[EscaCsamas]

I was listening to an interview with an asian man the other day. Like most people who learned an asian language first, he had trouble pronouncing the "R" sound. That got me thinking about R and why it is hard to pronounce. It's not just asians - children just learning to talk and people with slight speech impediments also have trouble with it.

I'm not a linguist so some of my terminology may be off, but here goes. The R sound is unique in that it is one of only three "open" consonants. All consonants except H, R and W are pronounced with contact between the teeth, lips or tongue to palate. R is even more unique because it is the only sound made with an unsymetrical mouth. The tongue has to be slightly off center to say it right.

I played around with it and found that I always say Rs with my tongue to the right. I try it to the left and it sounds wrong. That made me wonder if others do it the same, or if it is just random. I am right handed and move my tongue to the right. Do lefties put their tongues to the left? I don't know. How do you guys do it? I'm inclined to think that it is totally random, but would be interested in hearing from others.