>>867
The best way (in my opinion) to describe it is as a combination of 'l' and 'd'. Confusing, yes, but here's how I originally found the Japanese 'r':
1) Repeat 'la': "la la la la la la la..."
2) Mix in some 'da's: "la da la da la da"
3) Find the point in the middle such that you're as close to 'd' as possible without losing that slippery 'l' sound.
I'm by no means an expert, but that's the general area you should be aiming for. If you find and repeat an audio clip that contains more らりるれろs than usual, you should be able to fine tune it. When watching TV shows later on in your study, try to repeat any phrase you recognise with the same pronunciation and tones.
>>868
Touche. But a beginner needn't worry about that just yet IMO. As you rightly said, there's usually audio samples available whether on wwwjdic or wherever you originally heard it.