Last updated on January 1, 2019
In Indonesia, most people (but by no means all people) trill or roll the consonant /r/. Some English-speaking learners find this hard to do, but if you can succeed in doing it your Indonesian will sound much more authentic.
Put your top tip of the tongue behind the top front teeth, and is more of a roll or trill (like the rr in Spanish arriba or /r/ like the Italian or Spanish in ‘signora’; ‘senora, especially at the ends of words. You can practice the R sound like in ”super, rude, rare, red”.
If you find the trilled /r/ difficult to produce, try exaggerating it first, making a loud purring noise whenever you meet an /r/ sound. After a while, when you have mastered the trill and it has become a habit, you can cut back on the exaggeration.
Try saying these words with a good, strong rolled /r/. (In the pronunciation guides below the letter /r/ is repeated and underlined to help you remember to roll it.)
- R/r/abu – Wednesday
- Benar/r/ – correct
- Bir/r/u – blue
- Ter/r/ima kasih – thank you
- Bir/r/ Bintang – Indonesian popular beer
- R/r/asa – taste
- Dr/r/ama – drama
- Kabar/r/ – news
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