While forming the R sound there is no contact between the upper throat and the tongue when the back of the tongue is raised nor does the throat vibrate as if you were gargling or clear your throat. The best way to reproduce this sound is to say „ACH", if you are able to articulate it right at the back of the mouth. If you slowly start to put voice on this sound while forming this sound, then the "r" emerges. This variant of the „Rachen R" is the most common pronunciation of the R in Germany. This R is the French R too. If you can't produce it that way you should try to form the R with your tongue tip rose up to the back site of your upper front teeth. Put your tongue on the little wall behind the teeth or at the back site of this teeth and start to vibrat your tongue tip while putting voice on the sound. It's better to do it this way, in case you can't produce the „Rachen R", than to develop a sour and extremely tense throat. Changing „er" into „a" sounds a little silly even, maybe especially, to someone from northern Germany (me). If you want to sound like someone from northern Germany you simply drop the „r" and stretch the vocal before the „r".

There are two types or r, the trilled r and the uvular r. Both are "German", though the latter is used more in the north, and the former more in the south. The r can become quite weak at the end of the word or before some consonants, but the tendency to change it into "a" as miodisen describes it is VERY Northern German. Don't worry about the pronounciation too much, just keep using the r you are already using. You will be understood just fine, and it won't sound strange. For Americans, it's much more important to use "flat" vowels and get rid of the "twang". :-)

This depends on the position of this weird letter: Rachen - first letter: maybe the worst case scenario for you: You have to form the gutteral R. It's the sound people make before spitting out anything. So it's essentially just breathing out while your tongue stays low and moves towards your teeth. The biggest difference I can find is that we don't tense up our cheeks for an R. Kater - last letter: ~er becomes an ~a in vernacular German. derb - before another consonant: the R becomes an A. "deab". Open your mouth horizontally and you're good. But remember, this is from Northern Germany. Germans from the South will pronounce it in a different way.

The best way is to gargle without water. You need to get you uvula to vibrate and then you have a perrrrrfect "r"! :)

Do you have a Barnes and Noble near you? They had a book on learning German there and it had pictures of mouth formations and where to put your tongue. I didn't buy it but sat in the store practicing the ones I needed the most help with. It actually helped!