Hot Tip: Pronouncing The French ‘R’

French pronunciation is full of pit falls and booby traps. Case in point: the nasal sounds. The liaisons. The voiceless letters. The accents. But if you’re reading this, it’s likely because at some point in your journey, the French R really, really frustrated you, and you’d like some straightforward advice for making your mouth, well, do that.

French teacher Audrey says that in her classes, learners often make the French R sound like an English R, or they pronounce it like an L.

To remedy this, she has her students try these three techniques:

Put water in your mouth and gargle. While gargling, try to imagine where the R sound would form in the back of your mouth. Then, try to reproduce this without water, and by adding vowels.
If this doesn’t work and you find your tongue still flipping to the top, try pressing down on your tongue with a pen.
As a last resort, switch out the French R for an English H (or rather, the airy sound of the H). It’s not completely the same, but it’s close enough to differentiate the R and the L.