Bonjour mes amis Francophiles!
There are several reasons why French can be tricky to pronounce for English speakers:
1. French has a complex set of pronunciation rules that can be difficult for English speakers to learn. For example, French has many silent letters, liaisons (linking sounds between words), and vowel sounds that are different from English.
2. We use accent marks, which can change the pronunciation of a word. English speakers may find it challenging to learn which accent marks to use and how they affect the pronunciation.
3. In French, we have many consonant and vowel groupings that are difficult for English speakers to pronounce such as words containing ‘ill’ or ‘gn’ or ‘eau’.
4. The tricky nasal vowels. These are not found in English so you may have difficulty distinguishing (‘un’, ‘an’, ‘on’) and pronouncing these nasal vowel sounds differently in: un bAIN, un bON, un bANc.
I surveyed the learners in my Facebook group (join here if you haven’t yet) to ask which french words they found the hardest to pronounce and I then recorded a video with my daughter.
❤️ Learn how to Pronounce Difficult French Words ❤️
Although French pronunciation can be challenging for English speakers due to its complex set of rules and differences from English pronunciation, with the right help you can absolutely become a confident speaker and always be understood clearly.
Get in touch if you’d like to improve your French pronunciation by clicking here or take our free training below.
French Sounds Training
Listening and understanding French can be a big challenge for many learners – Is that you?
The French language consists of a range of tricky sounds that can leave learners tongue-tied and confused. So I’ve created a special training just for you.
