Spanish Tongue Twister –
El Perro de San Roque

Un trabalenguas = a tongue twister
El Perro de San Roque is a very useful tongue twister for learning how to pronounce Spanish R sounds.
Listen and join in with the video and audio recording below

The Words:
“El Perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha robabo.”
Translation:
“Saint Roque’s dog doesn’t have a tail because Ramón Ramírez has stolen it.”

To make an ‘R’ sound in Spanish, the tongue needs to be touching the roof of the mouth just behind the bone that holds the top front teeth .
The Spanish R sound should be longer for double Rs, and shorter for single Rs.

Spanish ‘Rs’ are different from English ‘Rs’.
(They are not like French ones either, which come from the throat as if you are gargling).

Video

Audio

The words:

‘El perro de San Roque no tiene rabo porque Ramón Ramírez se lo ha robado’

Translation:
San Roque’s dog doesn’t have a tail because Ramón Ramírez has stolen it.