Tough sounds r-

The Mandarin "r" sound is an all-new sound for English-speakers, and it definitely requires practice. Using the English "r" sound (whether American or British variety) isn't going to cut it! Practice the following words and phrases to be sure that you've got a good handle on these tough sounds.

Pronunciation Tips for r- (A2)

R-Diagram

Are you making the "r" sound correctly? Let's refer to our description from that page:

This may seem strange, but the Mandarin r- sound really is very similar to the ch-, sh-, and zh- sounds.

r- is pronounced by making the "French j" sound like in the words "leisure" and "pleasure". While making that sound, slowly pull the tip of your tongue further into the back of your mouth. The sound will start to sound less "buzzy" and more like an "r" sound. That's the Mandarin r- sound.

Tough Sound Words: r- (A2)

The words in the following table are designed to give you a good pronunciation workout. Practice them on your own and practice them with your teacher.

Audio	Chinese	Pinyin	English
re4	热	rè	hot
rou4	肉	ròu	meat, flesh
rang4	让	ràng	to let/make/have (someone do something)
ri4ben3	日本	Rìběn	Japan
ri4qi1	日期	rìqī	date
ran2hou4	然后	ránhòu	and then
dang1ran2	当然	dāngrán	of course, naturally
ren4shi	认识	rènshi	to know (a person)
ru2guo3	如果	rúguǒ	if
rong2yi4	容易	róngyì	easy

If these are too easy for you, don't forget that we also have these same sounds at a more challenging intermediate (B1) level.

Sources and further reading

More sources and other links coming soon...

A2 pronunciation points