How are r's pronounced in Mandarin (Pinyin)?

Question

I'm trying to learn Pinyin. From one source, r's sound like English r's ("ren" sounds like"ren"). From another source, r's sound like zh's ("ren" sounds like "zhen"). Which is correct? If both are correct, which is used more?

Answer 1

The "r's" is actually one of the most difficult aspect of Chinese languages, the curling of the tongue when trying to pronounce that "r" sound.

most chinese (not including people in BEijing) do slurp their "r"s when we pronounciate so speed up the vocalization of the word.

It is officially correct to curl your tongues, but it's difficult unless you're drilled in to the habit... (laziness triumphs here...)

When you try to pronounciate the sound,  imagine dividing your upper roof in your mouth to 3 sections;  front , middle, and back...

when you pronounce a word that requires the curled tongue, try to make the tip of your tong touching the MIDDLE part of the roof of your mouth while making the sound....

practice.

good luck

Answer 2

at the beggining of the word it's "zh":

ren = man, re-lie = heat, ru-guo = if, ri-zi = date

at the end it's "r""

er-zi = son, hao-wan-r = amusing, di-er = the second

Answer 3

It's actually kind of inbetween two sounds.

If you say "er" (as in normal English when you are hesitating) and push your tongue forwards a little bit, that is close to the sound you should be producing.

It actually does have the same mouth position as "zh", but it is said without a harsh beginning, without a consonant beginning.

Hope this helps.