French pronunciation
Difficult sounds
| Sound | Example | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| [y] | tu, rue | doesn't exist in English; must be distinguished from [u] (tout, roue) |
| nasal vowels | an, on, in (vent, vont, vin) | must be distinguished from each other and from oral vowels |
| [ʁ] | rouge | the French "r" is pronounced at the back of the throat |
| [ø] and [œ] | deux, peur | rounded front vowels |
| silent e | samedi | often not pronounced in speech |
Linking phenomena
- liaison: les‿amis [lezami];
- enchaînement (linking): il‿arrive [i-la-riv];
- elision: l'ami, j'aime.
Rhythm
In French, stress falls on the last syllable of a word group, and all syllables are roughly the same length. The rhythm is much more even than in English.
Practice
- listen and repeat (shadowing);
- record yourself;
- work on minimal pairs (pain / bain, rue / roue);
- use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) given in dictionaries.
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