When parents notice a speech defect such as burr in their children, they begin to take their children to speech therapists and take various measures to eliminate incorrect pronunciation. But there are people who deliberately want to know how to learn to burr. One of the main reasons for this desire is to study French. Also, many young people want to imitate their idols (for example, the leader of the group “Okean Elzy” Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, the rap artist “Guf” and many others are known for their incorrect pronunciation of this sound).
How to check the pronunciation of the sound R?
Ask the child to repeat it several times in isolation - R R R, then in words in different positions after you: CANCER, FISH, HAND, CROW, COW, ROAD, VAR, HEAT, STEAM, TRACTOR, DRAGON, AVENUE.
If a child pronounces an isolated R incorrectly, then you will need to first put it in, then fix the pronunciation in words and sentences. If P sounds correct in isolation, but incorrect in words, you will only need to fix its pronunciation.
The main reasons for incorrect pronunciation
- Impaired mobility of the speech organs;
- Short frenulum of the tongue;
- Speech hearing impairment;
- Incorrect speech breathing.
To test the mobility of the speech organs, you need to ask the child to perform several exercises. Sit with him in front of the mirror, show him the movement yourself, ask him to repeat:
- open and close your mouth, while “slapping” your lips;
- stick your tongue out far and hide it;
- move your wide tongue first up and down, then left and right;
- hold a motionless wide tongue on the lower lip with your mouth open for 10 seconds;
- stretch your lips with a tube - stretch them into a smile;
- alternately close your right and left eyes.
Articulation gymnastics for the sound R
If you notice that your child’s movements are imprecise, and that he cannot repeat some of them, first teach him to do special exercises for his lips and tongue. They are called articulatory gymnastics and are designed to improve the mobility of the speech organs.
To test your child’s speech hearing, ask him to “catch” the sound R. You alternately pronounce different sounds, syllables and words, for example: P, L, SH, R, S, R, LA, RA, MO, UR, MAMA, RAMA, PAWS , ROSE, and the child should clap his hands when he hears R among them. If the child confuses similar sounds: R-L, R-Y, this indicates a speech hearing disorder.
To check the length of the frenulum of the tongue, ask the child to open his mouth as for pronouncing the sound E and reach the base of the upper teeth with his tongue. If the tongue does not reach, the frenulum is considered shortened. It is quite easy to stretch it with the help of regularly performed exercises for the tongue - “Horse”, “Mushroom”, “Accordion”.
When the sound P sounds “French”, burrously, scientifically this is called grazing, there is a violation of speech exhalation. If it is incorrect, then the air stream partially goes into the nose, and its remnants dissipate in the mouth. As a result, it is not the tip of the tongue that vibrates, but the small tongue above the palate. Grassing is very difficult to correct, and as soon as you notice that the child has begun to burr, immediately begin work on correcting speech exhalation.
How can you use the Russian sound “X”?
Indeed, there is an exercise that allows you to achieve a smooth pronunciation of the letter “P” using the Russian sound “X”. After all, these two sounds are very similar in the mechanism of movement of the speech organs.
First you need to find a word with the letter “X” and pronounce it several times in order to understand how the tongue moves at this time. Then play "X" separately. Then try to replace the dull sound with a voiced one. If everything was done correctly, a defective “R” sound will be heard.
Thanks to such simple methods as burring the letter “P”, you can achieve success. The main thing is to do the exercises regularly. At first it will be difficult, as in any educational process. But if you show diligence, you will certainly become burry.
Even if the skill of pronouncing the grazing “R” is acquired, you still should not completely abandon the exercises, especially if you use the correct pronunciation in your normal speech. It is necessary to constantly consolidate the result and improve so that, if necessary, you can dramatically rearrange the articulation of this difficult sound.
The most common violations
- The sound is skipped completely, a vowel is heard instead - the word saRai sounds like sa_ay;
- Instead of the sound R, L or Y is pronounced, this is called a replacement - salai, yuka;
- The sound softens in those words where it should sound hard - riba, ryuka;
- The sound is pronounced distorted, atypical for the Russian language - grazing R.
In total, there are about 30 different problems with the pronunciation of the R sound, many of which are uncommon.
Exercises to improve speech hearing
Here is an example of work when replacing R with L. If there is a replacement for another sound, then it can be distinguished by ear from R.
An adult pronounces various sounds, including R and L. First, the child raises his hand when he hears the sound L, then listens to the same sounds, but raises his hand to the sound R, but does not repeat the words out loud. The same goes for words containing the sounds R and L:
- at the beginning of the word: onion, cancer, sprout, work, swallow, shovel;
- in the middle of the word: hammer, cow, city, lard, lesson, ear;
- at the end of the word: chalk, thief, mosquito, goal, opal, ox, nightmare, frame.
Learning to pronounce French R
Very often, parents are concerned if a child cannot pronounce the letter P correctly for a long time - beautifully, loudly.
Every speech therapist most likely sees the majority of children with just such a problem.
In our times there were no speech therapists or anything. Somehow the children were learning. No one was left with a burr.
But times have changed, new professions have appeared (one of them is speech therapist), new jobs are being created (in almost every kindergarten - that’s for sure).
At the beginning of each year, speech therapists write work plans for the year, come up with (sometimes they pull it out of thin air - sorry, I couldn’t resist) what speech disorders to detect in students and what methods to use to correct them.
A thorough check of speech development in groups begins.
And there are always children who need to be (immediately!) enrolled in classes with a speech therapist.
Forgive me for writing this way, I’m just used to expressing myself honestly and directly.
Whether the child needs to correct his speech or not, the planned number of “test subjects” for the speech therapist in kindergarten will always be filled.
And then classes will begin with each child individually.
Oh, that’s not what I started writing about, but I just couldn’t suppress my feelings and emotions.
Actually, today I want to talk about the anomalous sound pronunciation of R (is it anomalous?).
The French say this - they don’t care, no one corrects them. Our children with French R are on the carpet to see a speech therapist.
But it’s amazingly beautiful! Why break the baby's speech! Maybe he will go to live in France later. Then this beautiful R will be very useful to him.
But no, you have to break it.
In general, I am against breaking the French R. Some people, on the contrary, want to buy it.
And here’s how to do this, how to learn to pronounce the French R, the topic of today’s article.
I often come across such recommendations for learning R in French - listen more to the speech of the French, pronounce the words after them, imitating.
But this is absurd!
How can you simply imitate if you have no idea where this French R is pronounced?
- Therefore, first we need to understand for ourselves and convey to the child as clearly as possible (if we teach French to a child) that when we pronounce R in French, the tongue moves completely differently than when we growl in Russian.
In our speech, we place the tip of the tongue on the tubercles behind the teeth, and the French R is pronounced with the root of the tongue.Show the child in the picture, and then on yours, and then on his own (through the mirror) organs, where the tip of the tongue is and where the root is.
- The next stage is working with the language. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s in front of a mirror or whether the student closes his eyes and imagines his speech apparatus, but one must learn to feel the language and play with it in the following way:
We slowly move the tip of the tongue from the teeth up to the neck. This exercise will help strengthen the muscles at the root of the tongue. Perform the exercise as many times as you have patience for.The more the tongue muscle is strengthened in the root area, the easier it will be to manipulate it later.
- Next, you should perform exercises to lift the very root of the tongue to the palate.
At the same time, the tongue straightens and lies flat, resting against the lower teeth. At first, it is better to simply do this exercise, without adding any sounds. - At the next stage we add sounds.
Take a word starting with X (bread), highlight the first sound and pronounce it as clearly as possible. X-x-x. - Now we try to pronounce the sound X not dull, but loudly, then we alternate: X deaf - X voiced. Let's get closer to Ukrainian G.
After completing this series of exercises, I recommend gargling by taking a little water and throwing your head back.
The gurgling that results in the throat is almost the French sound R.
Now you need to learn how to gurgle on your own, but without water and rinsing.
While rinsing, try to remember the movement of the root of the tongue, so that you can then reproduce it from memory without water.
Now all that remains is training. We choose words with the sounds X, G and R and pronounce them many times, trying to gurgle in the right place in the word.
And the most useful thing, in my opinion, will be recording your workouts on a voice recorder.
Regular exercise for about 20-30 minutes a day will give results within a week.
Your French R sound will be excellent. Good luck!
In the next article, we learn to pronounce DR-TR.
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How to learn to pronounce the sound R: exercises for production
Basic exercises
1. “Horse” - vigorously click the tongue, sucking it to the palate and sharply tearing it off;
2. “Whoa, horse” - vibrating your lips to say “coachman’s” whoa;
3. “Painter” - move your wide tongue from the upper teeth to the throat and back to the teeth;
4. “Mushroom” - suck your tongue to the roof of your mouth, stretching the sublingual ligament. The tongue is the “mushroom cap”, and the ligament is the “mushroom stem”;
5. “Woodpecker” - use the tip of your tongue to hit the tubercles behind the upper teeth - the alveoli, pronouncing d-d-d-d. Only the tongue moves, the lower jaw is motionless.
6. “Mosquito” - strongly pressing your tongue into the alveoli, pronounce dz-z-z-z in a drawn-out manner
7. “Start the engine” - lift the tip of your tongue up behind your teeth, gradually increasing the pace and repeating melon-meon-meon-meon, as far as possible, switching to dr-dr-dr-dr.
These exercises should be performed every day, in front of a mirror, achieving clear and correct tongue movements.
Setting the sound R from the sound D
Pronounce the sound D loudly and for a long time, pressing the tip of the tongue to the upper alveoli. Let the child imagine that the tongue is a sail that needs to be inflated by the wind. When pronouncing the sound D, you need to blow strongly on your tongue so that “the sail flaps and vibrates in the wind.” By placing his palm to his mouth, the child should feel the shock of air. Not right away, but it should turn out alright. We fix it in words with the combination dr - fight, friend, dragon, then with the combination tr - grass, labor, throne, then in the words square, cartridge, bucket, stained glass, frame, meter, theater.
Setting R from sound Z
Make the sound Z with the tongue in the upper position - “the mosquito is buzzing”, then quickly move the tip of the tongue along the tubercles behind the upper teeth - “the mosquito is frozen and trembling.”
Making the sound R while inhaling
The child draws out the sound C, placing his tongue against his teeth. Explain to him - first blow the air out of your mouth and say C outward, and then suck in the same air and the sound C with it inside. Or - when pronouncing the sound C, make such a movement with your tongue as if you want to “suck” saliva into yourself.
Mechanically assisted setting
To do this, you can use a rubber pacifier, the handle of a teaspoon, a cotton swab or the child's index finger. Objects must be perfectly clean, the fingernail must be cut short and evenly filed so as not to damage the tongue. The child pronounces the upper sound Z or D-D-D-D for a long time, at this time the adult quickly moves one of the listed objects under the tongue to the right and left, causing it to vibrate. If this is a child’s finger, it must be absolutely straight and first the adult himself moves the child’s hand. As a result, a rough, booming R sound should be heard.
Learn to burr with exercises
Not only self-training, but also professional training will help you learn how to trace the letter “P”. There are many exercises in the school curriculum for teaching French, here is the most common of them:
Exercises from French lessons
First, stock up on a mirror. If you can see how your tongue works, it will make the task much easier.
- This exercise will be familiar to you if you studied French at school. Press the middle of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and touch the tip of your tongue to your lower teeth. Try pronouncing the sound "R" in such conditions.
- You should still touch the roof of your mouth and pharynx with your tongue, you need to do this with the root of it, and strain it very hard. And try to pronounce the sound “R” again. Practice diligently, rarely does it work out the first time.
Exercise with water
This time you will need a glass of water and a bath. Rinse your larynx making the sound “R”, and then repeat the same procedure, but without water. The sound must be made vibrating.
French sayings and tongue twisters
The Internet is replete with an abundance of sites where you can find everything you need to practice grazing “R”. Find French sayings, listen to the pronunciations and pronounce them carefully. You can complicate your task with the help of tongue twisters. Below is one of them, with a lot of "P":
« Rat vit riz
Rat mit patte à ras
Rat mit patte à riz
Riz ciut patte à rat.”
And an example of a French saying in which there are many “Rs”:
“Dans la gendarmerie, quand un gendarme rit, tous les gendarmes rient dans la gendarmerie” (“In the gendarmerie, when the gendarme laughs, all the gendarmes laugh in the gendarmerie”).
You can listen to how it is pronounced correctly again on any of the sites. Having studied several sayings and tongue twisters, you are certainly guaranteed to successfully study the grading “r”.
Listen to French music
We have already said earlier that listening and singing French compositions will be beneficial in mastering the ability to burr. Now look at this more specifically.
Edith Piaf's songs, for example, the famous “Non, Je ne regrette rien,” serve as a wonderful example. The songs of Mireille Mathieu are also good, for example, choose “La vie en rose” to listen and study. It is generally accepted that singers even grate too much, which not only adds a certain charm to the songs, but also helps you in training. By imitating them you will achieve the desired result.
Using the Russian "X"
The Russian sound “X” can very well phonetically move with the French sound “R”. For example, say the word “mine” a couple of times, paying attention to how this sound is produced. Now say the same “X”, but separately. Next, as soon as it starts to work out, instead of a dull sound, try to pronounce a voiced one. If you did everything correctly, then you will get that same French “R”. If not, then here are some more Russian words, the pronunciation of which will help you grasp the essence of the pronunciation of the burry “R”: chrome, brushwood, horseradish.
With the help of these simple lessons and exercises, you will soon master how to burr the letter “R”. If something doesn’t work out, you can always seek the help of a phonetics or French teacher.
The main thing is daily repetition and training. Never stop learning, because everything comes with experience and regularity. Otherwise, don't expect quick results.
Strengthening pronunciation (automation of the sound R)
After setting the sound in any of the above ways, it must be fixed first at the beginning of the words, then in the middle and at the end. After this, phrases and sentences rich in the sound R are named or compiled from pictures, and tongue twisters, tongue twisters, poems and songs are learned. For this it is better to use special methodological literature.
We recommend benefits!
- The Big Book of Speech Therapy Games
- Naughty sounds "R" - "R". Speech therapy notebook (with stickers)
- Clinking sounds. We growl in verses. Poems and tongue twisters with practicing the sound R
- Difficult sound, you are our friend! Sounds R, R
- 1000 tongue twisters with difficult sounds
The success of work is largely determined by the individual characteristics and character of the child, and the correctness of the adult’s actions. For some, learning to pronounce the letter P will be relatively simple and a clear P will be obtained almost immediately, for others it will take a long time and hard work, and for others it will not be possible to do without the help of an experienced speech therapist. Don’t despair if it doesn’t work out right away, be consistent, patient, praise your child for the slightest achievements and don’t scold him if he fails. If you are determined to succeed, then everything will definitely work out.
Olga Viktorovna Lavitskaya, speech therapist, especially for the Active Mom website
Imitation is a way to study burr
How to start burring correctly? First of all, you need to know well how to pronounce the correct letter “R”. Only then can we study the mechanism for reproducing the grazing “P”. You need to compare them and understand how they differ from each other.
Carrying out the analysis, it will be clear that when a person pronounces the usual sound “R”, he actively uses the tip of his tongue. Unlike the usual sound, the grazing “P” forces the use of the lingual root and larynx.
When pronouncing the usual “R”, you need to feel where exactly the speech organ is located at this time. After this, you need to slowly move the tongue from the tip to the base. The “burr” sound “P” is produced using air currents directly in the throat, without involving the end of the tongue.
In order to learn by imitation, you will need to stock up on various works in French: music, films, programs. When using them, you should try to repeat the expressions of the French. It is important to ensure that the words sound similar.
If you want to imitate your Russian idols, then use their material accordingly.
To control your pronunciation, you can use a voice recorder. Use it to record your voice and listen to it, assessing the correctness of the reproduction of the defective “P”.
