Most languages do not have a /r/ sound like English. Having a non-English /r/ when speaking English gives the impression of a strong foreign accent. This is why it is important to understand the differences between your native /r/ sound (if you have one) and the English /r/ sound, and make changes accordingly.
Task 1: Work out how you physically pronounce the /r/ sound in your native language. It will help to find a word with /r/ in. If you don’t have a /r/ sound in your native language, then go to Task 2.
Task 2: How is the /r/ sound physically pronounced in English? For example, the /r/ in the word very.
Check you do not say the name of the letter “r” – it is the sound we are interested in. (Remember there is a difference between sounds and letters!) For both tasks, it will help to make the /r/ sound really long and use a mirror to look inside your mouth.
On the next page, you will see eight diagrams of /r/ sounds in different languages. You can listen to the sounds by pressing the play button. The /r/ sound will be between two vowels: /ɑːrɑː/. Work out which diagram represents the /r/ sound in your native language and which represents the /r/ sound in English.