Rolling R's

I know that this technically isn't a vocab question, but, I was wondering, on a few anime's (Spoken in Japanese ofcoarce) I hear people rolling thier "R"s, like in the spanish language. Is that the right way to pronounce it, or is it just some kind of an accent (to be clear, the ones who did it was a pirate commander (Gin, from one piece episode 27) and detective Mouri, from detective Conan (he does it pretty often, so don't need to list an episode number)).

Konnichiwa! The Japanese don't roll their tongue, as in the Spanish language when pronouncing "R". However, the "R" sound is much closer to the Spanish "R" than the English "R". In a way...it is pronounced with a sound that is in between "L" and "R". So perhaps you heard some anime characters say it with a stronger R sound. :D

I was actually taught that to pronounce it, one should place the tip of their tongue at the back of their teeth, where it meets the roof of your mouth.

Konnichiwa! Just an additional note on the RRRR sound. Sometimes a Japanese person may roll the "r" (like in Spanish) to emphasize something (like if he's exasperated). But this is an Exception to the rule of pronouncing R the right way... 1. Say "Language". Where is your tongue when you pronounce this "La"? 2. Now say, "Raw egg". Where is your tongue when you pronounce this "Ra"? To pronounce the Japanese "R", place your tongue in between the two above positions!! :wink:

That actually helps a great deal! Practicing that makes it sound much more real, and it feels a lot more natural than making sure that your tongue is at the roof of your mouth, like you normally would when pronouncing an "L" in english.

:D Konnichiwa! I'm glad to know you are mastering in Japanese pronunciation! Gambare! Keep it up! :lol: