Pronounce it Perfectly in French
Learn to Speak with an Authentic French Accent
Overview
- Good pronunciation is critical; without it others may avoid speaking it to you.
- Pronouncing French is even harder than it sounds.
- Do you know the difference between pronouncing dessous (under) and dessus (above)?
- This text-like book includes helpful CDs
- Explains the International Phonetic Alphabet
- Also explores liasion, elision, enchaînements, and more
- Beyond (important) strict instruction, includes poems, tongue twisters, quotations, mnemonics etc. that make for warmer reading.
Pronunciation is Important
Good French pronunciation is very important. Otherwise, French people may not want to talk to you. If you find that French speakers switch quickly to English when you speak to them in French, your abominable pronunciation may be causing them to make this shift.
Take it from a native Texan that moved to New York and worked on Wall Street, proper pronunciation is important if you want to be taken seriously. While I never lost my Texas accent, and have not perfected my French one either, active practice and study of the latter has helped my French tremendously. This book was very helpful.
An Example
Do you know the difference between pronouncing the word vous (you) and vu (past tense of "to see")? Try this: "Qu'est-que vous avez vu ? (What did you see?) The difference is a vowel sound in the latter that mostly does not come into play in English. It is something like the sound of the u in the english word "cute", but not exactly. Meanwhile, if you want to explain in French that something is over something else (au-dessus), and not be understood to have said it is under it (au-dessous), you will need to know how to form this strange French vowel. (It also shows up at the end of a word you think you know: fondue.
Book and CDs
Working through this book, even with the accompanying CDs, is a rather dry experience. Probably, you will find it less fun than discovering new words when exploring vocabulary. But you will use what you learn from this book every time you speak French. And nailing those strange vowel sounds, while making correct liasons, will be very satisfying. You will be glad you spent the time working through this helpful text.
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