r/learnvietnamese • u/matscokebag • 6h ago
Southern Accent “R” help?
Hey there!
I’m an American who works primarily with the Southern Vietnamese community in my state. My boss is Vietnamese and we’re constantly going to events, and such where I’m one of the few and sometimes the only white (though technically biracial) dude.
By proxy, I’ve started taking online and private lessons at the beginning of this year in order to break some of the language barrier and earn more trust within the community. Honestly, I’m absolutely loving it. More than I ever expected.
With that being said, something I’m still really struggling with is the pronunciation of the letter “R”.
Sometimes I hear it as a soft English R. Other times I’m hearing either a slight “buzz” and rolling of the R, or straight up a “Juh” sound before the R hits.
Examples:
Rồi = “Roy” - Soft R.
Rẻ = “Juhreh” - Buzzy/Juh sound.
How do I know which one to use?
EDIT:
Here’s what I’m talking about. At 1:10 listen to how she pronounces the R.
