Hello.
Well, I'm new here and I'm not sure whether it's the right forum for this thread. If so, I'm sorry.
Anyway, I have an issue that's been bothering me for years but I never really took it seriously. However, I still want to get rid of it.
I have a Russian accent so my "R" sound is very hard and it kinda upsets me because I don't like the sound of it. I'd rather to have a soft "R".
So basically I always try to kind of 'hide' and swallow the "R" from the words I say, which turns out to be a slight stuttering.
I was wondering if there's any NLP way (or technique) to get rid of it.
I thank you for your help.

To 'swallow' the R suggests a change in breathing, which is often involved in stuttering. How about imagining that you have a volume control for your pronunciation of that letter, and pratice it first on its own and then as part of other words. Mind you, if you really are the Porno Creep your name suggests, you probably have other things to be working on too...

adrian r wrote:

To 'swallow' the R suggests a change in breathing, which is often involved in stuttering. How about imagining that you have a volume control for your pronunciation of that letter, and pratice it first on its own and then as part of other words. Mind you, if you really are the Porno Creep your name suggests, you probably have other things to be working on too...

I'll try it, thanks.
LOL
No, it's just a nickname. In fact it's a song of a band called Korn. :P

Korn huh? Meaning you're more into Nu-ro Linguistics than the Neuro sort, I suppose.

Porno_creep wrote:

I have a Russian accent so my "R" sound is very hard and it kinda upsets me because I don't like the sound of it. I'd rather to have a soft "R".

You should be aware, if you aren't already, that it almost definitely sounds harder to you than it sounds to anyone else. Listening to a recording of yourself might surprise you. Most English speakers report that listening to someone speak English with a foreign accent (as long as the accent isn't too severe) is a pleasant experience, all other things being equal.

Still, your desire to expand the number of sounds you can make and hear in speech is a good one, and I'll suggest that the best thing NLP can offer you is modeling.

Find someone you know who can make the "r" sound you'd like to make. This person should be someone who likes you and is willing to help you, because they're going to let you look into their mouth while they make funny noises.

Have this person look into a mirror while saying the word "were" (the plural past tense of "are", as in "we were going to, but we didn't") over and over. They need to be able to make the "oo" shape with their lips and say the entire word without moving their lips from that shape. It's easy to do, but it'll take a little practice. They'll succeed in doing it by moving only their tongue.

When they can do it, have them focus on how their tongue is moving. You want them to be able to make the same movement with their mouth wide open, so you can see it; you also want them to describe to you how it feels.

Now they should be able to "say" the word "were" with their mouth wide open, using only their tongue. It won't sound like a word, and you won't focus on the sound. Just see how the tongue moves. With me, an American, my tongue moves directly backward, with the tip staying low and the back arching high; others make the same sound differently. The British English non-rhotic "r" is far softer.

After you have seen it and had it described to you, you should be able to duplicate it.

adrian r wrote:

Korn huh? Meaning you're more into Nu-ro Linguistics than the Neuro sort, I suppose.

LOL
I liked the joke. :P

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Michael DeBusk, thank u very much.
Actually, I don't speak English as my first language, I speak Hebrew which makes it less pleasant. I do admit that Russian accent sounds cool in English. :P

Porno_creep wrote:

Actually, I don't speak English as my first language, I speak Hebrew which makes it less pleasant.

Ah. the "r" is "gutteral," made at the back of the throat. If it's too "hard" for you, you're probably using the glottis, which makes it sound like you're trying to clear something that's stuck in your throat.

If you want to soften it, you might model a speaker of Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese. The "r" is still gutteral, but it's made a little higher in the back of the throat.

Porno_creep wrote:

Hello.
Well, I'm new here and I'm not sure whether it's the right forum for this thread. If so, I'm sorry.
Anyway, I have an issue that's been bothering me for years but I never really took it seriously. However, I still want to get rid of it.
I have a Russian accent so my \"R\" sound is very hard and it kinda upsets me because I don't like the sound of it. I'd rather to have a soft \"R\".
So basically I always try to kind of 'hide' and swallow the \"R\" from the words I say, which turns out to be a slight stuttering.
I was wondering if there's any NLP way (or technique) to get rid of it.
I thank you for your help.

There's a fantastic book by Bobby Bodenhamer - Mastering Blocking and Stuttering: A Cognitive Approach to Achieving Fluency. He uses lots of NLP and other approaches and has worked enough with stutterers to speak with some authority. I work with non-fluent people too in my voice coaching at VOice of Influence - but have a look at Bobby's work first - he has relevant articles on the net too.