Pronouncing German

schlechtes vorbild   Sat Feb 06, 2010 4:07 am GMT
Hi, I don't have any native speakers of German in my area. Please watch this short video and let me know if I have finally conquered the German R.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vY3BQ1HMpg
losti   Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:53 am GMT
That's perfect.
I'm German and my R rather sounds like [χ], but that's a regional phenomenon, I guess.
feati   Sat Feb 06, 2010 2:55 pm GMT
It's not supposed to be a trill. Trills are usually only used if you want to put a very strong emphasis on the fact it's an R:
„Ich habe mir gestern eine Ratte gekauft.“
„Eine Matte?“
„Nein, eine Rrrrratte.“

Compare these two:

Trill (the one you used):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Uvular_trill.ogg

Fricative (the one you should use):
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Voiced_uvular_fricative.ogg

Actually, using an approximant, which has less friction than a fricative, is probably better (i.e. more common among native speakers).
The fricative should be fine, though.
schlechtes vorbild   Sat Feb 06, 2010 3:49 pm GMT
Thanks losti and feati. You guys have so many Rs! uvular fricative, uvular approximant, alveolar trill, uvular trill. I will practice the fricative and the approximant more.

I was imitating the R that "Halmafelix" uses on dict.cc:

http://www.dict.cc/?s=frau

Click the speaker icon by the word "frau" and then click on "Halmafelix"

He uses a uvular trill, no? Is this a regional thing?
schlechtes vorbild   Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:15 am GMT
neue video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRZ_acsyYKQ

ueber mein akzent sag mir
schlechtes vorbild   Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:17 am GMT
meine**
schlechtes vorbild   Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:19 am GMT
neu**

i'm tired, ok/?
fraz   Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:44 am GMT
People in Germany often comment on my Scots rrrrolled 'r' when speaking German. But I don't intend on changing it, I think it's a totally false situation to try and mimic a foreign accent, it's better to use your own.

Besides I think some dialects of German do roll the letter 'r'
Franco   Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:51 pm GMT
Yeah, they roll their r's in Austria. But in standard German r is always guttural.