Try putting the tip of your tongue against the back of your lower front teeth as you speak. Open your mouth less, and let your lips and jaw do the work of pronouncing the words. Speaking in front of a mirror can help you get your mouth and tongue movements right. You might also try watching native French speakers and attempt to mimic their facial expressions and mouth movements.
To get the u sound correct, make an eee sound, then round your lips as you would if you were making an ooo sound. Practice this until you can make the u sound without starting with the eee sound. The French r is pronounced from the back of your throat, similar to the ch in the Scottish word “loch. "
News programs, game shows, and reality shows give you the opportunity to see non-actors speaking. This can help you learn casual, informal conversation.
For example, take the sentence vous êtes dans un grand avion. If you simply pronounced all the words individually, you’d end up with a sentence that sounded something like “voo ett dahn un grahn ahveeohn. " While each word is pronounced correctly, that certainly doesn’t sound like French. If you say it with liaisons, you would say something more like “voo zett dahn zun grahn ahveeohn. " The rules for liaisons aren’t always intuitive. It just takes practice to get it right. Generally, try to smooth out your language so that you roll easily from one word to the next.
Dans ta tente ta tante t’attend. (“In your tent, your aunt is waiting for you. “) Pauvre petit pêcheur, prend patience pour pouvoir prendre plusieurs petits poissons. (“Poor little fisherman, be patient in order to fish several little fish. “) Ces cerises sont si sûres qu’on ne sait pas si ‘cen sont. (“These cherries are so sour, we’re not sure if they are cherries. “)
Watch the facial expressions and mouth movements of native speakers as they converse with you. Try to mimic these facial expressions and movements to improve your pronunciation. Ask your French conversation partner to stop you and correct any errors you make in pronunciation or word choice. This will help you get better.
C’est joli ici. C’est la première fois que je viens ici, et vous? (“How nice it is here. It’s my first time here, and you?”) Ahhh, comme il fait beau. Enfin du soleil! C’est bien agréable, vous ne trouvez pas? (“Ahhh, it’s so nice out. Sun, at last! It’s so pleasant, don’t you agree?”) ‘Bonjour, on se connaît de vue je crois. Je viens souvent ici, il me semble que je t’ai déjà aperçu. (“Hello, I’ve seen you before I think. I come here often, and I believe I’ve seen you around. “)
Instead of qu’est-ce que c’est, for example, you would say qu’est “skeu” c’est. When you say il or elle, drop the l sound as well. For example, instead of saying qu’est-ce q’il fait, you would say qu’est “skee” fait.
Ça va de soi. (“It goes without saying. “) Ç’est ça? (“Is that right?”) Ah bon? (“Oh really?”) Mais oui (“absolutely”) or ben oui (“well yeah”). Mais non (“absolutely not”) or ben non (“well no”).
For example, suppose your conversation partner said “Je viens de Paris, et toi?” (“I’m from Paris, and you?”) You have a few options for a reply. You could simply say “Je viens des Etats-Unis,” if you’re from the United States. But if you’re using the repetition technique, you might say “Oh! Tu viens de Paris? C’est bon. Je viens des Etats-Unis. " (“Oh! You’re from Paris? That’s nice. I’m from the United States. “)
Alors. This is the equivalent of saying “so” in English, and can be used positively or negatively as you’re speaking. Quoi. While it literally means “what,” French speakers use this filler the same way you might say “you know” or “you see” in English. Tu vois? also works the same way as “you know. " Euh. This sound is similar to saying “uh” or “um” in English. Bon. This is similar to saying “ok,” and can be used positively or negatively. Eh bien is used similarly, much like you would say “well” in English.
You can find French ebooks online for free. Be careful about reading older classics, however, as they won’t give you a good sense of how modern French is spoken. French news and pop culture websites and blogs are a good place to start reading in French.
Remember that everyone has an accent. Think about how charming it is to hear someone speak fluent English with a foreign accent. That’s exactly the way you sound to French people. Just as there are multiple English accents among native speakers, there are also multiple French accents. Learning an accent that’s closer to your native accent may come easier than simply learning the Parisian French normally taught in textbooks. For example, if you have a southern American accent, you may find the slower Provençal accent easier to pronounce. Finding an accent you feel comfortable in will boost your confidence when learning the language.
If you can read French, find song lyrics and try to read along. This will improve your reading skills as well as helping you recognize liaisons and silent letters. Don’t worry if you don’t know the lyrics or completely understand what the words mean – just try to mimic the sounds the singer makes. Over time, more words will reveal themselves to you. In the meantime, you’re getting practice making French sounds. For example, Listen to Papaoutai religiously. Keep doing this until you can recite all the lyrics!
Attempting to translate French into your native language not only slows down your thought processes, making it more difficult to carry on a conversation, it also limits your vocabulary and comprehension.
