In the final part of this five part series on pronouncing the 5 hardest sounds in the French accent we will confront one of the stranger nuances.

Part 5: [w] and [ɥ]

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the “w” related sounds in French.

[w] as in oui and moi - this is straightforward, like a very short [u] sound with the tongue all the way back

[ɥ] as in huit and lui - this is subtly different, like a very short [y] sound with the tongue all the way forward

You can hear the difference in the words Louis and lui:

Louis is flatter and longer, with the tongue at the back of the mouth

Lui is sharper and shorter, with the tongue at the front of the mouth

An example sentence: Oui, je suis moi

This sentence features both sounds in turn: [w]i, je s[ɥ]i m[w]i

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As promised throughout the series, here is the sound file that you can play and hear all five sounds being spoken in turn. Work on copying the voice and you will soon start to develop your own French accent that will win you compliments and praise for how convincing you sound. If you’re lucky

In this article we’ll be dealing with the dreaded French [R]. A rolled sound. But not always. It is often more pronounced in fits of anger and emotion. At all other times it’s just an ever-so-slight roll in most cases.

Part 4: [R]

Technical manuals describe the sound as:

A vibration of the vocal cords, a continuous consonant for which you can hear air passing over the tongue as it is raised at the back, and a brief batting of the uvula (the middle dangly bit). Tip of the tongue remains lowered and unmoving.

It may be easier to practice with this in mind, and without necessarily worrying about doing a big roll on every R of every word. It is a little like clearing your throat in a controlled manner.

Words to practice:

Sérieux – grand – riz – terre – boire – Paris – France – Irlande

En Irlande, pour boire c’est sérieux.

A Paris, on trouve du riz.

En France, on trouve la grande ville de la lumière.

Now if you feel that you are not yet reproducing this sound as it should be, be patient and just get as close as you can. The tell-tale giveaway of a native English speaker is not converting their [R] sounds to the French version. Try saying the above sounds with an English [R] – that might be as off-putting to a French speaker listening to you as a French speaker rolling all of their [R] sounds in English would be to us.

Finally, click through here to see the influence of this sound throughout Europe: Guttural R sound, Wikipedia

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A handy audio version of this and the other articles in this series is to be distributed at the end.

All questions below, thank you.

We’ve tackled the hardest vowel sounds, now it’s time to tackle the nasals. These are sounds that are quite particular to the French language in their prominence. When those wishing to spoof the language for comedic effect say “Hee haw haw”, these are probably the sounds they are emulating.

Part 3: [ɛ̃] [ɑ̃] [õ]

[ɛ̃] as in vin - tightened lips, mouth nearly closed, tongue at the front (English: anchor)

[ɑ̃] as in cent - lips slightly rounded, mouth open, tongue slightly back (English: song)

[õ] as in mon - lips very rounded, mouth nearly closed, tongue at the back (English: pong)

An example containing all three of these nasal sounds would be: Vincent mon ami

Or how about: Dans son grand bain = d[ɑ̃] s[õ] gr[ɑ̃] b[ɛ̃]

Being able to distinguish the difference between these three sounds will help to clarify your accent for any French-speaking listeners you may be talking to. How these sounds are pronounced does vary around France, Quebec, West Africa etc. but you will find that on the whole they sound as written in these examples.

With regards to the English examples above, song and pong are very similar, but if you can imagine song being said with the mouth open, and pong with the mouth nearly closed, you should hear the difference.

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A version you can listen to will be provided at the end of the French accent series.

All questions welcome in the comments section below.

Now that you’ve got an idea of the differences between the two [e] sounds, let’s move on to another tough sound in French.

Part 2: [u] and [y]

[u] is pronounced with the tongue further back (like in route, amour)

[y] is pronounced with the tongue further forward (vendu, j’ai eu, dur)

Trying to say amour with the [y] sound would end up like amyur, which won’t help people understand what you’re saying so much!

An example would be:

C’est une mouche (it’s a fly) – be sure to pronounce the liaison almost like: seh-tune-mouch

Here the [y] comes first with une and then the [u] comes next with mouche.

Two more examples of [u] and [y] would be:

Vous êtes sûr ? (are you sure?) – voo-zet-syur – the [u] in vous, and the [y] in sûr.

Tu es sûr ? (are you (sing.) sure?) – tyu-eh-syur – with a [y] in both the tu and the sûr sounds.

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As for all parts, there will be a downloadable audio version of the examples available at the end of the series.

Any questions?

You can speak French with your English accent. It’ll work if you’re good, maybe even charm a few people, but it is completely possible to get so close to a French accent that you won’t distract whoever you are speaking to with strange sounds.

The French accent can be tough for English speakers. This is part one of a five part guide exploring the sounds of the French language that are the toughest to pronounce. And how you can say them clearly.

Part 1 – [e] / [ɛ]

These are the International Phonetic Alphabet equivalents of these two particular sounds in French.

One if pronounced like in the word “hay”, or in French “touché”, the other (ɛ) is pronounced like “fair”, or in French “cher”.

The difficulty comes in saying a sentence that includes the imperfect tense*:

J’étudiais (e then ɛ) and J’ai étudié (e then e then e)

J’ay-tu-di-eh and J’ay ay-tu-di-ay

Another way to practice is to say these letters of the alphabet for ɛ: L, M, N, R, S, Z
And these for e: B, C, D, G, P, T, V, W

The spelling of [ɛ] can be: è (frère), ê (être), ei (reine), ai (paire), e (with two consonants – terre)

The spelling of [e] can be: é (dansé), er (danser), ez (dansez), es (les), ai (mai).

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I hope that’s clear. I’ll add a downloadable sound file at the end of part 5 with all the examples.

*(the imperfect tense, a past tense with ais/ait/aient etc. endings, for actions that are not “perfectly” complete yet – you’re still doing them or were still doing them)

I’m going to avoid using the term French 2.0, but you get the picture; this post is about learning French with the tools that have emerged in the last decade, and comparing them to their 80s/90s equivalents.

1. Social media – Facebook, Twitter et al.

Getting the buzz-word out of the way first, social media does in fact offer a great way to connect with fellow learners and teachers. Speak directly to French people on Twitter by just posting @theirusername, or read their messages to see what kind of things they talk about. If you don’t understand, you can always come back here and ask me, or tweet me @lukespear

80s/90s equivalent: The penpal

2. Online streaming television

Point your web-browser at TF1, TV5 or France 24 and you’ll have access to hundreds of live and recorded TV shows in French. Use the on-screen images to help you get the gist of the story and listen out for new words. Just like with music, see if you can guess their spelling and look them in an online dictionary – the dictionary will offer you the closest alternative.

80s/90s equivalent: Hotel TV on holiday in France

3. Online radio

Listen to French online (Radio Nova for funky music, FranceInter for talk or Rires et Chansons for terrible comedy) from the comfort of your own home. The latest wifi radios allow you to access French stations without a computer. Leave it on in the background to soak it in over time, or pay close attention and try to write out a few lines of what’s being said.

80s/90s equivalent: French holiday taxi stereo for 10 minutes

4. Youtube French songs and lyrics

With a combination of Youtube and French lyrics websites, you can soon enjoy a whole new world of songs, figuring out their meanings as you go. Try searching for “chanson”, “tubes français”, “musqiue française” and when you find them, Google the song name and the word “paroles” to find the lyrics!

80s/90s equivalent: French songbooks that feature Frère Jacques and Joyeux Anniversaire…

5. Flashcard apps and websites

Anki is one of a few options for intelligent flashcards, using spaced repetition to optimise your memorisation of words, sentences and grammar!  Using your computer, laptop or smartphone you can now structure your learning to incorporate the latest research into memory techniques. Here’s the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anki

80s/90s equivalent: Paper flashcards that were used just before a test… and never again!

6. Online Skype tutor

Using the marvels of modern communication technologies, it is now possible to have a telephone/video conversation for free around the world. Searching Skype for French tutors is a breeze and will allow you to get started with a real person immediately. My own Skype username is lukejspear – feel free to add me.

80s/90s equivalent: Home tutor at great expense and inconvenience

7. DVD subtitles in movies

Many European versions of movies on DVD come with French subtitles, or French audio tracks. Find out how to switch these on and immerse yourself in the French language. Watch French DVDs with French subtitles to see what is being said, watch English DVDs with French subtitles to see how some things translate – there are many options here. Buying French films is a breeze. Here’s one classic recommendation: Jules et Jim, or for more modern urban action La Haine.

80s/90s equivalent: VHS cassettes (often cleverly written in French as K7 (kah-sept)) with hardcoded subtitles in only one language

Something I’ve noticed throughout my language learning journey has been that there is a general difference in how clearly I understand speakers of foreign languages, be it in French, Swedish or even English.

When straining to listen to pick up every word a foreign language speaker is saying, so as not to misunderstand, I can’t help but notice that it is much easier to clearly hear a female voice than it is a male one. In addition, I’ve also found that the older a male voice gets, the harder it becomes to understand. Continue Reading

I hadn’t seen this film until now. The film “La haine” at the start of my French learning had a big effect on my curiosity about the language and culture, the story of which is very much in this vein. But “La haine” is filmed in a more stylized, calculated manner than this one.

However, this remains a cult French film and is well worth a watch for examples of youth accents, Parisian suburb accents, slang words and seeing how French youth interact. This could have been filmed today, apart from the clothes and cars; so little seems to have changed. The riots of recent years bear testament to this.

I must warn you this film depicts scenes of violence and bad language that would probably be classified as an 18 in the UK or an R in the US.

So to watch this film, “Ma 6-T va cracker” (1997) click the following link for the streaming version:

Ma 6-T va cracker – Watch online

Notes:
Look out for the following words “tasse-pé” (pétasse in verlan), “pine-co” (copine), “meuf” (femme), “keuf” (flic = cop). “Niquer” means the f-word in the sexual and violent sense. The accent is harder and faster than a well articulated French, such as that in the previous poetry post.

Disclaimer: This is by no means “the Queen’s French” so I wouldn’t recommend copying the actors’ accents when interviewing for work in France. Any questions, the comment section is all yours.

And now, poetry.

This poem, denouncing war and religion, is obviously written in a very high level French. Here we’re aiming for comprehension and sound reproduction. Try to use the player to copy how the words are said, paying attention to liaisons (merging words together for fluidity) and rhythm. Some grammar points follow.

The words given in English are to give you an idea of the meaning. For a complete translation word order would have to be rearranged, rhyme and rhythm conserved and much more.

The reading – the reader of this poem seems to get a little carried away in the joy of reading and doesn’t really give the poem the harsh strictness of tone it seems to deserve in my mind. See what you think.

Le mal

Tandis que les crachats rouges de la mitraille (While – red spittle – machine gun)
Sifflent tout le jour par l’infini du ciel bleu ; (Whistle – all day – blue sky)
Qu’écarlates ou verts, près du Roi qui les raille, (While scarlet or green – near – king who jeers them)
Croulent les bataillons en masse dans le feu ; (Crumble – into the fire)

Tandis qu’une folie épouvantable, broie (While – dreadful madness – crushes)
Et fait de cent milliers d’hommes un tas fumant ; (And makes of – a smoking heap)
− Pauvres morts ! dans l’été, dans l’herbe, dans ta joie, (Poor dead – summer – grass – joy)
Nature ! ô toi qui fis ces hommes saintement !… (you who made these men – saintly)

− Il est un Dieu, qui rit aux nappes damassées (laughs – altar cloths)
Des autels, à l’encens, aux grands calices d’or ; (altars – incense – great golden chalices)
Qui dans le bercement des hosannah s’endort, (who in the cradling – of hosannah’s – sleeps)

Et se réveille, quand des mères, ramassées (And awakes – when mothers – brought together)
Dans l’angoisse, et pleurant sous leur vieux bonnet noir, (Anguish – crying under – black hat)
Lui donnent un gros sou lié dans leur mouchoir ! (Give him – large coin – knotted – handkerchief)

- Tandis que is a high-register (posh) way of saying while.
- Punctuation: in French there is a space before semi-colons and exclamation marks, among others.
- Lui donnent on the last line refers to the mères, two lines previously. Notice how it affects the way the verb donner is conjugated – ent is the ending for they, ils donnent à lui, ils lui donnent, they give him (ie. they give to God…)

If anyone wants to try and do a complete translation of the poem in the comments below, they are more than welcome to try. It’s great learning exercise because you have to dissect the grammar. I’ll give feedback for any translation attempts. The best translation will win entitlement to a free 5-minute practice conversation via Skype.

The French trailer, a bande annonce, for Ice Age 3 is pretty funny and brilliantly dubbed in French and English. This gives us the opportunity to use it to learn French and have a smile or two along the way.

I provide the English for the version française, as a more literal translation, the English version of the trailer, en V.O. (version originale), will include the original dialogue for comparison.

The idea again being just to hear French in context, copy the accent of this very standard French and learn some new expressions. I’ve made some useful common expressions bold.

L’évenement le plus énorme, depuis 2 millions d’années, va faire basculer le monde, dans une nouvelle dimension.
The biggest event in 2 million years will shake the world into another dimension.

Que personne ne bouge un poil.
Nobody move a hair.

Bientôt.
Soon.

Nous vivions au dessus d’un autre monde et nous ne savions pas.
We were living above another world and we didn’t know it.

Je me sens – tout petit.
I feel – so small.

Je suis trop jeune… pour… être mangé.
I’m too young… to… be eaten.

Aïe!
Ouch!

Je suis toujours aussi beau gosse.
I’m still as good looking as ever.

- Toi, tu rentres au village
- Parle à ma tronc!
- You’re going back to the village
- Talk to the trunk!

Pour la preimère fois à l’écran, Scrattina.
For the first time on the screen, Scrattina.

C’est la commencement d’un nouvelle ére.
It’s the dawning of a new era.

Tremblement de terre!
Earthquake!

C’est quand même mieux que rien.
It’s still better than nothing.

Sautez!
Jump!

Vous avez peut-être faim, je sais exactement ce qu’il vous faut.
Perhaps you’re hungry, I know exactly what you need.

Je croyais que t’étais une femelle!
I thought you were a female!

As promised, here’s the English, VO, version: