From http://bertilow.com/pmeg/skribo_elparolo/elparolo/...

R estas trema konsonanto, kiu normale estas denta, sed fakte ne gravas, kie en la buŝo oni faras la sonon. Ekz. vela R estas tute bona alternativo. La grava afero pri R estas, ke ĝi estu trema. Do ankaŭ vela R prefere estu trema, “rulata” (tiam la uvulo tremas kontraŭ la lango). R estu same trema en ĉiaj pozicioj en la vorto. En ekz. rivero la du R estu same elparolataj. Efektive tamen oni uzas ankaŭ diversajn aliajn specojn de r-sonoj, ankaŭ netremajn, kaj tio estas sufiĉe akceptita en la praktiko. Oni tamen zorgu, ke la R-sono ne konfuziĝu kun alia konsonanto, aŭ kun iu el la kvin vokaloj.

Here is my attempt at an English translation:

R is a vibrating consonant, which is normally dental, but in fact it's not important where in the mouth one makes the sound. For example, alveolar R is a totally good alternative. The important thing about R is that it should be vibrating. So alveolar R preferably should also be vibrating, "rolling" (in which case the uvula vibrates against the tongue). R should be vibrating the same in every position in the word. In rivero, for example, the two Rs should be pronounced the same. In reality however one also uses other diverse kinds of R-sounds, as well as non-vibrating, and this is sufficiently accepted for practical purposes. However, one should be careful that the R-sound should not be confused with other consonants, or with any of the five vowels.

i agree, alot of asian Esperantists have trouble pronouncing the R as i would expect alot of Americans or Europeans to have trouble pronouncing it. the Butter example is perfect, and i think it is harder for you americans cause you have that whole overpronounce the R in every single word thing going on at all times, whereas england just misses out the R haha

word-Arm
english - aam
american - arrrm

see if we can have that much of a difference in english then of course we are going to have a pronounciation difference in Esperanto, look at the differences in spanish speaking countrys pronunciation, you will be fine don't worry too much

and if all else fails say mada mada mada mada really fast until you get the R sound, that sound is the gentle tap that Esperanto is most used with.

I myself prefer the tap (as in pero, not perro as represented in spanish). The long trilling "r" sound grates on my nerves. Plus, not that this has any basis in fact but is purely my own opinion, it comes across as a bit uppity, and/or, "Fancy pants" as my Granny would say.

All who trill. Please take no offense, for no offense is meant.

Kojotulo:The long trilling "r" sound grates on my nerves.

Come to my Indonesian class at Uni. Not only will you hear lots of trilled R's, but you'll hear lots of SHOCKING trilled R's

But yeah. Unnatural sounding trilled R's can have the potential to feel forced (after all, the best trilled R's are the softer ones that can just be heard but don't drown out all the vowels and consonants within half a click)

But yeah. Unnatural sounding trilled R's can have the potential to feel forced (after all, the best trilled R's are the softer ones that can just be heard but don't drown out all the vowels and consonants within half a click)

Exactly. I think there should be a rule that you have to stop your trill after a 2 count. If you can count to 3 while trilling, you have gone too far.

In this case i disagree with PMEG, where it says that uvular R is OK. To me it sounds too much like HX, and makes words harder to understand. Spanish R is my prefered way of pronouncing this letter. Spanish RR is OK, but it is harder to me.