Is it normal that i can't roll my "r"s?

I have always had an interest in other languages and I can take to nearly any of them quite naturally. I still haven't quite been able to "learn" how to roll my R's though. Is this normal?

Is It Normal?
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  • It's very normal that English speakers have a hard time with that. Most living here in Brazil can't roll their "R"s even after years here. Similar to Japanese, Spanish and Italian. Like Americans speaking French - although it's a different type of "R" sound - produced with a different positioning of the tongue...

    I just looked it up and there are tons of YouTube tutorials but nowhere's post is great!

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  • I was unable to roll my Rs for the longest time, until I just began practicing whenever the situation permitted. I find that it helps to kick off the "r" sound with a "d", at least while you're still getting the hang of it, so try saying "drrrrrr" instead of just "rrrrrr'. Also, the tongue should be relaxed.

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  • Seems normal. I'm Hispanic and can't even roll those damn Rs.

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  • The way I do it is I make the Chewbacca noise when I'm supposed to make the 'R' sound.

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  • Mothafucka. It's all about tongue position.
    Da best exercise fo this is dick sucking. This is why all those Spanish hoes roll it so good coz they been practicing they dick sucking since 8 years old.
    Obviously me, as da nigga in question, can not roll mah R's because I ain't sucking no dick to speak another language.
    Da only thing we roll in da hood is joints.. and bowling balls every second Tuesday.
    Fahreal.
    That's what's up

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  • I can sometimes do it on accident, like three times in total. All of them I didn't skip a beat mentally as I approached it verbally, it just seemed right to do it so it happened

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  • I had a hard time rolling my r's when i was first learning Russian. I could never learn how to do the kind of alveolar trill done in the "double-r" in spanish, either. I read some shit trying to say that it was genetic and nearly got discouraged, but through practice, i learned how to do and nowadays, whether i'm reading latin, hungarian, or whatever, it's almost second nature.

    It's going to take some practice, and you're going to fuck up and sound weird at first, but this is what helped me get the basics of it down;

    1. put your tongue right behind your teeth. place the tip of it there firmly - this is how you make an "alveolar trill" - it's different from the french or german one, just so you know

    2. start pushing air through the top of your throat like your trying to hock a loogey - do this while keeping your tongue pressed firmly against the piece of bone right behind your teeth on the top of your mouth.

    as you're doing this, you'll feel the tip of your tongue start to flutter. it will be rough at first, because your uvula will also be rattling to do how rough you're being back there, but this is the principle of it; keep the tip of your tongue placed firmly behind the top row of your teeth while pushing air through the part of your mouth that the uvula hangs from. don't get discouraged if it's not perfect at first; you'll have to play around and learn through practice. All those native speakers of Spanish, Russian, Japanese, Greek? They've been practicing since birth. Good luck.

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    • I had absolutely no idea about any of this, but thanks! It makes a lot of sense. I'll keep practicing.

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  • In HS biology when we were learning genetics they explained Rolling R and rolling tongue is actually a genetic trait. Which is funny considering a lot of Hispanic languages requires you to.

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  • If you are a native English
    speaker this is totally normal. To resolve this 'problem' practise by saying words that start with the letters 'Br'
    Brown, brunch, bring .......
    When, and it won't take long, look up words starting with br in other languages that you are hoping to learn and practise with them. Boa sorte, mon amis.

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    • Holy shit, it actually worked. I did it. Thanks!

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      • Thats great. I'm glad it worked for you. Someone down voted my advice, i hope they read your comment.

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  • Its like a gargling thing you do. If you can gargle mouthwash you can do it.

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    • In French, for example, it's sorta like gargling... but in Russian or Spanish it's more on the tip of the tongue. So, yeah, it depends on the language!

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  • A lot of Westerners have a problem with it. So their Spanish or Italian sounds flat. I speak both. Just let your tongue flutter like you used to imitate a jackhammer as a kid. It takes practice.

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  • It's one of my natural talents, and I've coincidentally been interested in languages since I was a child. No one else in my family can even remotely pronounce foreign words well.

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  • I can't, either. I've never been able to.

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