The Voiced Alveolar Trill. Or: How to Roll Your Rs (listen to it)

A few days ago, a new trend started to conquer Journaly: the community doesn't only use the platform to improve their writing anymore, but also to practise their speaking skills. One of the most challenging aspects of pronunciation is learning how to make those sounds of your target language that don't exist in your mother tongue. Since I'm currently learning Italian and Catalan, one of those sounds for me is the voiced alveolar trill, better known as "rolled r".

In my language collection here on Journaly, I've also listed Spanish at a beginner's level - and there's a story behind why I never advanced beyond that. In 10th grade, we were required to take a third foreign language, and due to unfortunate events, you could say I was forced to take Spanish (I'd have preferred French). It didn't help that in contrast to many of my classmates, I'd never been to Spain before and didn't know a word of it (not even "hola"). Thus, the language and I started off on the wrong foot. My motivation to learn Spanish took a fatal blow when our teacher told us about the importance of pronouncing the R correctly in order to distinguish for example "pero" from "perro". If we couldn't do it, no one would ever understand us. This isn't true, of course, but for a long time it kept me from learning another language with this particular sound.

So, when I started learning Italian in October 2020, I also immediately went to work on my rs. It took me almost a year to succeed. The advice I probably received the most was "just vibrate the tip of your tongue". This is about as helpful as telling someone who can't do pull-ups to "just hang from a bar and pull yourself up". To successfully learn how to do a pull-up takes preparational exercises and strength training. And the same is true for the rolled r. I decided to write this post for anyone who wants to learn how to do it, but also for those of you who are already able to pronounce it and want to support a friend or family member who's trying to learning it.

Before I get into the resources I found helpful, a little disclaimer. First, when I'm talking about my struggles and difficulties, keep in mind that my mother tongue is German, and that you might face different problems, depending on your first language. Second, many of the resources in this post are Italian because that's the language I wanted and still want to learn. However, if you know of helpful articles, videos etc. in other languages, post them in the comments so we can compile a collection of resources to help each other.

One last caveat: Practising these tips in the shower with loud music on won't prevent the people you live with from hearing you, but at least it'll feel like no one's listening.

So, let's get started.

Tip 1: If you speak with an American accent: good for you, you’re one step ahead! If you don't, you might want to try imitating this accent. Or, to be more precise, a certain feature of this accent: the so-called "flapped t" as in "matter", "better" or "butter". The name speaks for itself: instead of pronouncing a "proper t" (like most British people do, for example), try to do a very short "d". The tip of your tongue just shortly flaps against the alveolar ridge, just behind your upper front teeth. That's why it's called "alveolar tap". It's one single tap of the tongue, as opposed to the rolled r, which is a trill. The alveolar tap is the first step towards rolling the r, because both sounds are created by the same movement. If you practise a bit, you'll soon get the hang of it. In these two videos*, you get a more detailed description of how to do it and further exercises. They're Italian with English subtitles, if needed. *(I just noticed that the second video is in English)

Tip 2: Practise with the syllable "TLA". This one is a bit more complex than it seems at first. I came across this tip a couple of times, but was sceptical as to whether or not it could really help me achieve my goal. After some (desperate) YouTube-research, I found the Italian voice coach Cristiana Raggi explaining the method. She argues that this method works, but only with certain prerequisites. You have to pronounce each of those letters "correctly" for the method to work (that means as is considered correct for Italian). I've learned that the "T" and "L" in Italian are pronounced by just tapping the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge. When I pronounce a "T" in German, which many learners of the language find very hard sounding, my tongue touches the entire width of my alveolar ridge, thus creating a beautifully plosive consonant. The same is true for the "L", but not to the same extent.

Once you've taken care that your pronunciation of those three consonants is on fleek, you're ready for the exercise. Your aim is to pronounce the syllable "TLA". You start off with a small pause between "T" and "LA": "T-LA", "T-LA", "T-LA" and so forth. You slowly shorten the pause until you don't need it anymore, as long as you pronounce the consonants correctly. At some point, your "TLA" will slowly develop into "TRA". I know, it sounds like magic, but it works.

When you've successfully managed steps 1 and 2, you're halfway there. By now, you should be able to do the alveolar tap.

Tip 3: Now that you know how to pronounce a single r, it's time to trick your brain. Think of a word with a rolled r in your target language, like "vorrei" or "birra" in Italian. Then, split it in half between the rs and pronounce each half with a single r, like "vor-rei" and "bir-ra". Just as in the "TLA" example, try to make the gap between the two syllables shorter every time. I know, it feels like stammering and you'll wonder how the hell you'll ever be able to achieve a trill, but keep on going. You're on the right path.

Tip 4: Practise saying "rarararara" with the simple r. Especially when you've just learned how to pronounce it, it's still a bit weak. So, train your tongue on how to produce this sound.

Tip 5: During this whole process, it's really helpful if you sing along to your favourite songs in your target language and try to get the alveolar tap right (no, I will not demonstrate this one :D). If there's a rolled r, do two alveolar taps. Even if you haven't fully managed to create a proper alveolar tap yet, do this anyway. That not only helps your tongue get used to creating this new sound, but it also ensures that you're having fun during the process.

And what now? Now, go and practise all of this. It's not supposed to be a step by step guide, but you should mix it up and do a bit of everything (although you obviously have to learn the alveolar tap before doing steps 3 and 4). You should repeat steps 1 and 2 even after you've learned the single r. Then, one fine day, you'll suddenly feel a funny tickling at the tip of your tongue and your tap will be a bit longer than before. That's the beginning of the trill. Congratulations, you've rolled your r for the first time in your life (for me it happened while doing the "rarara" exercise). It will take a bit more practise to be able to integrate this new sound in your speech, and some letter combinations will continue to be difficult for quite a while (like "-lr"). However, you've just learned a new skill and should be proud of yourself. Well done!

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A little note on how long it will take to learn the alveolar trill: I initially said it took me about a year, but that's only partly true. I only started researching proper methods on how to do it in the summer of 2021. When I finally found the time to practise every day, it took me roughly two weeks to achieve the trill. Good luck!