Why is French pronunciation so hard?
Hi, I'm Chris. Head teacher at OuiCommunicate.
We're home to speakers of English who wish for a step up from traditional French classes by means of bilingual learning.
In this article, we'll see why French pronunciation is actually quite easy.
We'll also offer ways to improve.
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Who are we?
It’s nice that a teacher be a native speaker of the language they teach, it’s better if they also speak yours as a native. Press play to learn about our bilingual teaching of French.
How does it work?
There’s so much depth to this website, we think it’s easier to show a video than to try to lay it all out in pictures and in writing. This is why we deliver results: no more grey zones!
Why is French pronunciation hard?
Reason 1
If you are wondering why the pronunciation is hard, it is highly likely that you learned under a French teacher who did not know the phonetic system of English. They were unsuccessful in teaching you according to your first language.
Reason 2
Myths are shared through social media to entertain students. Many French teachers make amusing videos to show how “illogical” French can be. The myth is perpetuated and made to be believed.
Reason 3
A lack of perspective on English will have us overlook that English is incomparably more unpredictable than French. To the point where letters hardly mean anything at all.
Reason 4
Overexaggeration induces a sense of panic. We think “what is this crazy language where all the Es are silent and letters combine?” French pronunciation should be looked at factually and not emotionally.
Reason 5
Not knowing what we mean by “pronunciation” and using is as an umbrella terms confuses the matter even more. Is it the letters? The words? The intonation? The sentences? The syllables?
Reason 6
Lack of a proper class on pronunciation. Once you know what is expected of you. it will all seem clearer. You will distinguish the facts from the myths and improve tenfold. It can be a lot simpler than they say!
Why does OuiCommunicate say it is easy?
Without being able to comment on what other teachers or schools do, the fact is that our French pronunciation class barely holds in 4 pages. As long as you learn to tone down the codes of intonation that come from English you will be fine.
Pronunciation is one of our shortest classes and can easily be covered in under 60 minutes by taking it slowly. We might have the advantage of knowing the phonetic system of English as linguists but all the same. There isn’t that much to know.
When we say that French pronunciation is easy, we mean the fact that producing these sounds is not a physical challenge to a student coming from English except for “ou/u” , “é” and “en”.
The term “hard” might rather refer to a “hard mental process” to overcome because words sound differently than in English. Whatever the reason may be, our 4 page class on French pronunciation will teach you the majority of what you need to be properly understood by all native speakers of French.
Below: the pronunciation of French in 3 1/2 pages as learned by some of our students as young as 8 years.
The objective easiness of French
Don’t just take our view: check for yourself! There are objective reasons why French is more “easy” than English, the first reason being that it is a lot more predictable.
Firstly, letters represent actual sounds. Ask yourself about the function of “A” in “Japan” or “fame” and you will get the picture. It’s not even consistent between America, UK, NZ or Australia!
Second, French syllables don’t present surprises either. It’s always the last syllable that takes the weight of the word. In English, it’s mostly a surprise and we can never be quite sure how to pronounce a word we don’t know beforehand.
On a sentence level, English really takes the cake! The very subtle modulations of our sentences convey a lot more meaning that non-natives don’t usually pick up on. It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. French doesn’t have these complex codes of pronunciation. In English, they are actually so complex that they can’t be taught! (Plus they don’t even work between America and UK)
Lastly, every French sound is pronounced at the same volume. In English, we have many “diminished” vowels, long vowels, short vowels, diphthongs…By the way, did we mention that all French vowels are the same length?
The myth of the accent
Another issue that contributes to the supposed hard French pronunciation is the matter of the accent. Let’s be clear: everyone has an accent. There is no ideal norm that you need to reach.
French is a very uniform language that shares the same system of sounds all over francophonia. (Minus Quebec) As long as your sounds are close enough to the original, you will be understood.
We can compare the sounds of a language to a colour. Let’s imagine that “O” is red. If your red is too bright, it’s orange. If it’s too dark, it’s purple. As long as you shoot for some kind of red, we can agree that it’s red. Accents work in the same way.
If you open your mouth too much or too little, it’s like adding too much brightness to your red. You will need to target a decent rendition of a French sound. There will be no need to try and “sound French” (whatever that means).
The only real difficulty to overcome is when your French is an obstacle to being understood. But you will never have to hit the bullseye. As long as you hit the target, you’re good to go.
Coming from English, you will have to tone down the enthusiasm because French doesn’t express “feelings” with intonation as English does. Apart from that, no problemo!
Checklist for locating the problem
1. What is hard? Physically pronouncing certain sounds?
2. Do you properly understand what you find hard?
3. Is the speed of native speakers an influence on your perception?
4. Did you work with a teacher who was also a specialist of English? Or did your teacher “just” know French?
5. Do you fully understand how letters relate to sounds in French?
6. Did you have access to concise information to explain to you the rules of the game in French?
7. Are you shooting for a mythical French accent and being overly hard on yourself?
8. Have you studied the contents of the 4 pages above? : )
9. Are you confusing intonation and sounds?
10. Did anyone properly explain to you the “liaisons”? Do you know that only some of them are compulsory?
Become our next "success story"!
The lady in this video is originally from NY and wished for us to help prepare her move to France.
Today, she is fluent and happily lives in France where she meets new people and uses French daily.
The “secret” to her success is nothing more than what we offer you: the same learning material and the same approach.
But don’t take our word for it: read the review she wrote for our Google Business page!
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Wish to know more? Phone Chris now or send a Whatsapp message to +1 860-339-6480.
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To conclude
Back when I still used to do hour-long French classes, pronunciation was one of the first things I covered because I knew it could serve as a nice icebreaker and that it was incredibly easy. Come to think of it, I’ve never known any student to have a problem with it.
Today, it’s all on this website. We cover all there is to know in the Pronunciation section. As I write these lines, it is possible that I see pronunctaion as a non-problem because I am a linguist and think of communication first, not perfection. As long as you can be understood with ease, this is all that matters. We don’t expect you to know the code of intonation to express irony in the same way we do in French. We don’t exp[ect you to know that “huit” (8) drops the T in front of a consonant. At least not straight away!
As a student, it can be useful to know that you are battling against your own brain. You must un-teach yourself and accept new grammar or pronunciation. Our brain doesn’t necessarily like this but we must insist!
This is why it is so crucial to use a service such as ours that knows how your brain has been “impregnated” with English. We know it on a technical level but also as native speakers ourselves. We can tell you before you’ve made an error where the error will come from.
Whatever you decide to do next, thanks for stopping by. Please remember that French is objectively easy compared to English. It’s all within your grasp!