Lesson - French Sounds (Pronunciation) - #1

[CFHollister]

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

French Sounds

You are beginning a study of French. The French language has its own sounds; it does not sound like English. Please remember that. Try, from the start, to make French sounds truly French.

Take the word Paris. In the English you say PAR-iss, with the stress on the first syllable. But in French the two syllables are equally strong, and the final s is not pronounced. You say: pa-ree. You do not slight the first syllable. You do not say: puh-REE.

To begin with, then, we have two points of difference to rememeber between English and French pronunciation:
1. the syllables of a French word are equally strong and precise
2. final consonants are usually not pronounced. In the words below c, d, p, r, s, t, x, z are not pronounced

Say the French words in the column at the left. The equivalent sounds in the second column are only an approximation of the true French, but they can be of help at this point.
tabac................. tah-bah
Richard............... ree-shahr
galop.................. gah-loh
toucher............... too-shay
vous................... voo
mot.................... moh
beaux................. boh
chez................... shay

Final l is pronounced.
Laval................. Chanel................. Ravel
mal.................... bel..................... sel

Because a noun in French usually has an article before it (the or a), we suggest you learn:
.......................... le...................... la..................... les
pronounced:......... luh.................... lah.................... lay
In word lists for practice in pronunciation we shall sometimes omit the article with the noun; there will be times we cannot omit it.

Some French sounds are easy to learn.

the letter i
The letter I is always pronounced eeeh, like the I in the English word machine. The letter y when it takes the place of I in some spellings also has the sound eeeh.

the sound of ou
The combination of ou is always pronounced oooh, like the oo in the word moon.
Here are some one-syllable words. Tighten your lip muscles as you speak. French sounds require tighter muscles and more tension than do English sounds. Make your French words fairly crisp.

In the list below pronounce the letter o as oh and a as ah.
lit...................... tout................... mot.................... pas
mis.................... nous................... dos.................... cas
plis.................... doux................... flot.................... plat
gris.................... loup................... pot..................... vas

the sound of ch
French ch is pronounced like sh of English, so that the name Chalres sounds like sharll. Pronounce now:
............. choux............... chat

Practice pronouncing:
le pilot............... le sabot.............. la machine
le motel............. le coup................ les chats
Gounod.............. le tapis............... chocolat
Arles................. vos..................... chouchou

[SupaKrupa]

Good lesson hehe.

Does it tell you how to pronounce "r"? That thing's hard to pronounce...

[CFHollister]

Should be in lesson #3, when I get around to typing it up.

[neoteny]

i know how to pronounce the words in french. at least i learn something in class. i didnt spend an entire school year taking french and not get anything out of it. how bout we start with the basics of basics. what i mean by that is that you learn how to say the alphabet in french. that should sum it down some and should prove useful in the longrun speaking in french dialect.

[CFHollister]

Originally Posted by neoteny

i know how to pronounce the words in french. at least i learn something in class. i didnt spend an entire school year taking french and not get anything out of it. how bout we start with the basics of basics. what i mean by that is that you learn how to say the alphabet in french. that should sum it down some and should prove useful in the longrun speaking in french dialect.

The reason I'm going in this order is because I am essentially reproducing the the text lessons from a particular book... and that's the order they are in that book.

[neoteny]

i appreciate your contribution.

would you like some cookies?

[spaceli0n]

thx for these lessons , very groovy of u

[paintballpdh19]

nice first lesson

[Bamagirl]

I am new to this forum, and just found this thread. Learning to speak and read French has always been one of my major life goals. I took classes both when I was in school and privately. I visited France and practiced on the locals. But I have never become fluent. Is it too late? I hope not. Thank you for your lesson posts...I am looking forward to exploring them.

[CleverCowboy]

Thanks Bamagirl for dredging this up from the depths of the forum! I just finished lesson 1.