Ah French pronunciation… Easy right? No? Oh well, let me give you a hand.
The French R is a sound that is particularly difficult for English natives to master.
Because it is not the same as the English R.
In fact, it is what we call a guttural sound. It means that it is produced in the throat rather than in the mouth.
How do you pronounce the French R? Let’s do it together in the video.
French R pronunciation exercices
I go through all of this in the video, but if you’d rather read it beforehand, here it is.
- Start by producing a rolled R
- Send the sound back in your mouth, slowly, and lower the volume.
- Keep your mouth open, tongue is resting in your mouth, NOT on your palate.
- You should arrive to a sound that sounds a bit like you are about to spit, but not quite.
- It shouldn’t be painful, and if you find that you need to cough, you’ve gone too far in the throat.
Now, try to use the sound with the French vowels and sounds.
- Un rat
- Une rose
- Me revoilà !
- Du riz
- Un grain
- Rémi
- Une rousse
Keep in mind that you might not succeed the firs time. It’s ok. Come back to it another day 😉
If you succeeded, I want you to pay particular attention to your Rs for the next couple of weeks.
Did you managed? Tell me in the comments!
Don’t be shy and send me a recording 😉
