came where I did it, I'd be able to give some tips to people who were also struggling to help them figure it out too. My problem was that I would have my tongue in the right spot, but the air would either push my tongue out of the way with at most one "tap" or I'd be trying to compensate with extra pressure and my tongue wouldn't allow any air past. I was practicing with the former outcome, and then just *got* it completely randomly when I wasn't even trying. I wish I had some secret info for everyone in the replies who are struggling but I'm afraid not. At this point, I can only produce the isolated sound, and can't do it voiced yet. And it's not 100% perfect either. Given that I can't get it every time I try (it's more like 90%), I do think it's a case of getting all the steps perfect just once and then being able to finally progress from there. Good luck everyone. (Jan '24) Nope, I still can't get my tongue to vibrate lol. This video did definitely help with my tongue placement but no matter how much I try I can never get it to actually vibrate... closest I've gotten is when I've sneezed! Hopefully I can get it eventually lol

[@reemwertheim7781]

Don't worry, it takes time, it took me 4 days of just trying for hours until I finally got it right, just keep practicing, and you will get it in due time

[@janboreczek3045]

@@reemwertheim7781 I've been doing the exact same thing as You, with no success

[@reemwertheim7781]

@@janboreczek3045 each person takes a different amount of time, just remember that it's possible and that the overwhelming majority of the Spanish world can do it. Also I think I watched around a billion videos explaining how to trill, and found some good tongue twisters to practice. After a while of not being able to do it i got one by mistake, and tried to do it again for the rest of the day with no success, the day after that i got a couple more by mistake, the next day i was skiing while practicing and i saw that while I go on rough terrain the bumps i go on while skiing makes my tongue vibrate on just the right way to trill, i kept on going on rough terrain and trilling, i got so excited when I got it right and was able to control it right there that i skied the entire mountain screaming: " CARRO! PERRO! CARRO! PERRO!" That's when I really got excited about Spanish

[@janboreczek3045]

@@reemwertheim7781 Well, guess I'll have to wait for the skiing season. It does however look like I'll have to content with speaking either uncomfortalble double tapped r, or a little less uncomfortable guttural trill. I can do any trill possible for a human, yet this alveolar trill has been elluding me for months of really intense practice and effort. And all of that despite the fact that this sound exists in my native language

[@reemwertheim7781]

@@janboreczek3045 you can give up, that's fine, i don't care. But it's for you, you gotta believe that you will eventually do it. Because a third of the world knows how to do it and it's a learnable skill. You aren't different, you can learn it too

[@banton2878]

Can you please elaborate on “air pressure”? I actually don’t know what are you talking about

[@xyresikk2435]

I know this comment is a year old, but for anyone else struggling with this: think of trying to say the letter 'd' or a really hard 't' without using your voice or throat, it will be almost a bit of a popping sound. This is what the pressure means, and then all you have to do is angle the tip of your tongue slightly back and try to say the words like rot or ring or praise.

[@stevejobs5533]

'without using your voice' wtf does that mean. ​@@xyresikk2435

[@fcomega121]

Yeah I'd describe it like that. Is still hard as a native spanish speaker to explain it but, Like trying to put a lot of emphasis on a "T", the english d sound just as a placement placeholder Then just trying to let the tongue flap while doing the strong T, without pulling out the tongue as with a normal t, but keeping it in place not so hard/pushy either: while producing that small PLOP T sound, pushing a bit of air TO the tongue only the tongue tip instead of just letting it out, strong enough to produce the "T" but soft enough to not make a Spit Th. -It doesn't even has to be so hard, but I might be over experienced by nativity as I can make soft trills just pushing a bit of constant air doing a purrrrr. The rest to go to the final trill is hard to explain. But I hope my extra comment to above's comment to add extra details can help someone out there.

[@KaigerKaiju]

When I try to add the air pressure, the air just passes by my tongue

[@tracyw1200]

Same here. It slips out the sides.

[@unoriginallyanonyoumus601]

i saw on another video to try and make an f sound and then push your tounge up into flow of air

[@gambsy69]

@@tracyw1200 same here

[@ellemueller]

Put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth where retroflex English D goes but the very edges of the sides of your tongue are against your teeth from the tooth behind your incisors all the way to the place where the tip of your tongue touches the roof of your mouth about the distance of the tip of your thumb between your tongue and the front two teeth kline you're locking your thumbnail while your fingerprint presses against those two teeth) and the bottom half of your tongue is flattened and relaxed like when you say "La". Move the tip of your tongue between the back of your front to teeth to where it should properly be for Spanish R while you keep the side edges of your tongue against the front half of your top teeth until you start to feel a vibration on the roof of your mouth while keeping your tongue relaxed. It's like trying to make the childish raspberry noise with your lips and tongue, blowing hard outwardly to say, "THpTHpTH!" You're doing that but with only the top tip against the roof of your mouth while the front ⅓ or so of the edges of the sides of your tongue are against your teeth. That makes a hard to make sound that turns into a Spanish R when enough air forces your tongue out of the way and then varying the pressure will cause it to flap the same way as when you make the raspberry noise.

[@RobPinionYes]

At last I know what to do. Four years of high school Spanish and two more semesters in college. Lots of people tell me I have good Spanish skills, but they just don't acknowledge I haven't been able to trill my r's. I have a linguistics degree and never had anyone show me where the tongue is, what part of the tongue is there, and how to build up pressure like saying an [Indian subcontinent] d. I have had many people attempt to describe what is going on to no avail. Now, I'm taking Latin. They think Latin speakers trilled their r's; so, once again, I'm on a quest to do it. Thank you. I actually got this working partially tonight.

[@srpskihayk]

Yeah, my tongue does not vibrate when pushed with air. The air just goes around it. The only way I have ever been able to vibrate the tip of my tongue is use my throat that little flappy thing hanging down from the throat. It has never worked for me. My Bosnian family (trilled r's are used, and I cannot do them and never have been able to) have always thought me to be defective. I do think it is one of those things you have to be genetically inclined to do or learn, like being able to learn to play a violin, or any complex instrument, like a maestro, or to rattle of primes to a billion wihtout thinking. Reading through the comments, it is heartening to know there is a community of people who cannot, no matter what they do, trill their r's. It is like a support group.

[@emcd6707]

THIS

[@Scarlett_Ravenwood]

I've felt the same but please don't give up. I'm convinced everyone can do it. Some just need more effort and practice. I've been practicing to roll the R for about a week now. I'm a german speaking person and I started with words with a "br" at the beginning like "Braut" and switched the r with a d so I said "Bdaut" a lot. I also said "td td td td" und "tle tle tle" maaaaany times, very fast, every morning and every evening while driving to work or driving home. Amongst that I did lip trills and tried to keep my tounge lose while doing that. Then I put my tounge lose at the top of my gum, very much in the front, the tip is more between the teeth and blocked the air above the tounge. Then I pressed the air out till my tounge started to vibrate. It's like a fart with the tounge to be honest :D it didn't worked immediately so you have to try try try. this vibrating feeling is the one we need but now we have to place this vibration more to the middle part of the tounge and the tip moves back, where we form our "d" and "t" and THEN I came back to words with "br" or "put-it-away" and booom, there came my rolled R :)))) it's not good yet but I keep practicing. Funfact: it's easier when you lay on your back and let your head hang down a little bit (works best on a bed)

[@nicename7247]

brate ovo, ista stvar. uvijek sam mislio da je nešto što se nemože promijeniti, al evo sad malo gledam pa kontam možda možemo nešto izvest (za sad ništa)

[@MA-jg6tw]

I’ve been waiting for this information for a long time. Retroflex was the word I needed I think, nobody ever mentioned that. I can do a fake Indian accent so I can trill my r’s, it was always that easy! But I never knew I could. Thanks

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy this explanation worked for you.

[@WigantX]

Spanish speaking guy here. For most part this is exactly was I was trying to explain to some english speaking friend when rolling their R: >Location of the tongue. >Similar sound in their native language. >The cat purring method. I already send them this video, so they finally can embrace spanish rolled R.

[@runtaoyang1244]

I was someone who thought my palette was the wrong shape and would never be able to do this. However after watching your videos (and others), I can finally do a closed mouth tongue trill most of the time. I still have alot to practice, but I've been stuck on 1a for so long and it feels like a breakthrough. What was really helpful for me was practicing getting my tongue tip in position with just the back and sides of my tongue. Do it throughout the day and don't "try" too hard or too long. That way, you can catch yourself naturally when your mouth is relaxed. Then once I got that down, i literally started with with the sound i make when i hock a loogie (a hoarse vibration in the back of the throat, but be careful not to stretch your throat). Then transition that vibration of the throat and back of the tongue to vibrating the front of the tongue (by engaging my relaxed tongue practice). From there it was a matter of finding it for the first time and remembering to relax while hocking a loogie.

[@Project129]

"Find the D sound." "Done." "Find the other D sound." "Done, I feel it." "Put some air pressure." *Lower Lips immediately let out all air, not vibrating the tongue as it is cleaning out my gums.* OR *Wind noises/No Noise at all.* At this point, closest thing I got is some inhuman mess in the back of my throat. I can't tell if it is just I am unable to roll my tongue due to it not relaxing, my lips not being tight, my entire 'D' sound being off, my tongue folding itself too much, not being able to relax my tongue, etc. I have tried for fifteen years to get this right and I still am no closer. At this point, I think it's just safe to assume any language with a rolled R is an automatic fail and I'll just have to move on. For those who succeed, nicely done. You have far better control, patience, or just better mouth shape. I sincerely and utterly think it's just impossible with my mouth structure at this point.

[@tillysaway]

opening your mouth more should help

[@apolo399]

your lips don't play any role in the articulation of the sound though. the air pressure is built by the seal your tongue makes with the roof of your mouth. the exact point of contact of the tongue tip with the alveolar ridge or palate isn't really as important (at least I, as a native speaker, can make it trill in a wide range and even with a point slightly higher than the tip of the tongue), as long as it's not touching your lips. the most important part seems to be the seal-release mechanism. no lips are involved, only the tongue and the bony parts of your palate.

[@t.c.bramblett617]

These videos are fascinating, even more so since I couldn't trill my r apically for decades, I only could simulate it with the uvula. I only just recently (this year) figured out how to do it, in the course of doing online Spanish lessons. I was able to do it after lots of practice... however, I still couldn't have told you exactly what I was doing to make the sound until I came across your video channel. The key, for me, was realizing that I have to pull the tip of my tongue back when I do it, and also subconsciously cup the tongue. I still can't hold it for a long time, fortunately that isn't a super important part of speaking the actual language, but I am working on it! Fantastic videos as always, I am learning a lot from them.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you so much!

[@icestorm_rb9057]

Ahh yes, an update to the already great original video. Also, since you did point it out, I just noticed that when I trill my r, it's also asymmetrical, slightly favoring the right side of my tongue. Great videos as always! Greetings from the Philippines!

[@ipaingo]

honestly, i have no idea why has youtube recommended this video to me, because neither do i learn spanish, nor do i need to learn how to r, because this sound is a part of my language and i already know how to do it. but i still want to comment on how good the quality of this video is. you’re doing a great work! keep going like this, please. your explanation is neat and practical.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you so much!

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

russian sounds sexier ,listen to tatu - robot , lol

[@ErikaKellyGeorge]

@@tenminutespanish Why you reply to people saying it worked, but never helping the people who said it never worked? What the fuck man?

[@fatemehnoorani7181]

my language is not spanish and i always had difficulty pronouncing the r in spanish, even tho we have r in my mother tongue, but trilling was the tough part and he explained it so well that i made this sound finally! and even i can pronounce it in words beginning with a trilled r!

[@dominicpayne4025]

This video just goes to prove that the simplest explanations are always the best! After four years of learning Spanish I've been very inconsistent with trilling r. I've now spent two days nailing it every time! (it's a start)

[@tenminutespanish]

Congratulations! I'm really happy this helped you.

[@dominicpayne4025]

@@tenminutespanish Keep making these videos (please!) Your channel is by far the best and most comprehensive resource for Spanish pronunciation out there, you obviously put a lot of thought, intelligence and time into making these videos, so it's a big thank you from me! 👍

[@CBaggers]

Holy shit, this is the best video on the subject I've ever seen. The shwa was such a breakthrough point. Thanks for the video!

[@tenminutespanish]

So glad you found this helpful.

[@qfan8852]

When I try this, air leaks from both sides of my tongue further back near the rear teeth, making a "double flutter" there. The tongue tip just doesn't move. If I try to stop the side leak then the entire tongue stops fluttering.😢

[@tracyw1200]

That's exactly my problem too. Hope one of these videos gets into the details of the "air pressure" part.

[@andoletube]

How did you go resolving this? The key is to seal the sides, but without making the tongue tense. Think of it as just the side edges of the tongue (next to the teeth? making a seal, but the central of the tongue being very relaxed. As soon as I worked out how to do that, it worked.

[@fcomega121]

Is still hard as a native spanish speaker to explain it but, Like the air pressure thing is like trying to put a lot of emphasis on a "T", using the english D sound 2:18* just as a placement placeholder Then just trying to let the tongue relax down while doing the strong T, without pulling out the tongue tip/pre-tip as with a normal t, but keeping it in place not so hard/pushy either while producing that small PLOP T sound, pushing a bit of air to the tongue only the tongue tip just like done with the d/t sounds again. strong enough to produce the "T" but soft enough to not make a Spit Th. -It doesn't even has to be so hard, but I might be over experienced by nativity as I can make soft trills just pushing a bit of constant air doing a purrrrr. The rest to go to the final trill goal is hard to explain. But after managing to solve the air leak problem thinking of it as an english D, but voiceless as a "strong T", then just blowing a bit more of air into the tongue like a constant purr and optionally (but common for every trill in general) vibrating the vocal cords too, should help.. I hope at least helps :3

[@WendiML]

With this video I have graduated from making an ungodly hissing noise with a lot of drool to a fart sound made by my tongue behind my teeth, without drool! .. . It's... progress???

[@bogdanmacleod1606]

Same brother!! Sounds like progress to me😂

[@drryanjames93]

No matter how much air flow I produce, my tongue does not move.

[@ohhhhhhmygodbecky]

So good! I have always been able to trill but have been struggling to naturally fit it into the words themselves and the sound just entirely collapses. This was so helpful.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so glad to hear that!!

[@lisag18]

Your directions were vert descriptive. This is the first time i ever even got any kind of trill sound. The best trick was to lie down and clear the throat. Thank you

[@WilliamMBell]

These videos have helped me finally be able to trill the R. It took quite a bit of practice, but I am able to do it.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy to hear that!

[@juliagonzalez9977]

What worked for you specifically?

[@WilliamMBell]

​@@juliagonzalez9977 Combination of things. Positioning the tongue in the correct position was definitely the big thing. It's ever so slightly different than the way you position the way to pronounce the English t, but it makes all the difference.

[@fraupflaume400]

This is a good video. I notice that this video like any others that I've watched-none mentions that when you're mouth is dry (and you're first learning), it's a lot harder to make this sound.

[@musicredsubaru]

I trill asymmetrically too. When I try to trill symmetrically, I notice that my tongue stiffens a little bit, and the tip of the tongue goes from [ɖ] to [d] but still just behind the alveolar ridge. Strange. Anyway, thanks for the description at the start. Your explanation is way more effective.

[@737ce]

Thanks for the video! Another tip is to tilt your head backwards, it makes it easier to hold your tongue in the correct position without tensing it.

[@MKG312]

Thank you

[@MotoM0nk]

I love how you speak, to the point and use oictures. I struggle to understand when ppl start describing which part of the tongue/mouth should be doing what

[@andypartridge800]

This is a brilliant way to break down how the tongue works when trilling. The slightly raised tongue when the air is pushed against it, naturally vibrates it against the alveolar. I can finally (nearly) roll my Rs! 😛 Practicaré mucho

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you! Congratulations!

[@ganojanso447]

Thank you sooo much, you've changed my life.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy you've found this video useful.

[@user-ev9kg3jh9c]

I had watched many videos teaching me how to make "rr" sound, just felt confused. But after watching this, I could easily make "rr" sound. Thank you so much for making this video!

[@tenminutespanish]

Congratulations!

[@boguebanks1]

I've been trying to trill my r's since I started learning Spanish at age 9. I'm almost 50 now and still can't really do it. I can usually do the sound in isolation, but I have trouble adding it to a word or sentence in a natural way. I feel like I have to stop, trill the r, stop, and then continue. It's especially difficult in a word like "ferrocarril" where I keep stopping and starting. I think I need to work on trilling the r without thinking about it so hard. I've been learning Catalan lately and it's even harder because practically every r is trilled. I'm glad to know that an asymmetrical trill is OK and I don't have to keep working on vibrating only the tip of my tongue. My trill, when I can do it, also goes around the right side of my tongue. I also find I tend to blow too hard, which combined with the stopping and starting, really calls attention to how hard I am trying. The word comes out more like "ferr o carr il" or even "fe rr o ca rr il" rather than "ferrocarril" because I can't make it flow. I am going to keep working on it. At least I know I am physically able to make the sound. I always wondered if my tongue was too fat or too muscular or had some other anatomical problem that made the trill impossible. I need to work on relaxing my tongue. I tend to clench my jaw and I think tensing up the tongue goes along with that.

[@srparkerusa]

I love your high level of specificity...it really helps. I'm curious if you know anything about how Spanish evolved to have this trilled r? It is a quite noticeable feature and occurs more frequently than any language I've heard. I dare say it is the only language that systematically does this.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you! Spanish trilled r comes from it's Latin precursor. Italian has a very similar trilled r.

[@AVBolt]

Apparently we used to trill in "proper" English..

[@lauren1978]

I feel like Italian has even more trilled rs. Also a lot of Slavic languages have it too

[@durans_evanidus]

Ok, I need to share this. I'm Brazilian (therefore, Latin). Still, I often struggled when trying to pronounce this phoneme (even though we KNOW this sound and how we could make it, he doesn't exist in our language itself, and the great majority of Brazilians don't use it in their dialects, so it still can be difficult as we don't use it), and I was confused on where to place the tip of my tongue. It's pretty wacky that I've learned how to pronounce this Spanish phoneme (of a language which is phonetically similar to Brazilian Portuguese) properly with an (I suppose) American guy, or, anyway, someone who has English as their motherlanguage. This was by far the most unusual way the English language (and having learned it) has ever helped me. Thank you.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so glad this was helpful to you.

[@mmmmmmmmmmichelle]

WOW! I can finally do it. Thank you so much!

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy to hear this worked for you.

[@ebranham123]

Well... I sound like an angry helecopter or machine gun, and my vision goes blurry when i do it, lol

[@bmi9198]

Hey there, quick question: How exactly do I make air pressure in this position? All the air flies out from the sides of my tongue. I understand the manner and location of articulation, but I cannot for the life of me get my tongue to do this. I know I can, since my native dialect of English uses Alveolar tap quite extensively, so I don’t want to give up on this sound as I’m on the C1 threshold of Spanish and this is the main sound I have yet to master in my pronunciation. Thank you for the video! It was very high quality.

[@tenminutespanish]

If the air flies out the sides, you're making pressure, you're just not sealing the sides of the tongue to the upper gum line. You have to make a seal and channel the air out the front.

[@blakemccollum7030]

I have this problem as well, however for me the problem seems go be a tooth I have that grew in kinda weird so I can't really seal my tounge on the sides very well. I can however get the side of my tounge to vibrate if I press the tip into that weird tooth. But that doesn't help me because I have to move it back and to the side which is really unnatural when trying to speak. Any advice?

[@dereknoble6796]

Is there any observed variation in the length of the trill with certain dialects? So certain regions or dialects that are more prone to either only have few taps(say 3-4) in the trilled r and others that have more extended trills?

[@tenminutespanish]

Yes. There are certainly dialects that trill more clearly and purposefully, and others that are more relaxed about it. I couldn't give you a list or anything.

[@weiliu9]

Awesome, I learned how to trill my r from your video a few months back! Now I have two follow-up questions: 1. I found that depending on the vowels preceding the trilled-r, my tongue tip position varies slightly. For example, when pronunciating "agarrar", my tongue tip is a tiny bit backwards comparing to say, "rojo". Am I doing this right or this is just a bad habit and I should improve consistency over time? 2. Does trilled-r require more airflow in general? I found that I frequently run out of air if the sentence is long, and I couldn't trill it properly. Again, not sure if it's just me.

[@tenminutespanish]

Great questions. 1. Tongue position is slightly different depending on neighboring sounds. Practice, practice, practice to make the trill as consistent as possible. 2. It should require no more air than is necessary for any other sound. For example, trilled r and "ah" require the same amount of air.

[@kmg2903]

These tips combined with hearing you thrill, prrrr and brrrr, as well as speak many words with the thrill made a big difference on finally gaining traction on the first stage, vibration. I am feeling tongue vibrate on roof of mouth, but also uvula vibrating and getting irritated. I'm not able to make r then neutral uh sound. Maybe too forceful of expelled air ? It definitely doesn't feel like gargling by any stretch, but uvula vibrating. I'll keep practicing daily and welcome any other detail or example on what is meant by a "tiny bit of air pressure inside mouth" [minute 5:55]., whilst mouth/lips are actually open. BTW - Thank you also for the excellent and thoughtful practice plan

[@alexanderzerka8477]

Yeah, kind of an important part that's left out in that ambiguous phrasing. I don't know what kind of air pressure he's talking about either.

[@yimingyang4156]

One question, I now can do the tongue movement pretty well as in your video 05:02 to 05:04. You said that if I make a sound with my (voice), I should then get a trilled (r), ie 05:09 - 05:11. Where and how this (voice) should come from?

[@caleortega2936]

I just figured it out, I wasn't flattening my tongue enough to create a complete closure. It's been years of being made fun of :) great vid

[@dannygallagherspanish4790]

watched countless videos. This is the best so far. im closer not there yet but get what needs to be done. in time i hope i will

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank you! You can do it!

[@dannygallagherspanish4790]

@@tenminutespanish I struggle most with the transition from making the noise whilst rolling tongue which largely i can do... to speaking the words. Its as if the way I do it isn't conducive to talking and I hold my mouth in a way that allows me to roll my tongue solely to make the noise but then not translate into a natural speaking rhythm. Hope that makes sense

[@tenminutespanish]

@@dannygallagherspanish4790 I understand. You should be able to roll your tongue with your mouth in any position. I recommend practicing trilling with your mouth in different positions. Get so you can trill while putting your mouth in many different positions.

[@dannygallagherspanish4790]

@@tenminutespanish thanks so much for the feedback. Will work on that next. Guess i missed a step!

[@basicdays]

I guess one thing I want to make sure I'm thinking about correctly, is how the sides of the tongue are in relation to the teeth. The exact moment before pronouncing the English [d] I seem to have a complete pressure seal between my tongue, my molars, and the upper ridge. When releasing that air pressure, I think I'm symmetrically releasing my tongue from both sides of the tongue at the molars and the ridge. I'm guessing besides the tongue tip placement being different, I should expect the way the tongue is releasing the air pressure to be roughly the same? This is actually a bit different than what I had been trying all these years, where I'm only letting the pressure escape at the tip of my tongue instead of all sides, creating a weird whistling noise. Will still need to practice, not sure if I'm keeping my tongue too tense after pressure release, but I guess this is one more mystery solved in my quest to make this sound.

[@tenminutespanish]

The pressure release is roughly symmetrical all the way around.

[@rickdavidson5364]

Hey Dan! I'm lucky in that I don't struggle a ton with trilled Rs. However, I find it difficult to pronounce words such as "rural," where one R is trilled and the other is not. Do you have any suggestions? I can say it if I talk very slowly, but not at a pace fit for conversation. Your videos have helped improve my Spanish pronunciation a ton, by the way! Thank you!

[@tenminutespanish]

Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. There's no trick, and there is no substitute for practice. And thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you like my channel.

[@nickyong1418]

This is by far the most helpful video on how to trill your Rs. I'm finally able to trill my Rs after years of frustration!

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy to hear that!

[@cyrex686]

MISSING TECHNIQUE: This did it for me instantly after months trying: Lie in bed and tilt your head completely back. This makes your tongue rest against the roof of your mouth. Much easier to get the tongue into position while leaving it relaxed.

[@andoletube]

That's a good suggestion!

[@diane3868]

Very helpful!

[@lingo4048]

Interesting. Good job. French R is still trilled in many regions though, such as Occitanie (30% of the country), Catalogne, French Polynesia, etc. There are 3 Rs in all Romance dialects. Manejar is lenis. Carro is fortis. Para is monovibrante.

[@tenminutespanish]

Thank for the contribution to the discussion.

[@brinosaurier6058]

Can anyone help? I can get the retroflex English d just fine and I can get a complete seal. But whenever I try to do the next step: "create a tiny bit of air pressure in your mouth - the tongue flutters" it just doesn't. The air comes out in spurts - either not at all, since the amount of air that I try to breather out doesn't break the seal; or in a long flow, when there's enough air to break the seal but the tongue doesn't flutter "in the wind", it just stays down. If it does move back up, the seal is complete again. It's like the air flow is either on or off. I've tried varying the amount of air pressure (how forcefully or soft I try to breathe out), the pressure with which I place the tongue in the retroflex position, moving my tongue further back or more to the front, and I've tried to relax the tip of the tongue as much as possible, so it can flutter - but whenever I do that, it just drops down and lets the air out unhindered. Do you have any tips on what I could try to make this work? Doing the same thing over and over again without any difference in results is quite demotivating.

[@naranjo5277]

try to curve the point of your tongue inwards and move it up and down

[@tinynhhouse5467]

Thank you. I am learning Spanish with comprehensible input.

[@tenminutespanish]

Good luck to you! Thanks for the comment!

[@cesartorres1535]

Thank you for creating such an informative video that is very understandable for those new to the language. But I do have a couple questions. Would you consider the voiced alvealor trill r to be an apical, subapical, or sublaminal consonant? And wouldn't the Retroflex D (Voiced retroflex plosive ɖ) position be post-alvealor?

[@jordanhoover1917]

I've watched all your videos on trilled R and I can get it to flutter, its very close but its near as fluid as yours sounds. I think it has to do with my tongue not staying in the right position, so it starts sounding like the "bad trilled R" you demonstrated in the first video. Like I'm swallowing my tongue at times and letting too much air come through. Is this something you just need to practice or do you have any other tips? I've probably spent hours upon hours working on and still can't quite seem to get it. I have to say its beyond frustrating how hard this is 😬

[@Miami7]

Same here. I've practiced until my jaws ache. It sort of works if I say "haaaaa" and then bring my tongue to where it's supposed to be. Try that and see if it works for you.

[@Trigger24792]

Another great video! Comforting to know that an asymmetrical trill is normal, I thought it was just me getting it wrong as my tongue tends to go towards the left when I do it

[@fatemehnoorani7181]

same here, my tongue flips towards the left too and i didn't realise that until he said further in the video lol

[@marissamurray2646]

I’m honestly starting to get so frustrated with the number of tutorials that I watch and I still can’t trill

[@Julia-fw5yd]

This is so helpful, thank you! Question: Should it sound like a bee buzzing as you are trying to create the vibration? That’s all I’m getting. ( I also end up vibrating my lips!) Just wanted to make sure before I keep practicing it over and over.

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm not sure how to answer your question. In this video I pronounce trilled r many times. It should sound like that. No lips.

[@Julia-fw5yd]

@@tenminutespanish Ah yes, well, I haven’t been able to vibrate my tongue yet. So am I trying to practice something at this point? Or just keep playing with how I place my tongue, then relaxing it (my tongue) and pushing air through it? So far all this sounds like is a buzzing bee

[@awakewarriors119]

Hi Julia. Try focusing on activity @ 10:38 mimick his sound 'with flair'. Up til then, nothing trilled for me. Suddenly with Gandulf in mind trills came out with each English word. Relax and let it flow. Good luck

[@kyky1249]

This is a great video and i quite like it. But i was still having a question that where you got those information on Spanish phonetics and phonology from. I have some of my friends majoring in English linguistics and they use English phonetics and phonology - Peter Roach as a curriculum material. I wondered if there were sources where i could get phonetic transcriptions or IPA transcription for Spanish and French. Thank you ❤

[@tenminutespanish]

You can get books on Spanish phonetics and phonology, but I've found that Spanish linguistics tend to use symbols a bit different from IPA sometimes. It can be confusing going from the Spanish texts I'm familiar with to IPA. If you pay attention to my transcription in these videos, you'll see that I'm sorta inconsistent in my phonetic transcription.

[@christopherklacka5292]

I'm having trouble with getting the back of my tongue down. It seems like whenever I do the tongue in the retroflex position and I finally get the front to start vibrating, the back vibrates at an offset pace, so my tongue constantly switches between the front and the back and creates almost a flutter tongue. I have a background in brass instruments and I've practiced flutter tonguing with the back of my tongue so I'm almost positive that this is merely the result of a habit practiced across years and years of brass playing. What would you recommend to break this and help the back of the tongue relax so I can get this sound out authentically?

[@tenminutespanish]

Practice. Practice, practice, practice. How much effort would you put into practicing something on your brass instrument? Do a similar amount of practice. The back of the mouth should be just as open for trilled r as it is for the vowel "ah". Practice alternating between those two sounds and concentrate on making the back of the throat the same.

[@yanghong9067]

I want to express my gratitude towards you and this incredible video you made. It cleared some confusions I had: the major one being which part of the tongue vibrates. I practiced all night and the next morning, and I managed to roll my rr somehow, and it felt amazing! It's still not perfect and hard to roll in words, but I believe practice makes perfect! Thank you again and looking forward to seeing your new content!

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy to hear that! Good job!

[@tombick9311]

Just been watching to try and hone it beyond just making a horrific sound, and found out it works so much better for me asymmetrical!

[@tenminutespanish]

Very cool. Works for me best asymmetrical, too.

[@melissakuipers7034]

I learned to relax my tongue by holding my head back, placing my tongue in the right place, blow and my tongue vibrated to roll the r.

[@michelecoleman5490]

I've been proficient at trilling R for years, but I could not do it at all when I tried following along with video and then right after when saying Spanish words. I got it back only when I thought about "speaking Spanish" in general and ignored my tongue.🤷

[@ringo1029384756]

For me, it is getting my voice in there. I can find the placement, flutter my tongue and make that kind of guttural noise. But I cannot engage my vocal cords. Still practicing.

[@michaelweb7416]

I have the same problem. My tongue is not loose and thin, just fat and wide

[@mariaparedes1637]

Why am I watching this?? I'm mexican 😂😂 Don't be discouraged if you don't get the r sound right, it took me quite a while to master it and I'm a native.

[@janboreczek3045]

How long of a while? This sound is present in my native language too, yet after months I still have no success

[@mariaparedes1637]

@@janboreczek3045So this is a very important sound in spanish, but I managed to pronounce it right until I was 11 years old, if I'm not mistaken. So it's normal if it takes you a couple of years. The good thing with Spanish, is that even if you can't roll the r, it's still understandable.

[@janboreczek3045]

@@mariaparedes1637 Thanks! However, I'm not learning spanish. I'm trying to learn the pronounciation of my native language (Polish), as well as the language I'm learning (Arabic). In both of those languages the trilled r is important, and trying to say my imitations of that sound twice is hard, and often even in normal words those imitations feel unnatural, to the point of my tongue "getting lost" in a normal speech. Also, I'm 26 and I still cannot pronounce it. Despite months of exercising my tongue, with the aid of a speech therapist, the tip of my tongue stubbornly refuses to be even slightly more mobile. For example, I routinely fail with the tapped r in my daily speech (it's one of my substitutes), and when practicing the ddddd (but using the tip of the tongue, not the blade as I've been doing in my ordinary speech) the tongue feels "unresponsive", very much like your arms when you are significantly drunk. And it keeps staying that way despite A LOT of practice and despite a help from the speech therapist

[@TheBurningWarrior]

I'm using this to teach Latin, and now left wondering what a Spanish D is since odds are good it's a sound I didn't even know that I'm supposed to be making for Latin, the ancestor of Spanish. I also notice that my trill (while making the same air tight seal) is in closer to the same position as a normal non-retroflex English D. I don't know if this is important or if it's even possible to distinguish the two sounds produced.

[@tenminutespanish]

Spanish has gone through several phases of softening of consonants over the millennia. In modern Spanish, there are two /d/ sounds. The most frequent is the voiced interdental fricative, like the "th" in the English words clothing and weather. The other version (which only appears in limited phonetic contexts) is a dental stop, pronounced with the tongue low on the back of the upper front teeth. I have a video on how Spanish voiced stops are pronounced that you can watch here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHLGY4SvrMhqf7M I believe this is specific to Spanish, though, and wouldn't have been this way in Latin. You don't hear this softening or fricativization in Italian, for example.

[@tenminutespanish]

If you'd like to send me a recording of you pronouncing words with trilled r, I'll be happy to tell you whether I can hear a difference. I have a pretty good ear for small differences in articulation. My email is [e-mail]

[@kathleenmontiel2056]

For all of those who cannot trill their Rs, there is still hope. I am a native Spanish speaker from Costa Rica where we DO NOT trill our Rs (we are always made fun of but we don't care), we pronounce our Rs just like Americans do. So, there you go!!

[@KaraLey98]

How interesting!! I’d love to hear you speak!

[@Dazgul]

I can do a very short trill, particularly when pronouncing r at beginning of a word or drr etc. I cannot do a sustained trill, it turns into a buzz. Putting my tongue in the position described seems to maje it more difficult. Mine seems to work only when tongue tip is at the back of my front teeth not up at the gum.

[@idonotcomplyrevolution]

i have a tongue tie or Frenulum, ive never ever been able to trill/roll my R's as my tongue just goes completely rigid as a brick. can people with tongue ties roll their R's? do i need a tongue tie release surgery before i can trill my R's? answers please!!!! im learning Russian and loving it, but cannot roll my R's!

[@thelemoid]

Hi there! This video did help me get started on trilling my Rs but I can only get about 3 or 4 "beats" before it stops. I can't figure out how to extend it. Is it possible I'm doing something close but incorrect or do I probably just need to keep practicing until I'm more comfortable with it?

[@tenminutespanish]

There is no substitute for practice.

[@dano5663]

Hi thanks for this, interestingly I cannot trill an R this way at all, I just make strange noises! however if I place my tongue tip ahead of the D sound test area of the mouth, instead of behind it I get a perfect 'R' trill. My tongue vibrates perfectly just behind my front upper teeth i.e. a quick "R" vibration for single letter R in Spanish and prolong the vibration for double spanish RR words. To be more specific there is a slight rise in the gum behind the 2 front upper teeth, I tend to bounce the rrr vibration off that, works great. I will however practice both methods to see if I can crack this method, great video and thanks again.

[@yinuozhang1793]

I can now do the second step, but when I add (or even not) my voice, my trilled r sounds like trrrrr. It seems I have to force more air to let my tongue vabrate. Am I doing it wrong, or I just need more practice? Thank you.

[@tenminutespanish]

Practice, practice, practice, practice. There is no substitute.

[@GameoverFilm]

I can get to the point where I can trill the 'd' sound and can also trill a 't' but I cannot get the 'p' as in the next step and I can't get my head around it because your lips make the 'p' sound, the tongue is in a completely different position for 'p' (relaxed at the bottom of the month). This is also what I find impossible with trilling the 'r' because my tongue is also at the bottom of my mouth to make an 'r' sound. Unless I have been pronouncing 'p' & 'r' wrong my whole life! Anyone have any tips for this stage?! Thanks for the video to get me started. *Also a tip for others struggling with the first step, I found drinking whilst practicing (I had a cup of warm tea) and also leaning your head right back or even lying down really helps!*

[@kylebrunskill2219]

I'm able to do it but I'm requiring too much air to get it to vibrate. So it means I need to "warm-up" a bit and before every trilled r I have to take a big breath. And then I hiss for 0.5 seconds before it starts. Any ideas? It's been like this for years, I can't improve it even when speaking a lot of Spanish.

[@tenminutespanish]

Practice, practice, practice, practice. Speaking with people isn't practice, it's performance. Practice is exercises you do alone, on your own time, to perfect a skill.

[@hamuandxerxl4255]

I tried this position of the tongue and the tip won't flutter. I relax, I do everything you say (not only you, but dozens of other instructors on YT) and there isn't the slightest movement in the tip. Simply never. All I have been able to do, is move the R from the back of the troat towards the middle of the tongue, but it never affects the tip. Okay, it does flutter when I stick it out like a baby and blow, but only then. And no, weak motor skills is not the problem, I'm a dancer and speak many languages (practicing my mouth's motor skills on a daily basis since I was ten). But after 20 years of struggling I find myself quite discouraged. To be honest I think that there must be more of a genetic component to it; my babysister has always been able to trill her R (and that's not even part of our mother tongue).

[@tenminutespanish]

If there were a genetic component to it, we'd expect to see variability in different human groups. But we don't. People of every conceivable face shape appear to be equal in their inherent ability to trill. The only exceptions appear to be people with observable significant anatomical variations, such as tongue tie or cleft palate.

[@rodneyquinn2528]

Anyone else able to vibrate tongue but when ever the roll occurs it feels like its coming from the tonsel and back of throat? Really hard to get right

[@pnutbuttrcrepes8129]

Sometimes, I try to get my tongue to vibrate by doing a closed trill (I think it was explained in another video), and every time I try to put my tongue near the roof of my mouth, it just cuts off the air completely and I feel like I'm having a stroke trying to get it to vibrate.

[@adayexpired6370]

I can’t make the R sound but I just learn to do the tongue flapping. Maybe I can help? 1. You make it sound like you’re closing off the air with the back of your tongue. Are you? If you are, stop. Try breathing through your nose. If you can’t, then you’re stopping the air with the back of your tongue or throat. If you’re not stopping the air with back of your tongue, this is what helped me - take a super deep breath, and force the air out only through your mouth STRONGER and STRONGER. Every one of these videos say relax your tongue. You don’t have the muscle memory to relax your tongue. So instead, FORCE it by blowing SUPER HARD! To force it super hard, you have to suck in a lot of air initially. I was actually getting dizzy, but it made my tongue vibrate! Albeit high frequency and raspy like a raspberry, except not with my lips but with my tongue! It won’t sound like the tongue flaps the videos has but super high frequency. This is because you’re likely still forcing/tensing your tongue and it’s vibrating at a higher frequency cause your tongue doesn’t want to flap. But what this will teach is what it feel like. The sound is Not smooth at this point, but, as I tried to relax and kept repeating, the muscle memory kicked in finally. Maybe after making the high vibration, stop for the day and sleep. Sleep makes muscle memory connections. Then next day keep making the ta ta ta ta noise but keep relaxing your tongue. And force less and less air. Try not to pass out. Haha. With practice, the vibration will get thumpy’er, louder and slower, and you will use less air. Some other things, they say behind alveolar, but, I had better luck “getting it started” behind my front teeth, so, I think depends on person, try moving your tongue from where your teeth meet upward. After vibrates, trying evening out pressure as if you’re sighing. I can now make the sound with less air and slower and smoother but I still can’t turn “d,d,d,d,d,” into an R/L sound. Still sound like rat tat tat. Ughhh. When I try to curl my tongue like video says, it stops flapping. Other website suggested saying “tee” and that seems to help me more then curling a millimeter like this vid suggests. Side note, you will spit spray A LOT while learning - Just saying.

[@wf-studio6099]

It’s helpful, gracias

[@GaleAeras]

I am still unable to the the trill; I think I might have produced an oscillation in the tongue, but it was a low frequency oscillation, maybe ~3Hz, unlike an actual trill. Pushing more air through the tongue produced a more sibilant sound than an 'r', so maybe my positioning wasn't quite correct? More practice is in order.

[@RickrollFoot]

The last part is really good, you should focus on that too

[@user-js5mn7us8j]

I can trill only with hard breath, so It's difficult to add voice. I don't even distinguish if my unvoiced r is fricative trill or normal trill. How can I know my r is correct or not?

[@AkLO97]

As soon as I put my tongue where it was when I pronounced the “d” sound I got it!!!! Thank you!

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so happy you figured it out.

[@jfwreasonsjf7597]

Hi i have a question, i can trill my R in two ways ....one of them is by having my tongue touching what feels a little ball up in the roof of my mouth behind upper teeth and trilling right there........and the other one is a more floating tongue position without aiming to touch that little ball..its like the tongue is floating in the air while trilling behind upper teeth......these methods are very close to each other, which is the correct method? thanks

[@tenminutespanish]

Touching the gummy ridge above the upper front teeth.

[@rhiannonfugatt3269]

Still not getting it I'm just not getting a vibration across my tongue. Also what do your cheeks do? Are they drawn in without air?

[@tenminutespanish]

Sorry to hear that. Cheeks are perfectly relaxed. The who face is perfectly relaxed, just as if you were saying "ah" or even "uh" in the most relaxed fashion possible. The answer to any question about what any organ of the mouth does to make the trilled r is "nothing". It's nowhere near as complex a sound to articulate as most people think. It's only infinitesimally more complicated than English d.

[@nickmezei2118]

I finally did it! I cant seem to make the AH sound while trilling.. any tips?

[@icanfly5964]

Thanks to this video and putting in some efforts, I think I have mastered the trilled r sound- except when it's preceded by the vowel /i/. Any thoughts?

[@tenminutespanish]

Some consonant sounds are trickier after /i/, because /i/ is pronounced with tongue high and posterior in the mouth while some consonants are pronounced with the tip of the tongue touching somewhere anterior in the mouth. Trilled r, of course, is one of those. All I can say is if you have a good trilled r in other sound combinations, you can figure this out. Practice, practice, practice.

[@icanfly5964]

@@tenminutespanish Thanks for your reply. Ok I'll just keep practicing. Newly subscribed but really great content here, keep up the great work.

[@billiam3903]

Whenever I do this the sides of my bottom lip vibrate instead of my tongue. Am I the only one with this specific curse?? It sounds almost like a tongue trill (just without any of the sumptuous beauty). Even if I hold my lip down, whenever I'm at the "create a tiny bit of air pressure" stage my tongue simply doesn't move. With an airtight seal, no air comes out at all. If I relax the tongue enough, air comes out, but there’s still no fluttering… sounds more like a raspberry. Thank you for the video though, the diagrams were really helpful - clearest explanation I’ve seen so far.

[@shob8516]

I was able to flutter my tongue before, but couldn't use it in speech bc it was hissy & I was doing it against my teeth and had to strain my jaw to do it (ig you'd call it an interdental trill?) Anyway this video helped a lot with my placement and a few weeks later I now have a much more relaxed and natural sounding trill, and can finally use it in speech great video

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm so glad to hear that! Great job!

[@drpepper1015]

i can say “correr, carro” and stuff like like but i cant hold my rolled r’s for long at all! like im able to do it, but i cant hold it and i cant do it without saying a word with it

[@ukon2062]

When you say try to do [p] to make my tongue vibrate, it's more like the vibration is coming from my throat. Am I suppose to do that or I got something wrong?

[@tenminutespanish]

You've got something wrong. There's no reason to constrict the throat. It should be open, like when pronouncing "ah".

[@judylindow2739]

Yep. The best. omg. you wouldn't believe what's out there. Using in words and sentences is def. the important last step. Want to use this for singing in Italian -- however, outside of listening to someone sing a particular song ... I'm still a little confused about when they're strong, weak, or no rolls.

[@tenminutespanish]

I think rules for Italian for trill vs. tap are different from Spanish, and lots of people who sing in Italian aren't natives and get it wrong. I recommend you research it.

[@jon6288]

WTF does "create a tiny bit of air pressure" mean?? Am i supposed to close my mouth so I can increase the pressure inside my oral cavity?? Or am i just supposed to blow air out of my mouth? Neither seems to do anything!

[@kennethschwartz898]

Great video. I have seen many others but the key is to put the tongue back a few mm as you say. My question is that when I practice the Prrrrrr and Brrrrr sounds I find that my lips are vibrating and not my tongue. How do I change the focus? Thank you

[@atrinoisa]

My problem is, the only time I can get my tongue to flutter is when the tip is flat to that spot, not curled back...when it's curled back, it's too stiff and won't flutter

[@bunchie252]

Thank you 🤙🏾✍🏾

[@tenminutespanish]

I'm happy you liked the video

[@glacialimpala]

Trilling comes easy to me but French/German R is impossible. It feels like I lack contact with soft palate. Could it be due to total tonsilectomy? My throat is wide open like a window 😂

[@ahmadyarkhan4726]

i tried every video yet i still cant do it. I can easily make my tongue vibrate on the alevolar ridge by blowing air. Then I add voice to it as well. But it sounds more like a machine gun than a rolled r. I tried different trognue positions, different vocalisation. It seems like everybody else gets it down the moment they make their tongue vibrate, yet I could do it from the start but the sound still isnt like the rolled r. And I cant find anyone with this issue anywhere on the internet besides me

[@luisangel2446]

I can vibrate the tongue with the position of the English "d", will I be pronouncing the "r" or is it incorrect because of the position even though the tongue vibrates?

[@tenminutespanish]

It is incorrect, and it doesn'tsoundquiteright. The position of trill is slightly, slightly different from English d.

[@johnjoneill]

I finally got it, thank you!

[@tenminutespanish]

So glad to hear that! Good job.

[@nataliemercier2031]

“And that’s it!” You’re kidding me????? 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[@tenminutespanish]

And that's it. Nothing else. Just that. 😊

[@user-bz2hl9xw1b]

I teach Hindi. I'm interested in your characterization of the retroflex "d." I think the Indian retroflex "d" involves more of a curve of the tongue than what you described, but I'm curious as to whether you have read differently!

[@tenminutespanish]

There may be more curve. I'm no expert in Indian English.

[@verbesserungsfaehig]

i also dont get how to make the air pressure in my mouth. I instantly start to do the r out of my throoat

[@xonx209]

I also followed lots of this type of video but couldn't do it. All I could do was vibrate the sides of my tongue. One day I decided to start with this side vibration and try to move it to the tip and that's how I finally got tongue trill.