Question

I have heard in a tajweed class that many students whose native tongue is English have difficulty pronouncing the Arabic letter . Would you know what is the problem with it?

Answer

The “r” in English is articulated without the tongue touching any part of the gums or the roof of the mouth.  The tongue, instead curls back on itself without touching anything. 

In Arabic, the letter   articulated from the tip of the tongue and the top of the tip and what lies opposite to it of the gums of the two front top incisors.  There is a hitting of the tip and top of the tip of the tongue on the gums to produce this letter. 

Many times native English speakers (and other non-Arabs) fail to hit the tongue up to the gums when trying to pronounce this letter, instead they get close, but don’t actually touch the gums.  This takes practice to achieve, but is very achievable.  The hit should be strong so one can actually feel the tip and top of the tip of the tongue striking the gums. 

One thing of note, you may notice that Arabs have difficulty pronouncing the English “r” correctly; they often use the Arabic articulation point instead of the English.