So I'm useless with serious stuff, but give me something inane and I'm your girl!
With Italian, don't worry. I couldn't roll my r's either, in fact I still can't. There are Italians who can't. But if you don't think about it, and instead just sort of let the words form in your mouth, sometimes it'll come through on its own. Nowadays I can roll "buon giorno" seven times out of ten, and I'm even starting to experience occasional success with rolling my r's when I'm not actually using words, just going "rrrrrrrrr" with my tongue. It's rare that it works, and it's taken about four years of practice to get it, but hey. I'm proud of me.
Now I can even roll English words, not unlike Benedict Cumberbatch or Roger Allam, which makes me giddy. I never say "forty" anymore without rolling the r bit. It's fun! Forrrrrty!
A good way to start is by sort of half-replacing the R with a D. It's not perfect, but if you're talking quickly and putting all the stresses where they go, it sounds pretty damn close. Soon you'll be rattling off phrases like "Vado al teatro con il mio regazzo sabato sera" and making your Italian professor look at you like you deserve ALL THE CAKES. Fair warning, though, he may hug you. Just a tip.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2011-09-05 08:46 am (UTC)With Italian, don't worry. I couldn't roll my r's either, in fact I still can't. There are Italians who can't. But if you don't think about it, and instead just sort of let the words form in your mouth, sometimes it'll come through on its own. Nowadays I can roll "buon giorno" seven times out of ten, and I'm even starting to experience occasional success with rolling my r's when I'm not actually using words, just going "rrrrrrrrr" with my tongue. It's rare that it works, and it's taken about four years of practice to get it, but hey. I'm proud of me.
Now I can even roll English words, not unlike Benedict Cumberbatch or Roger Allam, which makes me giddy. I never say "forty" anymore without rolling the r bit. It's fun! Forrrrrty!
A good way to start is by sort of half-replacing the R with a D. It's not perfect, but if you're talking quickly and putting all the stresses where they go, it sounds pretty damn close. Soon you'll be rattling off phrases like "Vado al teatro con il mio regazzo sabato sera" and making your Italian professor look at you like you deserve ALL THE CAKES. Fair warning, though, he may hug you. Just a tip.