Thank you for visiting this page! This is David Issokson here and I’m here to help you with your French pronunciation.
As you know, pronunciation is probably the single hardest aspect to learning. In this video lesson I’m going to teach you the three single hardest sounds to pronounce in the language. Of course there are others but if you can get these three sounds down from the very start you’ll be well on your way!
The first sound that a lot of students have a lot of trouble with is the “eur” sound. A lot of French words end in this sound and it’s totally unnatural for non-native speakers.
To say it you basically say “eu” (almost pronounced ‘uh’ as as if you were punched in the stomach) and combine it with the French “R”. Example words provided in the video are: Fleur (flower), Acteur (actor) and Heure (hour).
The second sound we go over is the French “u”. I call this the pointed “u” because you kind of point your lips forward into a whistling position. Example words in the video are Tu (you, familiar), Jupe (skirt) and Pue (stinks).
The third sound is the French “œ”. It’s a combination of the letters “o” and “e” and makes a really weird sound that doesn’t exist at all in English. You’ll have to watch the video to hear how it sounds as writing it out phonetically is a bit tricky! Example words in the video are: Cœur (heart), œil (eye) and sœur (sister).
I sincerely hope this video has helped! If you’re struggling with French pronunciation please let me know in the comment section below and I’d love to help!
Merci!
David
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Bonjour! My name is David Issokson. I'm based in Victor, Idaho (near Jackson, Wyoming) and have helped hundreds of students to learn French online since 2013.
