Learn the pronunciation of new French consonants
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate French Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn 3 French consonants. |
| ɲ, ʁ, ɥ |
| These consonant sounds do not appear in English, so they'll likely be new to you. |
| Be sure to practice them because these are the unique sounds that learners often get wrong! |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first consonant is... |
| ɲ |
| agneaux (lamb) |
| montagne (mountain) |
| campagne (countryside) |
| Let's break this consonant down. |
| (alveolo-palatal/palatal nasal) Raise your tongue so that the middle or blade of the tongue touches the roof of your mouth. |
| It kind of sounds like a combination between the n and y sounds in the English word 'canyon'. |
| Here's a great tip. Try to think of it as pronouncing a regular English N sound, but instead of using the tip of your tongue, try to use the blade -- or the middle part of your tongue. |
| ɲ, ɲ (slowly) |
| ɲ, ɲ (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ʁ |
| roue (wheel) |
| rester (stay) |
| riz (rice) |
| Let's break this consonant down. |
| (voiced uvular fricative) Do you know that fleshy part that hangs down from the roof of your mouth? |
| Narrow that section with the back part of your tongue and push air through it until you start making a sound. |
| It sounds a bit like the noise you make when you're gargling. |
| This sound is voiced, meaning you should feel vibrations coming from your throat and chest. |
| ʁ, ʁ (slowly) |
| ʁ, ʁ (slowly) |
| The final consonant for this lesson is... |
| ɥ |
| huit (eight) |
| puy (volcanic mountain) |
| (labialized palatal approximant) This is like a y sound but with rounded lips. |
| Try saying y while rounding your lips. |
| If that doesn't work, try rounding your lips first, and then making the y sound. |
| ɥ, ɥ (slowly) |
| ɥ, ɥ (slowly) |
| Well done! You just learned all 3 of the trickiest French consonants. |
| ɲ, ʁ, ɥ |
| These consonant sounds don't appear in English, so be sure to practice them! |
| You now know all of the sounds that could possibly be pronounced in French! |
| How difficult were they to learn? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| See you in the next Ultimate French Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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