COMMON PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES ENGLISH SPEAKERS MAKE IN FRENCH
Let’s get a few common pronunciation mistakes out of the way, shall we?
1. Pronouncing every letters
French can be a pain in the mouth (bouaahah), especially if you are trying to pronounce every damn letters.
Just stop doing that, cause we don’t.
There are a lot of instances where you are not supposed to pronounce a letter:
When it’s a consonant at the end of a word (as a rule of thumb, there are exceptions)
Generally speaking, any consonant at the end of a French word is not pronounced.
In words like:
Patient
Souris
Vieux
The last letter is not pronounced.
However!
That’s not always the case.
Words such as:
Jazz
Ellipsis
And others…
The last letters are pronounced.
When it’s a special combinations of letters (like our ‘oi’ sound, or ‘on’)
We don’t just have consonants and vowels, that would be terrible easy.
No, no.
We have combinations of letters (sometimes two vowels, or a vowel and a consonant, or any combinations really), that are not pronounced at all like the letters the combination contains.
Let me explain.
When you see ‘loi’, which is the French word for ‘law’.
You want to pronounce it that way L-O-I, right?
Well, you’d be wrong.
Cause, O + I = /oi/ sound.
Which, I’ll admit is not the easiest sound for an English native.
So watch out for those ones.
When simply someone decided it was fun to add a letter there
With those two rules you’re already ahead of the game.
But that doesn’t mean you’ll be safe from pronunciation mistakes.
Because sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense.
The words ‘essentiel’ for example.
The letter written is a T, when it is actually pronounced like a S.
It just is.
So it’s up to you to make sure you got the right pronunciation if you want to be flawless.
2. Not knowing your accents
If you are a native English speaker you have been blessed (or cursed) with an accent-less language.
The only few accent you are used to come from borrowed words.
Such as fiancé, which is French.
In French, accent indicate a change of pronunciation or differentiate words together.
And there are a bunch of accents, all this their own characteristics that changes the way a vowel is pronounced.
If you want to have a good pronunciation, you need to be able to identify them and spot the sounds.
Can you spot the difference between an é and an è, what about an ê?
If you cannot hear the difference, how can you pronounce it?
😉
3. Mumbling
I seriously had fight with my British ex about this.
Mumbling.
I hate it.
Probably because I’ve been used to a language where articulation is sooo important.
In French, we don’t stress.
Not that anxiety doesn’t run in your genes.
What I mean is, syllabes are not or hardly stressed.
Which means, that we understand each others with the actual sounds, not with the rhythm.
When the letters should be pronounced, you need to pronounce them.
Or else, you won’t be understood 😉 (or you’ll get in a fight with your French girlfriend).
4. Speaking with a high voice
On the same note, pronunciation and articulation can only be achieved when you ‘pose’ your voice.
What does it mean?
If you are a singer, you know what I mean, or at least you can feel where you place your voice.
‘Poser’ your voice is the opposite as making your voice pass through your nose.
It’s an especially tricky thing to do for an English speaker in a normal speaking register.
Don’t panic though.
You don’t need to know about registers, nasality and all barbaric technical terms.
What I want you to remember is to speak with a deeper voice.
Don’t go in the highs.
And I know it can hard to achieve, especially for you if you are an American or Australian lady 😉
What now?
Ok, that’s a lot right?
Here’s a little step by step plan to help you get started:
Listen to French as much as possible, making sure to be extra careful about the accents and the way words sounds.
Pick a few words per week to say as much as possible in your practice.