The Flow of Spanish
  • Home
  • Table of Contents
    • Sound System Primer >
      • Vowel Awareness
      • Spanish Vowels
      • English Speaker Vowel Mistakes
      • Spanish Consonants
      • Spanish R Sounds
      • Phonetic Notation Key
    • Course Tutorials >
      • Your First Recording
      • Benchmark Exam #1
      • Primer Submission Page
    • Phonetic Training >
      • Introduction
      • Basics
      • Construction
      • Memorization
      • Mimic & Meaning
      • Benchmark Exams
    • Song Lessons >
      • Unit 1 - La Negra >
        • La Negra Lesson 1 >
          • Basics (La Negra Chorus)
          • Construction (La Negra Chorus)
          • Memorization (La Negra Chorus)
          • Submission Page (La Negra Chorus)
        • La Negra Lesson 2 >
          • Basics (La Negra V1L1-4)
          • Construction (La Negra V1L1-4)
          • Memorization (La Negra V1L1-4)
          • Submission Page (La Negra V1L1-4)
        • La Negra Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (La Negra V1L5-8)
          • Construction (LA Negra V1L5-8)
          • Memorization (LA Negra V1L5-8)
          • La Negra Lesson 3 Submission
        • La Negra Lesson 4 >
          • Basics (La Negra V2L1-4)
          • Construction (La Negra V2L1-4)
          • Memorization (La Negra V2L1-4)
          • La Negra L4 Submission
        • La Negra Lesson 5 >
          • Basics (La Negra V2L5-8)
          • Construction (La Negra V2L5-8)
          • Memorization (La Negra V2L5-8)
          • La Negra L5 Submission (La Negra V2L5-8)
        • La Negra Mimic >
          • Mimic Practice (La Negra M&M)
          • Meaning Practice (La Negra M&M)
      • Unit 2 - Clandestino >
        • Clandestino Lesson 1 >
          • Basics (Clandestino V1L1-4)
          • Construction (Clandestino V1L1-4)
          • Memorization (Clandestino V1-4)
          • Final Activity (Clandestino V1L1-4)
        • Clandestino Lesson 2 >
          • Basics (Clandestino V1L5-8)
          • Construction (Clandestino V1L5-8)
          • Memorization (Clandestino V1L5-8)
          • Final Activity (Clandestino V1L5-8)
        • Clandestino Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (Clandestino V2L1-4)
          • Construction (Clandestino V2L1-4)
          • Memorization (Clandestino V2L1-4)
          • Submission Page (Clandestino V2L1-4)
        • Clandestino Lesson 4 >
          • Basics (Clandestino V2L5-8)
          • Construction (Clandestino V2L5-8)
          • Memorization (Clandestino V2L5-8)
          • Submission Page (Clandestino V2L5-8)
        • Clandestino Mimic >
          • Clandestino Meaning
      • Unit 3 - Pies Descalzos >
        • PD Lesson 1 >
          • Construction (PD Chorus 1-5)
          • Memorization (PD Chorus 1-5)
          • Submission Page (PD Chorus 1-5)
        • PD Lesson 2
        • PD Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (PD Refrain)
          • Construction (PD Refrain)
          • Memorization (PD Refrain)
          • Submission Page (PD Refrain)
        • PD Chorus Mimic >
          • PD Chorus Meanings
      • Unit 4 - Shakira Rap >
        • PD Rap Lesson 1 >
          • Basics (PD Rap V1L1-4)
          • Construction (PD Rap V1L1-4)
          • Memorization (PD Rap V1L1-4)
          • Submission Page (PD Rap V1L1-4)
        • PD Rap Lesson 2 >
          • Basics (PD Rap V1L5-8)
          • Construction (PD Rap V1L5-8)
          • Memorization (PD Rap V1L5-8)
          • Submission Page (PD Rap V1L5-8)
        • PD Rap Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (PD Rap V2L1-4)
          • Construction (PD Rap V2L1-4)
          • Memorization (PD Rap V2L1-4)
          • Submission Page (PD Rap V2L1-4)
        • PD Rap Lesson 4 >
          • Basics (PD Rap V2L5-10)
          • Construction (PD Rap V2L5-10)
          • Memorization (PD Rap V2L5-10)
          • Submission Page (PD Rap V2L5-10)
        • PD Rap Mimic >
          • PD Rap Meanings
      • Unit 5 - Lo que Pasó (Speed Training) >
        • LQP Lesson 1 >
          • Basics (LQP V1)
          • Construction (LQP V1)
          • Memorization (LQP V1)
          • Submission Page (LQP V1)
          • Speed Training
        • LQP Lesson 2 >
          • Basics (LQP V2)
          • Construction (LQP V2)
          • Memorization (LQP V2)
          • Submission Page (LQP V2)
          • Speed Training (LQP V2)
        • LQP Lesson 3 >
          • Basics (LQP V3)
          • Construction (LQP V3)
          • Memorization (LQP V3)
          • Submission Page (LQP V3)
          • Speed Training (LQP V3)
        • LQP Lesson 4 >
          • Basics (LQP V4)
          • Construction (LQP V4)
          • Memorization (LQP V4)
          • Submission Page (LQP V4)
          • Speed Training (LQP V4)
        • LQP Mimic >
          • LQP Meaning
  • Drills & Practice
    • Phonetic Notation Key
    • Alveolar Bootcamp >
      • Tap in Isolation
      • Easy Combos
      • Tricky Combos
      • Difficult Combos
    • Bonus Content
  • Help

Spanish 'R' Sounds

The most difficult movements to master in Spanish are the Alveolar Tap and Trill (aka Spanish R sounds). 
​

As a Spanish learner, you may have a STRONG tendency as an English speaker to replace the Spanish 'R' /&/ with the English /ɹ/ sound.​ Even more important, they are also the MOST common speech sounds in the language. 

​Doing this wrong is perhaps the biggest giveaway of whether you have a bad accent. Acoustically, the English /ɹ/ sound is completely different from the Spanish R /&/. Yet this is still the most common pronunciation error that English speakers make. 

Alveolar Tap - /&/

  • Create this sound by lightly flicking the tip of your tongue against the alveolar ridge.
  • If you go fast enough with /d/, you will be creating the alveolar tap. Eventually your tongue will be moving so fast that the consonant will evolve into an alveolar tap /&/.
  • Try to replace the Spanish /&/ with a hard /d/ but make sure that you use the blade of your tongue for the Spanish /d̪/
  • We actually use /&/ in English often. For instance, Americans will say the word "butter" with a tap in place of the /t/:  "bu-&r."
​

Alveolar Trill - /+/

  • Create this sound by directing air over the tongue in a way that causes it to vibrate rapidly on its own.  
  • If you cannot pronounce this sound, it suffices to replace it with the alveolar tap /&/.
  • Some will find it easier to produce the trill /+/ than the tap /&/. As a result, they might replace the tap with the trill sound. This is not a good habit to develop.

Alveolar Tap Combos

The real difficulty in this sound is pronouncing it in combination with other consonants. To bring your alveolar tap strength up to the levels needed to keep up with the normal speeds of Spanish, I have created a series of drills to develop your speed and strength in producing this sound in every combination possible in Spanish.

​You will find all of these drills in the Drills & Practice section.  As you progress through the Spanish sections, you should refer to these drills regularly to build up your tap strength and speed. ​To get the full benefits out of these drills, the key is to practice often (i.e. daily). In general, your goal should be to workout until you feel "fatigue" in your mouth. Any soreness you feel today will translate to newfound strength tomorrow. 

English Speaker Mistakes

In the Spanish writing system, you write the alveolar tap and trill as "r" and "rr" respectively. Since most people learn Spanish through writing, most English speakers replace these sounds with the vastly different English /​ɹ/ sound because it looks the same on paper.
This is why I use the /&/ and /+/ symbols to represent these sounds. Conceptualizing these sounds with symbols other than the "r" has proven effective in reducing mispronunciation for English speakers. 
​
You do NOT want to build this English /ɹ/ habit, as it will seriously cripple your Spanish abilities. The presence of this sound in your Spanish will effect your pronunciation of other sounds, especially the vowels.

Again, be sure to check out my Alveolar Bootcamp section and do the drills regularly to build up your endurance and strength. This will also help you get the trill faster.

<<Spanish Consonants

Phonetic Notation Key>>

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