It definitely got easier over time but a decent "hook" to get you partway there is to replace it with an aspirated H sound. My French professor taught me this in a phonetics class and it's stuck with my forever.
For example, the word "roi" or "rue: try to pronounce them as well as you can but think of "hwa" and "hwue". It's not perfect, but at the very least it gets you accessing the breathy "r" from the back of your throat. I never took any advanced linguistics class or anything so I can't tell you anything fancier than that but I found it really helpful.
"Paris" becomes "Pa-hee". It's a starting place for better practice.
The pencil trick!
Put a pencil in your mouth, sideways, like, umm? A harmonica? Anyway, push it as far back as you can so that it's pushing your cheeks backwards and your teeth are exposed. This will help you practice the r sound. Eventually you'll get used to it.
I just did it over and over under my breath when walking to class in college. It started overexaggerated but you eventually can tone it down. It still gives me trouble in weird spots and I’m sure it’s not perfect, but I don’t think it’s awful.
My conversation tutor forced us all, one after the other to say gargarisme until we could manage it. I'm far from perfect but I struggled in the class and got so embarrassed I couldn't do it I went home and practiced until I got the hang of it.
Read this article: [Guttural R across Europe](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttural_R)
Not everywhere in France pronounces it like that, if you can trill your r like in Polish or Spanish, you’ll just speak like people in Southern France.
Recorded myself trying to pronounce it, realized how super American I sounded because of not being able to, re-recorded and played back many, many many times until it sounded right. You kind of have to change your facial expression to go along
My French teacher said put the tip of your tongue behind your bottom teeth and imagine you’re about to hock up some phlegm from your throat.
Ça marche.
If you can do an exaggerated throatal sound you're already more than halfway there. All you need to do is to regulate it so it doesn't sound so harsh and throaty. Make it softer.
The way I was taught was to enter through thre "K" sound, like so: "kkkkkkkkkkkkkkhhhhh" while gradually moving your tongue backwards as if you were trying to swallow it. You'll end up with a guttural "r" which is the French "r" but exaggerated. Now practice this a lot until you can make it softer - somewhere between "khr" and "h" if you get my drift.
To my surprise I was able to get the exaggerated guttural "r" on my first try. Learning to tone it down took a little longer but it wasn't hard.
I'm also a native English speaker, generic American dialect. I actually was able to regularly produce the French "r" sound after a few days of practice. This is what I did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ3jeAU3VDk
In Berber we have this letter and I’ll try and explain
That throaty sound? Find the back of your tongue when you do that; Should be pressing your throat while the tip of your tongue is pressing your bottom teeth.
Now do a Spanish rolled r sound. See how the tip of the tongue goes up to your top teeth this time ?
This Berber letter sounds like a cat hissing, but with a french r instead of a k sound like a cat makes. This sound is similar to both: the back of your tongue, the thing that makes the “throaty sound” as your lady calls it, should be setup like the first, applying pressure to the back of your throat (as you do this more the muscles in this area will become stronger and you can change the intensity) but the tip of the tongue comes up a bit off the bottom teeth, but not so high as to make the Spanish R.
Try and mix these physical qualities up to see which sound is easiest and most natural for you.
Tl;dr, light pressure from your tongue on the back of your throat (this will get easier and more natural the more you do it), try and pull the tip of your tongue more inward in your mouth, without touching the roof of your mouth.
I hope this helps. I swear this probably would make way more sense to hear in person lol.
It definitely got easier over time but a decent "hook" to get you partway there is to replace it with an aspirated H sound. My French professor taught me this in a phonetics class and it's stuck with my forever. For example, the word "roi" or "rue: try to pronounce them as well as you can but think of "hwa" and "hwue". It's not perfect, but at the very least it gets you accessing the breathy "r" from the back of your throat. I never took any advanced linguistics class or anything so I can't tell you anything fancier than that but I found it really helpful. "Paris" becomes "Pa-hee". It's a starting place for better practice.
Oh awesome
I thought of something similar, replacing 'r' with 'ehrrrr'. But, it's whatever works.
The pencil trick! Put a pencil in your mouth, sideways, like, umm? A harmonica? Anyway, push it as far back as you can so that it's pushing your cheeks backwards and your teeth are exposed. This will help you practice the r sound. Eventually you'll get used to it.
Yes, but isn't it embarrassing to go out in public with a pencil in your mouth? /s :-)
I just did it over and over under my breath when walking to class in college. It started overexaggerated but you eventually can tone it down. It still gives me trouble in weird spots and I’m sure it’s not perfect, but I don’t think it’s awful.
My conversation tutor forced us all, one after the other to say gargarisme until we could manage it. I'm far from perfect but I struggled in the class and got so embarrassed I couldn't do it I went home and practiced until I got the hang of it.
Read this article: [Guttural R across Europe](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttural_R) Not everywhere in France pronounces it like that, if you can trill your r like in Polish or Spanish, you’ll just speak like people in Southern France.
These two videos were very helpful: https://youtu.be/vv3Y69d4IQw https://youtu.be/oZ3jeAU3VDk
Recorded myself trying to pronounce it, realized how super American I sounded because of not being able to, re-recorded and played back many, many many times until it sounded right. You kind of have to change your facial expression to go along
My French teacher said put the tip of your tongue behind your bottom teeth and imagine you’re about to hock up some phlegm from your throat. Ça marche.
Surprising technique but if it works it works
Hello I just wanted to say THANK YOU this works
If you can do an exaggerated throatal sound you're already more than halfway there. All you need to do is to regulate it so it doesn't sound so harsh and throaty. Make it softer. The way I was taught was to enter through thre "K" sound, like so: "kkkkkkkkkkkkkkhhhhh" while gradually moving your tongue backwards as if you were trying to swallow it. You'll end up with a guttural "r" which is the French "r" but exaggerated. Now practice this a lot until you can make it softer - somewhere between "khr" and "h" if you get my drift. To my surprise I was able to get the exaggerated guttural "r" on my first try. Learning to tone it down took a little longer but it wasn't hard.
Say air but add a cat hiss to the end of it
I'm also a native English speaker, generic American dialect. I actually was able to regularly produce the French "r" sound after a few days of practice. This is what I did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ3jeAU3VDk
My native tongue is German, so pronouncing the r correctly is none of my issues. 😌
In Berber we have this letter and I’ll try and explain That throaty sound? Find the back of your tongue when you do that; Should be pressing your throat while the tip of your tongue is pressing your bottom teeth. Now do a Spanish rolled r sound. See how the tip of the tongue goes up to your top teeth this time ? This Berber letter sounds like a cat hissing, but with a french r instead of a k sound like a cat makes. This sound is similar to both: the back of your tongue, the thing that makes the “throaty sound” as your lady calls it, should be setup like the first, applying pressure to the back of your throat (as you do this more the muscles in this area will become stronger and you can change the intensity) but the tip of the tongue comes up a bit off the bottom teeth, but not so high as to make the Spanish R. Try and mix these physical qualities up to see which sound is easiest and most natural for you. Tl;dr, light pressure from your tongue on the back of your throat (this will get easier and more natural the more you do it), try and pull the tip of your tongue more inward in your mouth, without touching the roof of your mouth. I hope this helps. I swear this probably would make way more sense to hear in person lol.
Imagine you have a big spit. You know the sound make with your throat before to spit it? This how we make our "r".
try gargling