Master French Pronunciation Ten Most Common Mistakes

Master French Pronunciation Ten Most Common Mistakes Do You Pronounce These Words Incorrectly? ChaptersMastering the French UPronouncing the French RHow to Say Double L WordsOther Common French Words Often MispronouncedOur Bit of EncouragementThe French language is rhythmic, mellifluous, a treat to the ear... if spoken correctly.You, the beginner French learner, have yet to be assailed with anything that would hinder your progress at learning French words and phrases.Speaking French words and phrases, on the other hand...The fact is, French vocabulary is made up of sounds that simply don't exist in English, such as their U sound.Turn about being fair play, English speakers excel at the TH sound, that doesn't exist in French, so we're even, right?WRONG!While both languages make ample use of the letter R, the French speak it as though they were getting ready to spit on you!Considering their ill-founded reputation for rudeness, that is perhaps not a good visual.Still, a poll of people studying French report that that guttural R is near impossible for them to master.Should we coun t all of the words with those two letters in our survey of most mispronounced words?To do so wouldn't be fair, as there are far more than ten of them, but we can discuss all of those words as categories of themselves.Are you ready? Allons-y!Practice your fish face in front of a mirror to master the phonetics of the French U Source: Pixabay Credit: CFVI le bût! - is for you to practice that particular letter's sound in French.You did notice that two of the words on that list are the same, but for the accent, right?Accents do not change the way that letter or word is spoken; it only changes the meaning of the word itself.But = purpose; bût = goalDu = some; dû = owedSuch distinctions are very important to your comprehension of written French!Pronouncing the French RIn some French regional dialects, the more guttural the R, the more eloquent the speaker.As in English: the more explosive the P, the better the diction!Thus it should come as no surprise that some native French speakers sound as though they intend to clear their throat mid-word.To properly pronounce the letter R in English, you must arch your tongue to the roof of your mouth, its sides touching your molars, and its tip pushed down below your lower front teeth.The position of your tongue in saying the French R is nowhere near there. In fact, your tongue is not involved in making that sound at all!Unlike in English, or even the Spanish R, which is frontal â€" using the front of your mouth and tongue, the French R is all in your throat.The French R is quite similar to the Scottish ch sound, as in Loch.It might help for you to take in a drop or two of water, but try not to swallow it. You will use it to help keep your throat closed to the proper position in order to make the sound correctly.Once you've gotten that down, try to say these words, some of which you might recognise from your early French lessons:pèrefrèremèresoeurcoeuramourbonjourtourarrièreAs with every aspect of language learning, cor rect pronunciation takes time and practice. In the case of these two French letter sounds that don't exist in English, it might take a lot of practice!The French word for frog is spelled with a series of vowels followed by a double L Source: Pixabay Credit: WikiImagesProperly said, it should sound like: rrr ooo ahn.2. Bouilloire, the French word for kettle, is a similar tongue twister.It is based on the verb to boil â€" bouiller, with -oire added: bou-y-oir-reuh. Try to say it yourself!3. Pneu: this French word for tire is the root of what we know as an English word; pneumatic.When you speak English, the P is silent, making it new-matic. When you speak French, you must pronounce that first letter, making it uniquely difficult to say it correctly.You must be careful to not utter only one or the other starting consonant, lest you risk your sentence meaning little to nothing.Peu means little and neu means nothing.4. Froid: oddly enough, this basic French word meaning cold is often mist aken for foie, which means liver.No doubt that pesky R has something to do with that common mistake; surely getting good at saying the French R will remedy that situation.5. Grenouille, and other words ending in -ouilleAgain it seems the collection of vowels all in one place is doing its best to stump those determined to learn French!The French word for frog is not that hard once broken down into syllables: gre-nou-ille, in other words, grr-new-yeuh.As for other -ouille words, perhaps that is why the French usually eat pâtes instead of noodles!The first word is more directly translated as pasta; noodles in French is nouilles.Now, for our prizewinning word that even a native speaker of French is sure to mispronounce...6. Serrurerie, the French word for locksmith, boggles the mouths of nearly anyone who grew up speaking the English language. Why?Not only does this terror of a word contain four of those guttural Rs but, smack in the middle of them, comes that confounded French U!Could there be a more cruel word the French could throw at us?Please don't decide to learn Japanese or learn Chinese simply because a few letters cause your mouth to work in ways it never has before!Practice French phonology by singing the alphabet song Source: Pixabay Credit: Victorian LadyRead our article to learn the ins and outs of French grammar.Our Bit of EncouragementThe thing about French phrases you learn â€" from your every French lesson, even  from dictionaries is that so many new words look like English words.The important thing to remember is that spoken French involves a distinctly different accent; French pronunciation not the same as English pronunciation.The best way to speak your second language with the maximum of fluency is to apply yourself to it as much as possible.Listen to French audio: music, podcasts, movies; the BBC has a very helpful collection of French lessons that you can avail yourself to for free! Learn how to speak those difficult letters and words: soun ding them out is a good way to start, but practicing your fish face in front of the mirror might work too!You may even sing the French alphabet as you drive to work; that will help you practice those difficult letters â€" there are plenty of French video on YouTube for you to sample.French speaking is not terribly difficult.How to learn it is up to you; you know your learning style best. However, we would urge you to practice, practice, and practice some more, until you can find French people to speak with.Bet they don't give you any strange looks when they hear your speech patterns after all that work you've done!Learn about the top 10 most common French grammatical errors made in spoken French.Don't worry, search for and get yourself down to 'french classes london' and you will improve your accent in no time!