Things you wish you could do

[Fierce Critter]

Are there things you wish you could do, but either never learned or can't manage?

I can't roll my R's, and that pisses me off. Closest I can come is to gather a bunch of spit in my mouth and burble through it. :blink

[Aralis]

I can not do that either and thats annoying.

I wish I knew how to use a sewing machine so I could make cool clothes.

I wish I could stand rollercoasters.

I wish I could speak French fluently.

I wish I could play the Flute well....and I am not talking about the skin flute either for those of you with your minds in the gutter...lol...I have mastered that one!

[The_Dark]

I wish I could run. (My knees just cant do it anymore)

I too, am a non r roller.

[paradox]

i wish i could fly.

[phee]

i wish i could fly.

You can!!!! Just save up for a plane ticket.

[paradox]

damn...

there goes that unreachable dream! thanks phee! thanks fer nothing!

[Fierce Critter]

I wonder if not being able to roll r's is a physical thing or something that can be taught.

I love singing along with some Italian stuff, and it would be really, really nice to sound more authentic.

[Fierce Critter]

Alrighty. I looked into this "rolling r's" thing. And found a discussion site on Italian and found a few tips that really help - I was able to get a few passable true rolled "r's out for the first time in my life, without faking it by burbling spit.

It's a bit stressful for a mouth that's not used to doing so, but since my only audience here for the next few weeks or so are animals that can't laugh at me, I'm going to practice, practice, practice so that Jon's little Critter can actually purrrrrrrrrrrr for him when we meet again.

Here's the website: Click Here

And here are a few of the better tips given there:

Ok I've been practicing and I think I finally got it, about 95% of the time now I can roll my r's whenever I try. So in answer to my own question, yes it is mostly the front part of your tongue that vibrates lol. And for anyone else trying to learn, I would like to add that it helps if you keep your mouth a little closed (as if you were saying the "o" sound) and keep your tongue right behind your upper front teeth (BUT NOT TOUCHING YOUR FRONT TEETH--which is what I used to think I was supposed to do). I really don't know what I thought was so hard about trying to roll r's anymore lol.

There's already been a lot of good tips on here and it sounds like you're getting the hang of it, but for anyone who's still struggling, here's a description from a book I have. It's helped me:

"Place the tip of your tongue so that it's touching the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth. Now curl the tip of your tongue and exhale. You should get the beginning trill of a rolled R."

I agree that its more like a "D" sound but with extra vibration. I find I'm able get it right in some words. For instance

"grande" is now easy for me, but I have a terrible time with an 'r' following a 't' as in "tre". It sounds more like the word "today"!! Oh well, I'll keep practicing. It really does get easier the more you work at it. I'm sure I'll never be able to pass myself off as a native Italian, but if I learn to carry on a conversation and not sound too hideous, I'll be happy.

If you try to think about making the rolling 'r'sound and forget that it is a letter, then you can start to conquer the process. step 1- Very few English speaking people say words like bitter, butter, batter, hitter, fitter, etc. with a pure, clear 't' sound. More often than not the two 't's are pronounced with a single flip of the tougue on the foor of the mouth just a little bit behind the teeth.

step 2- say the above words a few times without thinking of the letters and try to hear the sound that you are making.

step 3- when you hear yourself and feel yourself making that sound with a tounge flip rather than a pure 't' sound then you can try to prolong that sound.

setp 4- realize that when you picture the letter 'r' you have to change that picture to 2 't's as in some of the above words.

step 5- realize that it is now a question of creating a habit and that overcoming an old habit is a question of being miore stubborn than the material. Let me know how you are making out.

[paradox]

i also wish i could teleport like nightcrawler

[Fierce Critter]

BAMF!

[torn asunder]

i wish i could live thousands of years, maybe even longer...

[Shade Everdark]

I really wish I could figure out what in the blue, freezing hell I'm supposed to be doing with myself, because I still don't know.

[bean]

I wish I could read minds, so I knew who was really my friend or not, and what people really thought, so I could cut through the crap and not have to figure out what is truth and what are lies.

[EvilEve]

be careful what you wish for... hehe....

not taking my own advice, so here goes...

i wish i could keep better tabs on my friends and dear ones, know what's going on with them. yeah, i know it's called "communicating" with them, but just talking to them isn't enough, nor is spending time with them. i want to be able to get inside their heads. know what they know, and understand why they're so confused about things.

[paradox]

BAMF!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

damn friggin straight, FC, damn friggin straight... :grin :grin :grin :fear

multiple man always had the coolest power ever, though, IMO.

[Hellion]

:devil Get a better paying job.

[paradox]

:devil Get a better paying job.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i have a feeling youre not alone in this. call me crazy... :confused

[Fierce Critter]

I was a Dazzler fan. I always figured she should be able to use her voice as a power. Too bad they waited for the end of her own series to have her do so.

The light power was o.k. The voice power was more impressive.

[paradox]

she had a voice power?

i got out of x-men (and marvel) comics in the early/mid 90s. i may have missed that. i didnt have her title.

i was sad and pissed when they killed multiple man with AIDs. quite ironic, when you think about it though....

[fever blister]

man up

[Homicidalheathen]

The Sax. I still fall out of my chair trying....it makes me dizzy, even with years of breathing excersizes.

[Vater Araignee]

Make a movie.

Not a summer block buster.

Just a good cult classic sci-fi/horror comedy.

[Fierce Critter]

she had a voice power?

i got out of x-men (and marvel) comics in the early/mid 90s. i may have missed that. i didnt have her title.

i was sad and pissed when they killed multiple man with AIDs.  quite ironic, when you think about it though....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

She only exhibited the voice power in the graphic novel that was the finale of her solo series.

I don't believe they ever had her use it in the X-Men titles.

I quit the whole X-Men thing in the mid 90's myself when they brought out one companion title too many. Started feeling taken advantage of, and went from a totally fanatical collector's binge to quitting cold-turkey.

I sold my collection off a couple years ago. In less than probably 2 years, I had gotten complete runs from start to then-present of many of the titles (New Mutants, X-Force, etc.), and was pretty faithful. Overkill ran me off.

[Daevion]

be careful what you wish for... hehe....

not taking my own advice, so here goes...

i wish i could keep better tabs on my friends and dear ones, know what's going on with them. yeah, i know it's called "communicating" with them, but just talking to them isn't enough, nor is spending time with them. i want to be able to get inside their heads. know what they know, and understand why they're so confused about things.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

so you wish for telepathy and/or empathy...

[Soulrev]

I wish I could download all the information from the head of an instructor I had at WyoTech.. This old guy (We called Father Time) named Jon Danielson, really really nice guy, and literally knows everything about everything about cars. He was a part of the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) and has been working on cars for 55 years. I would kill for all that information in his head.

I wish I could have super powers like telekenisis or the ability to fly, or the Jedi persuasion thing would be sweet...

I have never had a problem with rolling my R's, my sister taught me some French and Spanish when I was younger and I had it all down, accents and all. I've long forgotten how to say anything she taught me..