French Pronunciation Practice (with a REAL French speaker)

Les amis. = Friends.

Practice French pronunciation today with this lesson!

Let’s take a moment to practice together the most common difficulties of speaking French.

Learn how to pronounce things like the French “R”, nasal sounds (“an, en, in, on, un…”), French “u” and “e”, and more. With specific techniques on
video.

C’est parti !

Practice French pronunciation:

1. French “R”
2. Nasal sounds
3. French “u”
4. Silent letters
5. French “e”
French Pronunciation Practice (with a REAL French speaker)

1. Practice French pronunciation: French “R”

The French R is difficult to pronounce.

It’s not the English “r”, or even the rolled Spanish “r.” In Spanish and in English, “le R” is pronounced with the tongue at the front of the mouth.

In French, it’s the opposite: your tongue should be stuck at the back of your mouth, under la luette (= the uvula.)

So the middle of your tongue vibrates against la luette. And it makes: “r.”

Try it with the video lesson! Repeat after me:

Merci. (= Thank you)

Je ne regrette rien. (= I don’t regret anything.)
Marie est mariée à un marin. (= Mary is married to a sailor.)

Fantastic!
French Pronunciation Practice (with a REAL French speaker)
2. Practice French pronunciation: Nasal sounds
French nasal sounds = Les nasales = Les voyelles nasales
For me, there are only three nasal sounds:
You know, when French vowels have a “n” (sometimes an “m”) after them and make a
new sound: An – En – In – On – Un “On”,
“an” = “en”,
In English, vowels come from the mouth. In French, in the case of the nasal vowels, they “in” = “ain” = “un”.
also come from the nose. Today, let’s learn how you can pronounce them right!
(Some people hear a difference between “in”
Let’s start with a simple word: bobo (= a booboo, an owie) and “un”, but it’s very subtle anyway.)
Nasal sounds can have different spellings
Now, try and move the vowel “o” up your nose. Your tongue goes to the back of your too. Mainly, “on” (or any nasal vowel) before
mouth, so the sounds now has to go behind your nose instead. And bobo becomes : a p or a b becomes “om” (or n → m) : une
bonbon (= a candy). ombre = a shadow, with “om” = nasal sound
“on.”
Keep practicing by repeating after me in the video lesson. Once you have it, you can try
But sometimes it’s just weird. For instance in
the other vowels:
the city of Caen, “aen” sounds like a simple
nasal “an”. There are always exceptions in
è (“ey”) → in:
French.
Mai (= May) → Main (= Hand, sounds like “M + nasal sound ‘in’”)

a → an :
Ça (= This, sounds like “Sah”) → Sans (= without, sounds like “S + nasal sound ‘an’”)
French Pronunciation Practice (with a REAL French speaker)
Click here to learn more: French pronunciation: Vowel sounds and accents

3. Practice French pronunciation: French “u”

There are two main problems with pronouncing the French “u.”
The first one is: hearing the difference between the sounds “u” and “ou”. They’re not the same!

Practice with the video lesson. Can you hear the difference between:

U / Ou ?
La rue (= the street) / La roue (= the wheel)
Dessus (= over) / Dessous (= under) ?

“Ou” sounds like English “oo” (or Spanish “u”) so it’s easy.

But French U can be harder to pronounce. So let’s practice that French pronunciation together.

We’ll start by saying the sound i (“ee”). Your lips are opening, like you’re smiling.
Now, try saying i while pushing your lips in a very small circle.
It starts to make the sound… u !
French Pronunciation Practice (with a REAL French speaker)
Do you get it? Congrats!

Another way to pronounce it is by starting with the sound ou.

Now, shove your tongue forward in your mouth, at the top of your mouth just behind your teeth.
And you should start to make the sound u again!

Don’t worry, it will come with practice. The most important thing to start is to actually hear the difference between u and ou. Otherwise you’ll
make embarrassing mistakes!
For instance :

Beaucoup (= “bohk + ou”) means “a lot”

Beau cul (= “bohk + u”) means: “nice butt!”

So try to make the difference, Merci beaucoup ! (= Thanks a lot!)

4. Practice French pronunciation: Silent letters

French spelling is weird. In many words, there are some silent letters. Just like the “p” in beaucoup !

There are no hard rules to know which letters are silent. I’m sorry. However, here’s a rule of thumb you can use as an approximation:
French Pronunciation Practice (with a REAL French speaker)
A consonant at the end of a word is silent – except C, F, L and R.

In particular: t or s at the end of a word is often silent.

As in: Dans (= in), Dessous (= Under), Vert (= Green)…

The guideline above is not always true, but it works for a lot of words.

5. Practice French pronunciation: La liaison

La liaison is the revenge of the silent letters.

When French people don’t like how two words sound together, they can revive the sound of a consonant at the end of a word. That’s la liaison. So
we have:

C’est grand. = It’s big, with a silent “t” in “est” (and a silent “d” in grand, cf the guideline above!)
C’est énorme. = It’s really big. → The “t” is pronounced!

La liaison only comes with a silent consonant (at the end of a word), just before a vowel (at the beginning of the next word). Mostly t or s !

Also, in la liaison, s (and x) are pronounced “z”, and d is pronounced “t.”

French Pronunciation Practice (with a REAL French speaker)
Un ami. = “a friend”. The silent “n” in “un” (nasal sound) now sounds like “un nami”
Un petit ami. = “a small friend” literally = “a boyfriend” → sounds like “petit tami.”
Un grand ami. = “a big / tall / great friend” → sounds like “grand tami.”
Deux amis. = “two friends.” → sounds like “deux zami”
Trois amis. = “three friends.” → sounds like “trois zami”

There are specific rules for when and how you have to make la liaison. And for when it’s not mandatory, but helps you sound more formal and
elegant.

Click here to learn more: La Liaison: How to Use it Properly (Rules + Examples)

6. Practice French pronunciation: French “e”

Practice French pronunciation with that final difficulty: the letter “e”.

It’s everywhere in French, and comes with a ton of different pronunciations. It also
depends on the accent! A French person who grew up in the South would pronounce it
differently than someone who’s from Alsace or the North.
E = “uh” also in the middle of a “long” (several
So I’ll only mention the most difficult parts that I’ve seen students struggle with:
syllable) word, when it doesn’t come before
French Pronunciation Practice (with a REAL French speaker)
Je (“e” = “eu” = “uh”) two consonants. Le cheval. = The horse =
In two-letter words, like Je – ne – le – se… “e” sounds like “uh.” Don’t pronounce sounds like “chuh vaal.”
Je suis (= I am, “juh + ss + French “u” + ee”) like J’essuie (= I’m cleaning, “jay + ss +
French “u” + ee”)
We don’t pronounce “e” at the end of a word.
(Except with these small words, or when there’s an accent, or in a few exceptions.)
This could change your meaning! As in:
Un livre = a book (= “leevr”) / Livré = delivered. (= “leevrey”)

And now: congratulations!

That’s a lot of French pronunciation for today!

You got to practice:

On / An / Un
U ≠ Ou
Je – Le
Les ami(s)

and more!

Of course, practice makes perfect. So you can always come back to this lesson, and check out where you’re confident now, and where you can use
more practice.

Or you can jump to another of my lessons!

French Pronunciation Practice (with a REAL French speaker)
Click here to get to your free full lesson on:

Dessous / Dessus : deep dive in French “u” or “ou”

French Pronunciation: When and how to use La Liaison ?
French Pronunciation: Vowels, accents and nasal sounds
French Pronunciation Practice : “Écureuil” (squirrel) – How to make “euil” sound and more

À tout de suite.
I’ll see you in the next video!

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