British vs American English Accent Coaching — A Journey Round the R Sound
Hello! As the holiday season comes gently to a close I thought it would be a good opportunity to take A Journey Round the R Sound for those practising Standard British English accents or Standard American accents.
Standard British /r/
Standard British English /r/ is known as Retroflex because the tongue folds [flexes] back on itself behind the gum ridge while the sides of the tongue contact the back teeth.
However, it’s a fairly gentle movement to find and has minimum muscular activity. It is important to remember that the folded tongue should NOT come into contact with the roof of the mouth.
SBE does use an /r/ - sounded before or between vowels
heresy horrible arrest arrive foreign courage
variety experiment boring brick bridge
This ‘rule’ is applied when we speak a word aloud - and not to its spelling e.g: referred - here the /r/ is placed in between vowels BUT when we speak the word aloud it would be said before a consonant! So the /r/ is NOT sounded!
We need to sound the /r/ [of course] at the beginning of a word redolent reach rope read ready.
There is a point when /r/ can be used in the final position in a word - this is called the Linking /r/ and is sounded when the following word begins with a vowel.
e.g: Are you there already? Here and there Under all the umbrellas
Practise Sentences for Standard British English /r/
All care was given to the chorister after he had shared his story.
After all, he was never again going to live there with her!
Standard American /r/
Standard American /r/ or the Rhotic /r/, as it is known, means whenever there is an /r/ written, you sound it! This /r/ uses rather a more muscular engagement of the tongue. The body of the tongue is still flexing back but here the whole tongue needs to ‘bunch’ back in the mouth with the sides of the tongue coming well into contact with the upper molars [back teeth].
To find your Standard American /r/ try mimicking a puppy barking. This always seems to me to be a helpful way in!
urrr ruh! urrr ruh! urrr ruh!
Feel how much more connection there is compared to English Retroflex here there floor more clear flare better clutter butter fairer.
Take it as if in slow motion and connect with the movement the tongue is having to make.
Practise sentences for Standard American /r/
Shirley was an artistic girl with curly fair hair
He was a heartless farmer with a butterfly girlfriend
It was very clear that she looked careworn and tired after her long journey
It is tiring for the tongue to have to make these continual small movements!
Practise is all - and the feeling you are becoming another person - that American cousin I have mentioned before!
Be playful [always] in finding new sounds and bring them into your daily life. Improvise as you go, to help with building the sounds and feel them become natural and your own!
To finish, practise your Standard American /r/ by reading aloud this wonderful poem by New York poet Louise Gluck and finding and forming all the /r/ sounds you see written.
Anniversary by Louise Gluck
Well, November’s hit Paris again.
The Times records a mean temperature
Of thirty-eight. Bunched about the Madeleine,
Flower sellers ostrich the future
With their noses rigorously immersed
In stale roses. Or so I remember.
Incredibly, it was the twenty-first
Last week. And my affections turned out limber
After all: oh Stephen, we’d have been
Married now. I’ve still got our
China, some broken, and some linen
But the first I’ve really thought of you for
Months was just tonight when with my fork
Suspended I was saying how I loved New York.
All the best with practising your accents! See you soon!
Ros