French Pronunciation

Discover proven methods to improve your French pronunciation and be understood when you speak!

Don't know where to begin? Start by discovering 7 French Pronunciation Tips that'll help you sound more French!

French Pronunciation Dictionaries Put to the Test: Which One Should You Use?

When you learn a new French word, it’s tempting to read it before you hear it pronounced.

Unfortunately, most French words sound nothing like the way they are written and reading them before hearing their pronunciation is a recipe for disaster because you’ll naturally pronounce French words the way you think they should be pronounced rather than the way they are actually pronounced.

This works if you’re a native speaker or already speak French fluently and have lots of experience with French pronunciation but not if you’re still a beginner or even an intermediate French learner.

That’s why it’s essential to always hear words before you see how they are written. In other words: learn with your ears, not with your eyes.

Here are a few free resources that’ll help you do that! [Read more…] about French Pronunciation Dictionaries Put to the Test: Which One Should You Use?

7 French Pronunciation Tips to Avoid Sounding Like a Tourist

By Benjamin Houy 10 Comments

Have you ever pronounced a French sentence only to realise that native speakers can’t understand a word you say?

Frustrating, right?

Luckily, mastering French pronunciation isn’t that complicated.

All you need to do is follow these 7 tips! [Read more…] about 7 French Pronunciation Tips to Avoid Sounding Like a Tourist

Mimic Method French: Can It Help You Improve Your Pronunciation?

By Benjamin Houy Leave a Comment

Idahosa Ness, the creator of the Mimic Method

French pronunciation is tricky and there is nothing more frustrating than to spend time learning French and then hear “désolé, je ne comprends pas” (sorry I don’t understand) as soon as you speak.

That’s why I recommend you to work on your pronunciation as soon as you start learning French.

A great way to do that is to use the Mimic Method, a pronunciation course created by Idahosa Ness.

The idea behind the Mimic Method is to learn pronunciation through music so you get used to the flow of the language.

Idahosa was recently mistaken for a native German speaker when someone asked him for directions in the streets of Cologne.

That’s quite an achievement, so I was naturally curious to see how the Flow of French, Idahosa’s French pronunciation course works.

Here is my review!

Plus: When Should You Pronounce the Final “s”?

By Benjamin Houy 4 Comments

Could a language have a sentence meaning both “I want more” and I want less”?

Yup, the French language.

Confusing, isn’t it?

Luckily, you don’t need to learn grammar rules by heart, and you shouldn’t.

Your focus should be to get exposure to the language so you automatically learn grammar as you expand your vocabulary.

But sometimes, knowing some hacks you can use to better know how to use the language helps.

Today, I would like to show you general rules you can use to know whether you should pronounce the final “s” in “plus” or not.

Should You Pronounce the Final Letter of French Words?

By Benjamin Houy 5 Comments

There is no way to know whether you should pronounce the final letter of a French word or not.

That’s at least what most French textbooks say.

Luckily, this isn’t entirely true. It turns out there is a formula that can help you know whether you should pronounce the last letter of a word or not.

And you want to know the best? It’s easy and works in the majority of cases. You didn’t expect a French rule to work all the time, did you? :).