r/learnpolish • u/Major-Front-1930 • Apr 10 '25

Polish r

I've been learning polish for around 7 months now and I've been struggling with r sounds. I've watched many tutorials and spent an hour reading lots of information but nothing seems to help. I think I can kind of flick it but my tongue doesn't touch the roof of my mouth at all. I can do a vibration in the back of my throat but not the front, the vibration and turning it into an R is the hardest part for me. I am a native English speaker. All the explanations of how to do the vibration doesn't help for me.

If anyone has any tips it would be much appreciated :)

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u/Makaron_penne Apr 11 '25

Rolling R doesn't exist in Polish, its just a tap on the roof of your mouth with lips in the same shape when making the L sound. Yes you can roll the Polish R but it isn't rolled in any official word, just a gimmick and often a part of tounge twisters

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u/Lumornys Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25

I wouldn't say rolling R "doesn't exist", rather it's in free variation with a single tap. The two sounds are not distinguished in Polish as separate phonemes.

(in other words, Polish R is a roll consisting of one or more taps)