The R sound is one of the clearest signals of a General American accent. Americans say the R after a vowel, in words like car, water and four. Many other English varieties, for example much of England or Australia, often leave that R silent, and that is a normal, correct way to speak too. In this episode: • How to make the american r • R after a vowel: say it • The r-colored vowels • The hard words • Listening scene • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: car (KAR) — not "kah" four (FOR) — the number 4 door (DOR) — close the door water (WAH-der) — the end is "der", with an R dinner (DIN-er) — not "din-uh" Your car keys are by the door. — your KAR KEEZ are by the DOR Dinner's ready! — DIN-erz RED-ee Put your shirt in the laundry. — put it with the dirty clothes I start work early on Thursday. — ER sound three times Watch the stairs! — be careful on the steps world (WERLD) — say "were", then add a soft L and D: WER-uld, faster: WERLD girl (GERL) — say "grr", then a soft L: GER-ul, faster: GERL mirror (MEER-er) — two Rs; the first syllable is like "mere" rural (ROOR-ul) — far from the city; round your lips for both Rs library (LY-brair-ee) — keep both Rs refrigerator (rih-FRIJ-uh-ray-der) — or just fridge Look in the mirror. — check your face or hair My sister lives in a rural area. — in the countryside Grandma's birthday is in February. — the second month Season 2 · Real American English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — accent, everyday grammar, prepositions, articles, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.