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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

children who can't pronounce the letter R ......

25 replies

pellmell · 17/03/2009 21:45

can I help dd almost 4yrs tp roll her R's ?
Anyone have a child who used to have a profound inability (think Jonathan Ross) and can now pronounce them better?

OP posts:

nowwearefour · 17/03/2009 21:47

my dd1 is also nearly 4 and also cant pronounce her r's. so no advice but lots of empathy and lots of lurking for some advice!!!

FAQinglovely · 17/03/2009 21:48

well I'm 30 and still can't roll my R's.............no help sorry

Sawyer64 · 17/03/2009 21:48

My DD 4 cant pronounce R's or B's properly yet.

NoBiggy · 17/03/2009 21:50

My DD (5) pronounces R, L and W much the same. Also has a lisp.

I'm hoping it'll come right eventually.

MaryMotherOfCheeses · 17/03/2009 21:52

Some people just can't do it. I have heard about young choral kids having a small operation on their tongue to help them do this.

Bizarrely, DS can roll his Rs a treat but struggles to do a "r" in normal speech.

Original poster

pellmell · 17/03/2009 21:58

It didn't concern me at all until recently.
Dd is very chatty using very complex language for her age. I have noticed that I mis-hear her loads due to the w's instead of the r's.
I have also noticed (well it's bloody hard to miss) that people don't actually listen to what she is saying, just laugh and repeat the mis pronounced word!
" wabbit? don't you mean rabbit? "Ha ha !

OP posts:

FrayedKnot · 17/03/2009 21:58

DS (just 5) has had difficulty with his..about 6 months ago he couldn;t pronounce R at all, but with a little bit of help at school he has started to be able to do them if he concentrates hard

I'm sure it will come.

youhavegottobekidding · 18/03/2009 21:12

my DD went to SALT who told me that at 7 it was normal to say w instead or R.

cory · 19/03/2009 07:53

Most kids I know have had difficulties rolling their r's at age 4 and then gone on to roll them perfectly as older children. Perfectly normal. Even more so in countries where they do the really rolling r's, as these are harder for a young mouth to do.

motherlovebone · 19/03/2009 10:39

Just want to add, my daughter didnt get it til age 5ish...dont worry yet!

mistlethrush · 19/03/2009 10:57

I couldn't say 'r' for a long time - and I only got some degree of rolling 'r's when I started singing a lot in my late 20's - the two are unconnected!

Ds (nearly 4) says 'w' instead - but at nursery they've been doing phonics and if he is really careful he can do 'r' - I think that they start off just doing the sound of a puppy tugging a toy! He does have tendency, even when he is trying to say a word with a proper r to go rrrrrrwaindwop...!

Original poster

pellmell · 19/03/2009 13:00

Thanks everyone,
Dd and I have just been playing a fab game based on mistlethrush's post
I asked dd to imagine she was pip (her one year old terrier) and pretend she was making the noise when she tugs on her toys
"rrrrrrrrrghhhhh"
followed by a word beginning with R
" rrrrrrrrrabbit"
"rrrrrrainbow"
She did it really well and with loads of giggles.
I laughed when she chose to say "rrrrrridiculous"
I don't think she'l have much trouble rolling her rrrrr's eventually.
I most probably have not taken enough notice of this area of language development to realize how common and normal it is.
Thanks again.

OP posts:

stleger · 19/03/2009 13:19

DD2's speech therapist said it was the last sound to develop. She improved a lot (she was 10 in therapy) but still can't 'do' words like 'Cork' where the r follows a vowel.

thecloudhopper · 19/03/2009 17:17

PLEASE be careful though as too much emphasis can result in a stameror a real speach problem. when your child says a r word say fantastic that is a rainbow.

thecloudhopper · 19/03/2009 17:18

so they hear the sound.

mistlethrush · 19/03/2009 19:51

pellmell - sounds good! We rarely pick up ds for lack of 'r's - we just occasionally encourage them (in the way you've said) - I think its good to know that they can make the sound - and occasionally practise it - but its probably more important to get the fluency and flow of conversation without having to worry about it most of the time - they are only young and have plenty of time to get there!

Original poster

pellmell · 20/03/2009 08:08

I agree with you all about four being young and not drawing attention to it etc. I am an expert at having concerns that I hide extremely well from my dd's
I think the dog game is reallky good because it can be played without reference at all to why your doing it.
I suppose I became confused by the astonishing level of her vocabulary (which is commented on constantly by others)coupled with the difficulty of pronouncing one sound.
I wanted to make sure that if there was something I was supposed to be doing about it...then I was iykwim

OP posts:

belgo · 20/03/2009 08:16

I still can't roll my 'r's. But my three and five year olds can, I'm very impressed. I had years of speech therapy (for other speech problems) and I still can't say it. It's not really a problem when speaking english, but it's a problem when speaking flemish.

That's why none of my children have names with an 'r' in them.

WowOoo · 20/03/2009 08:24

Being Welsh, it was drummed into me at early age with so many difficult words that needed rolling r sound!

Japanese students find it really difficult but this is just because they've never used their tongue in such a way before.

It will come in time and it is very tricky.

jumpjockey · 20/03/2009 08:32

I can roll an r but can't say it in normal words - well I can but the side of my mouth twitches Have never found it a great handicap in everday life

belgo I should have thought about this before naming dd Sarah...!

desertgirl · 20/03/2009 09:46

I say my 'r's through the side of my mouth too (as do most of the women on my mum's side of the family) and hate that I do it - and my name has an 'r' in it! Made sure that neither DC had an 'r' in their (usual) name just in case they inherit it - but if they do, I will be looking for speech therapy for them.

Bucharest · 20/03/2009 09:53

Try encouraging her to roar like a lion.
(I do it with the kids I teach......it over-emphasises it, but then it settles down)

BonsoirAnna · 20/03/2009 10:01

My sister's first name begins with an R and we have a double R in the middle of our surname and she couldn't roll her Rs until she was well into primary school...

ZZZen · 20/03/2009 10:08

My dd was told to touch the ceiling inside her mouth with the tip of her tongue then let it fall a little. If you do that then say r you roll it about 3 times even.

It can also help if you sa da-daa da-daa da-daa da-daa then do it, you should get a good roll that way too but this a rolled r such as you would use in a language like Spanish or Italian which has a clear "r" sound. Our English "r" is quite a lazy one compared to some other languages, isn't it?

EachPeachPearMum · 20/03/2009 11:25

My DH cannot pronounce his 'r's... turns out he has tongue-tie. DS had it at birth, but has been snipped, so hopefully he won't have same problem... but it's too soon to tell.
Like Anna's DSis, he has an r in the middle of his surname...

FWIW he doesn't pronounce them 'w' more a sort of back of the tongue sound.

Very awkward when his first language is French though- he has no chance of rolling 'r's

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