The Easiest Way to Learn Czech “Ř”. CZECH FOR BEGINNERS - 005 - Pronunciation

There are several methods of learning correct pronunciation of Czech “Ř”. Let’s talk about one of the fastest ways to achieve a perfect Ř-sound! A Simple Three-Step Method.
The Method: 00:35
Practice: 02:13
Voiced vs Unvoiced "Ř": 04:50
Learn Czech Online:
www.e-languages.cz/#english
Word List:
“Ř” followed by a vowel:
řada (queue), řasy (eye-lashes)
řeka (river), řezat (to cut)
říkat (to tell), říjen (October)
“Ř” in the middle of the word, preceded and followed by a vowel:
jeřáb (crane), pořád (still, always)
koření (spices), hořet (to burn)
hovořit (to speak), kouřit (to smoke)
“Ř” preceded by a consonant:
dřevo (wood), břicho (belly)
pohřeb (funeral), křídlo (wing)
chřipka (flu), mříže (bars)
příroda (nature), potřebovat (to need)
vřít (to boil), zřídkakdy (hardly ever, rarely)
Whole sentences:
Zřídkakdy hovoří Řehoř tak vřele. (Rarely does Řehoř speak so warmly)
Chřestýš se hřeje u pařezu. (A rattlesnake is basking near a stump)
Potřebuji novou skříň a křeslo. (I need a new wardrobe and an armchair)
Ondřej dříve kouříval tři krabičky denně. (Ondřej used to smoke three packs a day)
Photo by Amber Kipp on Unsplash

[@AsdszSdds-mi6ei]

Thank you

[@ladislavmasopust9017]

Není zač!

[@zuzkamickova4458]

Dobry, Laďo :)

[@ladislavmasopust9017]

Děkuji :)

[@Pidalin]

Same method works even for Polish, you have hard SZ and soft Ś, just put your teeth together while saying normal Š and it's something like soft Š then, same for Ž etc...it's not 100% correct, but it helps a lot to not sound like typical Czech when you trying other slavic langauges which has mostly more sounds than Czech. :-)

[@stevekaczynski3793]

I read it was the last sound mastered by Czech children and it certainly seems difficult to articulate. Even here it sometimes sounds like a rolled /r/, sometimes like /rž/.
A Czech-language edition of the novel "The Good Soldier Švejk" at one point features a Polish general obsessed with latrines who can speak bad Czech, and in an attempt to represent his pronunciation of this sound, /rž/ is used.

[@ladislavmasopust9017]

Yes, if a kid has problems with pronunciation, it's typically either "r" or "ř" sound. I used to have sessions with a speech therapist to fix my bad pronunciation of "r" when I was in the kindergarten too :)

[@marquez3694]

Do voiced consonants at the end of a word become unvoiced? Like in Russian, for example the word "сад" pronounced [sat].

[@ladislavmasopust9017]

Yep, exactly, so for example while in English "let" and "led" are pronounced differently, in Czech "let" (flight) and "led" (ice) are pronounced the same [let].

[@TheStarlitfuse]

Is the vibration against the teeth at the tip of the tongue or is the vibration at the back of the tongue?

[@ladislavmasopust9017]

The vibration occurs at the tip of the tongue however not against the teeth but somewhere in the middle of the palate almost touching it.

[@TheStarlitfuse]

@@ladislavmasopust9017 when i try this sound (the rolling sound) it comes from the back of the mouth almost in the throat from an H sound like eehhhhrrrrr or eahhhrrrrrr. If if say dobididy den quickly...it sounds close to the rolling r but this isn't a vibration

[@TheStarlitfuse]

@@ladislavmasopust9017for ř I do something like erdidižepy (řepy) or ttitičí (tří) or ptitičíští (příští) again this is not really anything like a rolling r more like a rapid fire t or d. As for the ř itself I do something like ertitiš or erdidiž. The e part is done in my head.

[@halynakandybalska6966]

What is the difference between R and Ř? From hearing you video, it (the sound) seems like tvrdé a měkké R. In Russian or Ukrainian it is clouse to sound "Р" and "РЬ". For example words in Russian море (mořje), царь (cař), ряд (řjad). This is my observation

[@ladislavmasopust9017]

Interesting point. I'd say that "měkké r" might sound similar to "РЬ" but not entirely the same. The same goes for example for "měkké r" and old-style Polish pronuciation of "rz". Similar but not the same.

[@manygor2687]

What what I'm hearing is that you pronounce Ř not as "rž" but simply r in the middle of words.

[@ladislavmasopust9017]

Well, in the middle of a word the pronuciation often becomes unvoiced and so the pronunciation is not so strong. However, with just "r" sound it would still sound wrong.

[@olegredko7813]

Is Czech R pronounced like Russian one?

[@ladislavmasopust9017]

Yep, it's the same, however, Russian has also the soft variant which doesn't exist in Czech.

[@alenalazouskaja237]

Нет. Чешский R отличается от русского.

[@JosefHubeny]

Znáte tohle ?: Jede Řek mi řek abych mu řek kolik je v Řecku řek. A já mu řek, že nejsem Řek, abych mu řek, kolik je v Řecku řek.

[@clumsy_cooking7698]

Can you pronounce your name in beginning of a video pls 😅

[@ladislavmasopust9017]

Oh shoot, I've never done that, have I? :) I should do that :)

[@sccotty5723]

řeřicha XD