Lesson - French Sounds (Pronunciation) - #3
 

Please see the following for introduction and citation information:
http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?t=1101

Final Consonants that are Pronounced

We have considered final consonants that are silent in French and final l, which is pronounced. We say in French:
vas (vah)............ val (vahl)........... et (ay)

Final r in the ending er is not pronounced; the er has the sound of ay. But other combinations with r – ar, our, ir – need the r pronounced. Try:
tour................... autour................ courir................. finir
par.................... avoir................... ouvrir................. Loir
char................... Maur.................. salir................... savoir
pour................... loisir................... manoir............... car
vouloir................ soir.................... fournir................ pouvoir
Did you say wahr for the oir words?

Like the final r that is pronounced, final c, final f, and final p are pronounced.
lac..................... chef................... cap
chic.................... bref................... parc
pic..................... pouf................... sac
tic-tac................ soif.................... talc
bivouac............... canif.................. bar
avec................... actif.................. bal

Some teachers suggest that consonants of the English word CaReFuL are the ones that are pronounced in French when they end a word.

Every rule, of course, seems to have exceptions. The final c in tabac and estomac are not pronounced, remember. The final p in gallop is not pronounced.

In proper names the final consonants are more often pronounced than not pronounced, especially when the consonant is c or r, sometimes d, and very unexpectedly s.
Doir................... Croisic................. David
Victor................ Maroc
As a family name, and there are several French writers with the name, Paris or Pâris is pronounced pah-riss. The name of the son of King Priam of Troy is also pronounced pah-riss. The capital of France, however, is pronounced pah-ree, remember.

the letter r
The sound of the letter r separates the French language from practically all others. English has nothing like it. Its French sound is something like a gargle, back in the throat.
It will take practice to get a good French r. There are several hints; here is one to try. Say:

kuh....... letting the air be pushed out between the lips and teeth
guh....... letting the air hit the roof of your mouth
ruh........ letting the air roll back in your throat.
kuh.. guh.. ruh........................ kuh.. guh.. ruh

Now say:
kuh.................... guh................... rame
kuh.................... guh................... route
kuh.................... guh................... rhone
kuh.................... guh................... bras
kuh.................... guh................... froid
................................................. Moreau
................................................. Charles
................................................. Richard
................................................. Robert
................................................. Paris
Work on it!

Another hint:
Say a breathy W. Keep the opening in your throat set to say a breathy w in whone. Now change to an r instead of a w. Say:
WHONE – RHONE
bois – bras

damn it i cant do this one >.<

Eh? :confused:

me too but keep trying!:o

The French r is hard. I hope I can get it right.

It looks like very well. But it was a little hard. english to french translation

You are doing an excellent job by creating the know how of french language among peoples....

the r has been my only problem so far

The way I make the r is to make a slight h sound before an r at the beginning of the word, or an h sound after the r in the middle or end of the word.

I like the bois – bras. I want to learn French sounds. :D

what do you think? That English is easy ? :rolleyes:

Of corse English is easy! We don't have any sounds not present n other languages! Just look at 'i', and the sounds it makes, like in 'like' and 'it', every language has those sounds! :rolleyes:

For the brave: http://cristal.inria.fr/~xleroy/stuf...unciation.html

Pretty hard try with this, but quite funny.
Yes, English is easy... until you have to learn billion phrasal verbs, collocations and other stuff like that:p

Wow, tdm, that wctually was easy! Not bragging, but I have always ahead of my iq in reading level. Then, my iq has been said before to be abnormally high before anyways. :D

So, Alizée is still on TV5.org in another place that I haven't seen before: http://www.tv5.org/cms/chaine-franco...0-Sommaire.htm
Unfortunately, it's kind of cheesy, especially with the lady who I think did the karaoke version as well instead of having clips of Alizée singing. It looks like someone who was just so in love with Alizée put it together just because of that using the lesson as an excuse to celebrate Alizée in some manner. Sounds like something I would do. Anyway... pronunciation.

I couldn't think of anywhere else to put this, or hell it may have already been put.

Still struggling with the French "u"?

1. Say "E" (like "easy").
2. Purse your lips.
3. Say "E" with pursed lips.

Voilà