American Accent Training - The American "R"

[MizzJalen]

I'm Canadian but I pronounce the American R, I have a valley girl accent somewhat

[MsLemonleah]

oh this iz so harrd just came to america and people are looking at me like wut?

[soxmonki]

why is my tongue not touching my ... oh wait ... I am an American ... hehe ... :)

[2MoronsAndAnIdiot]

@HayleeNicoleAtVEVO I'm 13 I'm a girl I sort of think I'm fat and you just made me cry...

[etastis25]

Hey! Guess what? Not all americans are fat.

[TheEmma187]

wow it actually works!

[elvaelvirababe]

I hate how Boston people pronounces car as "cah".

[HayleeNicoleAtVEVO]

here's how to do an american accent:

dude lets go get some burgers...MMMM GREASE *steps on weight scale* oohh yeah babey 300lbs

-england(;

[StevenJosephHorton]

@HayleeNicoleAtVEVO ;P The average height for an American is an inch taller than a Briton. :P We're also more muscular.

[HayleeNicoleAtVEVO]

@StevenJosephHorton yes because of all the hormones in your milk and dairy....thats why boobs are bigger too. at least were real

[leeetzz]

@HayleeNicoleAtVEVO stupid comments like these are making british poeple look really bad what is the point

[rockkong1]

I still can't bloody get it

[MasterAsra]

@rockkong1 Well if you talk like that in the Boston Metropolitan area in the United States, people don't use the R that much either, and tend to call cars cahhs. But like another poster said, if you practice talking like a pirate it might help with getting the r sounds down to pat.

[5harsh5]

Thanks

[sorasgirl0]

Non Americans! Wanna learn a trick to saying the "R"? Pretend you're a pirate haha, Arrrr!

[TheJinnarazz]

thank you very much friend....iam damn crazy in learning american accent

[NJatTheDisco]

Veddy Veddy good my friend Haha

[Imala54]

I like the american r I didn't know it was different from the british accent although I do know that you don't pronounce the r in british english ..

"Th" isn't so complicated after all. I'm french and I used to pronounce it "v "or "f" depending (no not "z" like many french people do it's horrible XD) on the words a girl in my class show me one day how to do it and I got it immediately it's a bit shocking that no teacher have corrected me before O:.

[GrandeOrionM42]

I think the american "R" is nothing compared to the "TH"...

Damn horrrrrrrrrrrible "TH" !! It took me TWO YEARS to achieve this english / american sound !

Fortunately english / american language is a real pleasure to learn ! ;-)

[KimCullen10]

im english and im sorry i couldn't stop laughing!!!!

[aschindler22]

interesting

[TranceGirl4]

good lesson anyway!

(..nice smile btw:))

[joanna5640]

A British r is the same as an american r

[xXaplusd4everXx]

nice handwriting :)

[TheDarkDimensions]

This is hard for me. Being Australian, we don't really emphasise the R's..

[sockschappercat]

Every time I attempt an American accent, it goes all redneck-like.

[MultiOlimac]

british accent is way harder to learn than this one..

[xSexbombSuzukix]

@MultiOlimac There's nothing called a british accent.

There are a lot of accent used in britain so.

[MultiOlimac]

@xSexbombSuzukix but there is a general, like water, you say something like wota.. and all words ended in r end like water.

[xSexbombSuzukix]

@MultiOlimac Yeah, the worst accent of all. lol. where I live they said ''water'' without the force on the ''r''.:L

[BabyCherry323]

i dont even kno why im watching this LOL im canadian but i wanna talk like an american .. iunno i just like it better .

[DrBadwolf18]

i need this to audition for grease

[Blackdragon99omfg]

Hey American accent is a bitch for me and I'm trying to learn it for acting.

[jackfudgeu]

@Blackdragon99omfg same here, but i realized jsut then at how naturally i can do it, im australian and i can do it perfectly.

[AmyColquhoun]

@jackfudgeu Well it's alright for some ;) I hate having a (kinda) posh english accent, it makes it ever so hard to not pronounce things properly

[jackfudgeu]

@AmyColquhoun Yeah, well sometimes i slip up and you here abit of an american/australian accent in there. but saying things properly for me is good.

[Lyiend]

@Blackdragon99omfg It's much easier for americans to learn brittish accents, as all the sounds we pronounce are in the british language, but not the other way around.

[jacklondon21]

that was ve y helpful

[alexllorrac]

Hey, lets teach you how to talk in a different accent so that you can't be yourself and be ashamed of where you come from.

[WhoTouchedSasha]

I love how this video is most popular in america! Now I'm gonna check if the "How to speak with a British accent" guides are most popular in the UK...

[eyesofthebluestskies]

I think the American accent is like...the easiest accent to learn.

[sophiamccx]

i dont speak amerian yet i dont use my tongue when i say the word "R"? :s

[xXvolhvXx]

Are there actually people who seriously struggle with this? Most of the time I speak Russian, which uses the rolling “R”, but it took me only a few attempts when I was 5 years old to catch the American “R”.

[KonekoLynn]

This is so weird to watch because I have an american accent xD If yu want an american accent just pronounce the words like they are. like...okay iduno...I just always thought american accents stuck to the way the words are spelled.

[n0xc0mment]

The R is My best friend

[ChildOfTheSettingSun]

I say Car and my tongue doesn't touch the roof of my mouth, but I don't sound american. I still sound Australian... lol. He's so wrong!

[KonekoLynn]

@ChildOfTheSettingSun @ . @ youre right! But I be american so i can do it lol xD

[sajko1337]

This is impossible. I really can't do this shit!!!! What to do????

[SuperWingedwolf]

thanks! im english but im learning american accent for a video seris with my friends, my charecter is american, and i have trouble with american accents

[1992DirtyDevil]

american accent pisses me off UGLY

[crazymonkey982]

I am traditionally a Brit through and through... There is no trill, no, zip nada... appriciate the help as I am terrible at the accent, but I car normally. (cah) UNLESS this is for non english, in that case you are right.

[tigerlili97]

umm... I'm english and when I use 'r's my tongue never touches anything XD

[Dince125]

this mans a genius

I think I finally vanished my HARD GERMAN *RRRRRRRR* :D

[ncisgoth97]

when i say car (as an inglish person) i just say car (caaah) no trill. rofle

[Novice1551]

If you pronounce "R" and touching the roof of your mouth you sound more like someone from India. :)

[IamaColdplaygirl]

@Novice1551 that made me giggle furiously. hahaha

[ZgtPe3PP3eRzzz]

jedi americans! R without touching

[NANUFIFI]

yaaaaaah!!

hell glad i say it that way!!

its amazing cuz i just knew it!!

!

[ZombiesEatOreos]

im american i didnt even know we had an accent lol i always thought it was just england with their british accents. this is cool.

[sweetjynx97]

I'm great at this, too bad I'm American... :D

[TranceGirl4]

@sweetjynx97

hahaha:)

well..i think i'm pretty good at "R",but other stuff...i know i will never do perfect american accent for the same reason for which one you're great at this:)

[bon2xbabyface]

i thought its hard to copy the american accent. :) i did it perfetly. HAHA

[ILoveTaylorLautnerTJ]

i cant belive it but im pretty good at it. Xd proud of my self

[fujinmoto]

I just got out of speech therapy.I'm 14 I got out when I was 12. your telling me something different than they told me

[kandorei101]

Interestingly enough the area where Americans don't pronounce the "r" is Boston, which is the closest historically to the UK, that being where the pilgrims first landed.

[75egcg]

@kandorei101 by boston i'm guessing you mean the general new england accent, which is pretty much dying out. I'm a new englander and don't use the received pronunciation of the non-rhotic dialect of the place. I think it started to die out with generation X

[Ricalloo]

Hmm, great description. I guess I never thought of the accent of R in American dialect to be similar to a vowel, but it really is. My tongue touches nothing. The R sound is completely done with the lips.

He is also right that one of the biggest giveaways of noticing one isn't American is the Rs... outside of New York and Boston of course...

[6WingedHydraPheonix3]

I'm American and I can't tell what my accent sounds like because I grew up with every one around me having the same accent. Can any one who isn't American give me a description in any way you can? Even if it's only an one word description. Please?

[animythfameEm]

@6WingedHydraPheonix3 Well I think we accentuate our consonants and cover up our vowels whereas London accents do the opposite. Say the word hot dog in both accents and you'll see what mean. I think your username was the only reason I wanted to respond... Those are 2 of my face mythical creatures:) of course griffins and unicorns... Hope that helped :)

[6WingedHydraPheonix3]

@animythfameEm HELPED ALOT!!! THANKS!!!

[animythfameEm]

@6WingedHydraPheonix3 Your welcome:)

[The4142tony]

This guy is a pro. He is the best one I have ever seen. He seems like a nice guy too.

Great job handsome!

[CupcakeGirl9226]

Im Canadian and i can do a American accent! But my friends a brit and she cant do a american accent shes called Isobellw and my twin is canadian but cannot do it!! Its weird!

[brogin]

American r rules!

[SierraOfAwesomeness]

i keep saying r

[ToutCQJM]

My r is great in every language! That's the beauty of being a linguist rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[bushinarin]

I wouldn't say that saying the 'r' our way is saying it 'correctly'. It's just saying it in an American way.

[Biruk2002]

Lol, our tongue doesn't touch anything.

[bobgirlxx96]

o.o I never knew speaking as I do would be so... difficult.

[pokedude279]

lol did he say struggle with your arse XD

[slampants]

i'm english, it's really hard to trill your r's!

[Hamzy91]

hooly crap....I'm a non-native speaker...and i'm studying english..and I've always thought my R was good....but now..I see it's a lil bit soft...and my tongue was touching the roof of my mouth all these years... :(  :D

[naturalblondealert23]

this is stupid I'm Australian and i don't trill my R's :p

[startreking2007]

Sounds like this video is for Spanish speakers learning English.

[domnal]

@startreking2007 It is !!

[jakejohnhess]

I don't trill my Rs and I'm from England.

[domnal]

@jakejohnhess Don't start that !!

[ScottMcK9]

It's literately impossible to not touch anything in your mouth with your tongue saying the 'R,' I think this is because, it requires you to put both sides of your tongue against your gum and back top teeth. Interesting video none the less :) Cheers! :)

[KC1971J]

@ScottMcK9 I never noticed this before, but he is absolutely correct. Your tongue will not touch anything when you pronounce the letter r. (with an American accent)

[ScottMcK9]

@KC1971J I'm amazed at that, because even when I don't roll my r's my tongue turns into a 'u' shape and both sides touch my upper back molars. To me it's like trying to pronounce a 'b' without your lips coming together, your tongue has to touch something in order for there to be the 'r' if there isn't, then you'd be speaking 'Manchesta' Maybe you're right, I don't know, I just find that fascinating, because I'd find that impossible.

[ScottMcK9]

@KC1971J After watching it again, I think what he means is, the tongue doesn't touch anywhere near the top of the gum, if what he meant by 'the tongue doesn't touch anything' he'd be wrong, because your tongue has to touch your teeth to pronounce the 'r' I think what he means is, Americans don't put their tongue up to the top and roll the r's.

[EmmaaGaadz]

i'm english and i need to be able to speak with an american accent for my theatre studies exam :/ best get practising...

[CrimeSceneFairy94]

I never thought about how weird the letter R is before o.O

[100Metalsonic]

@CrimeSceneFairy94  the american accent sounds cool

[oakcommunitygal]

ahaha rofl

[AvrilLavigneFan19844]

amazing, thank you so much :D 

[mangachan10]

ahh, yes, the most abused letter of the English language.

[3asem3emad]

such an AMAZING TEACHER :)

[bdgrlberly]

lmao. This video is hilarious. Why would people want an American accent? And why am I (an American) watching this? hahaha.

[austizz1e]

@bdgrlberly haha MILLIONS of envious immigrants or children of immigrants that did not grow up speaking proper english everyday.

[DrKillaser]

@bdgrlberly some people have their reasons.. :p... for example, my school uses american education system, and i LOVE your books.. :D.... not confusing, but still.. can get the information into your head.. :).. all my teachers talk with an american accent..american documentary movies don't sound "boring" when the narrator is talking.. :) and similar stuff...

the only thing that separates between me and fluent English is my accent.. :(.. i chose american.. :P

[bdgrlberly]

@DrKillaser

I see. I always had the mis-perception that people preferred the British accent over the laid back American accent ^^ But good luck with your studies and know that most Americans find accents from different countries quite charming. lol. Just letting you know.

[janin101]

@bdgrlberly lol omg that's exactly what I was gonna say

[Kreloar]

@bdgrlberly WTF? Especially among younger people, at least here in Central Europe, American English is much better known than British English. When someone is learning English, most will try to sound American. Indeed the American "r" causes few problems over here, at least if you study English.

Pronouncing w and v correctly (no, I'm not German) and pronouncing voiced consonants causes the most problems in here. Honestly, about 90% of all English learners want to develop an American accent.

[alacowboy0]

@bdgrlberly so I dont have to repeat myself 3 times when I shop

[timothymichaelnathan]

@bdgrlberly actors from other countries need to be able to do it in order to make it there usually

[MathersMarshell]

@bdgrlberly Well i'm russian and i hate it when i hear russian people speak english....it sounds like this: "Ayem rrrrashin" and i hope not to sound like this

[antrox1999]

@bdgrlberly school drama

[charlie1eye]

@bdgrlberly i am thinking actors that are not american that need to talk american for a role

[britt4britt]

@bdgrlberly because.. well i'm australian and I am DESPERATE to get into serious acting and it's really hard and pretty well impossible to make a big break without being able to use an american accents because most of the big movies/shows are american ..hollywood films etc, so for me...to become an actress I reaaally need to properly learn how to do an american accent

[IIIIandrew]

Im american and I struggle with the r sound lol

[annavdduin]

Im dutch, and I WANT TO SPEAK FUCKING AMERICAN WITHOUT AN FREAKING DUTCH ACCENT!!!!!!!!!!

[KaraJayneee]

Im australian, I need to know how to speak with an american accent. Not how to make indians speak properly

[YAYBeyonce]

@KaraJayneee SAME!!!! Good luck.... coz I'm failing :(

[KaraJayneee]

@YAYBeyonce haha, I think the main Idea it to really did in the R's.

If he thinks Americans say things that are easier for them. They've obviously never gone down under

[Taarable]

Americans fail at English accents.

English people fail at American accents.

There are a few exceptions.

MY EARS ARE BLEEDING!!!!!!!!!

[TheRenae724]

lol. idk why i'm watching this. I'm american but its funny! hahaha...and idk why..o.o

[bongmanding]

You're VERY hot!

[zeajonas]

I think it is harder for us to fake an American accent than it is for Americans faking English accents

[MebeNitzy]

@zeajonas if youtube videos have taught me anything. then yes. It is true, people from britain have a lot of trouble to prounounce it while i learnt it while watching harry potter.

okay, embarrassing for me :D xoxo

[blackharu159]

@SuckMyMassiveKnob LOL that's pretty cool! Post a video doing it!

[roygbiv330]

im japanese. english is my first foreign language. every educational television native english speaker say dont touch the tongue in the mouse. im totally confused the point that you toutch the tongue inside of the mouse when you speak r in british accent.

[undercaos]

@roygbiv330 mouse=rat u mean mouth

[96gothchick]

i'm from london and all this did was make sound more british! though my american accent has gotten better i still have trouble with r and this vid didn't really help.

[KaraJayneee]

im just trying to learn how to do an accent for my agency, not learning how to speak

[OhhNooYouuDidntt]

@SuckMyMassiveKnob lmfao.

[poet2great]

This very helpful for kids who was and is born with a stuttering problem. I was one of those kids.

[EternalDarkFlame]

i'm born and raised in the US, and i said the word "car so many times during this video that soon it started sounding like "caca".

and now i can't pronounce the letter 'r'.

if anything, this is a "how to lose your correct pronunciation of the letter 'r' ".

in my case, that is.

[Rozzzzzzzie]

Im from ireland nd i really wanna bbe an actress nd 4 that i need a gud american accent but mines shit!!!

[ZakiyyahRahman]

I am from Maine and sounding like a Mainer involves playing with the rules of the R. Rs are only pronounced in the middle of the word (Ferocious, Berry, Garage) however, the Rs at the end of a word are barely pronounced. Examples: Car = Cah, Lobster = Lobstah, Chowder = Chowdah. The fun ones are when there are 2 Rs in different places such as Quarter = Quartah. If you don't speak like from in the northeast we know you are "from away."

[DarkMagus1985]

Hey what about the Boston accent which saw, "car" like "CAH" Idea they add "IDEA-R" and the Jersey/Long Island accent also sounds different and the southern accent man this guy forgot we regionally speak very different dialects of English...

[obliviouscandybar]

Huh, I never knew that.  :\

[harusameiro]

Several years ago, before watching this, I was trying to teach some Japanese college exchange students how to pronounce "R" to improve their American accent, and actually came up with this exact same realization about my native accent, so it's good to see it's a legitimate explanation after all! Although recognizing the source of the problem with their pronunciation didn't help much, since I didn't know how to explain it in a way they'd understand. -_-

[decoyvsslim2]

i'm british and i can do an american accent. yay

[mysoulhaunts]

@decoyvsslim2 Im american and i can do english haha yay

[jman0955]

i bet some people wud misconstru this as racist or as thinking americans are better and stuff but no this is intended for foreign people who wish to speak like americans

[47Julia]

you're an awesome teacher!!

[H4V0K1407]

I'm from France, and the R is really easy. I can't pronounce R with my tongue touching anything, though.

[popups46okay]

I'm okay with R.. I have problems with F's and P's.. I switch them a lot.. like when I say.. FREEDOM PARK.. I say, PREEDOM FARK. isn't that funny. lol

[BlackTwister999]

I can say the "R" Letter in american,spanish and british :D

[2601andrew]

This vid is NOT for Britons or Aussies! It's for people who don't speak English!

[manRaGor]

haha the first time u said very sounds like greekenglish accent ;]

[azzaharvey1]

@2525zola2525 Haha! Agreed, English accent all the way!

[CollegeRivals2010]

Why would someone with 4 thumbs up delete the comment.

[jordanloftusmusic]

i'm from australia and i say R without my tounge touching another part of my mouth!!!

[ariawallacefan3312]

@jordanloftusmusic im from australia too and yeah when i say r it doesnt touch anything. Same when americans say 'th' their tounge touches the top of their roof of their mouth..its werid i cant do it :S

[Magneto10]

@ariawallacefan3312

Americans pronounce "th" with the tip of their tongue touching under their top front teeth, and sometimes a little of the tongue touching the roof just behind the front teeth. We don't touch the very top of the roof (I don't think that sound is even possible doing it that way). I'm sure it's done in Australia very similarly. :)

[Nachovidal3600]

Living in the Netherlands and used to get english class in english accent. (obvious)

This is nice to learn

[myY0UTUBEchanneI]

haha it actually works.

[JiMaNeYbOb]

wtf u on about? my tounge never touches the roof of my mouth if i say a vowel and im english!

[ohmigoodnessily]

American accents are easy. we pronounce tuna "chew-ner" but americans pronounce it "too-nah" easy! :D

[KC1971J]

@ohmigoodnessily Tuna fish is pronounced "Chew-ner fish" where you live? Where exactly in the UK do you live?  I've never heard it pronounced that way.

[slampants]

@KC1971J i'm from stoke-on-trent, midlands, sorta north and i say chewna. pretty sure most of england says chewna actually

[patchworkfuckface]

@kb1kb1

best comment ever

[leparditas]

now i understood 

[channelhismojo]

HE forgot to mention that most native English speakers who aren't American or Canadian don't pronounce Rs at all if they end a word, and often drop them within the word too.

[Maniaclaughter]

Very nice explanation.

[737mattman]

You gave me a hard R

[MegaCrash88]

@xxPerfectlyPinkxx Believe me I just shared my opinion. Sorry if I hurt you..

[xxPerfectlyPinkxx]

@sweiland75 Theres more than one british accent? i dont think many americans know that lol

[Maniaclaughter]

@xxPerfectlyPinkxx Yes there is:)

[Dreamydre15]

I'm an American and doing a British accent is so hard =/

[MrDavid7419]

Boter club

[LoveAkito]

im british and i actually say it this way xD too much tv me thinks xD

[7419635841635]

russian R OWNS LOL

[supermario64777]

This guy has obviously never been to boston.

[ChaosWZ]

Haha, the American R is a bit of an annoyance especially if you have braces (Which by the way make it very VERY difficult for me to use the letter R despite being an American). Here's a tip : When you pronounce the R, touch your teeth to your lower lip,or move them much closer to your lower lip than you usually would.

[KaitR123]

I'm American and tried moving my tongue with R's and man I'm having trouble with it! I never even realized that we did that!

[LPchica086]

@KaitR123 me too! I never even realized until I watched this video. What do British people do?

[Nzie]

Good examples and explanation of sound formation, but you should clarify that this is for the kind of standard flat Greak Lakes accent; there are plenty of accents where the R is somewhat understated or ignored similar to those in the British Isles - basically, the traditional New England accents and other coastal accents the mid-Atl. and southern states- we're native speakers, too! Teaching English in Brit-Eng-prefering Europe my Boston accent dovetails nicely with the pronunciation tapes.

[PLURIC]

I'm an American, but my tongue makes an almost U-shape mid-tongue on my R's

[karhil44]

This is hilarious watching people trying to talk like me xD

[allissonlozzgodess]

@karhil44 lol! same reason im waching this!

[Calissafication]

@karhil44 your a dick

[LunarKakashi]

I'm American, and if I try saying my R's with the tip of my tongue touching the roof of my mouth, it sounds like my mouth is full of water. xD