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! |
Comments
HideHow difficult were they to learn? Please comment and share your thoughts.
Hello Yue,
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Ali
Team FrenchPod101.com
The video gets cut up in the middle and stops loading. The same thing happened with lesson 4. Can anyone check the quality of the video first?
@#learningfrenchrox
Thank you for posting.
You can use the [Notes] icon in each lesson to add your notes. You'll find the icon to [Create a note] below the lesson's title (it's a notebook with a pencil sign].👍
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Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team FrenchPod101.com
not so difficult, but should i have a notebook and pen to write it down so i remember?
Description of the ɥ sounds like an open vowel but the example sound like a fricative. Another lesson spoke of two kinds of "h", one that can be used in a liaison and one that can't, but I cannot tell the difference.
Indeed Sergey, it can be tricky.
Don't give up and continue studying!
Have a nice day!
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
I feel like the most difficult thing about French letters is distinguishing vowel sounds, there are so many and many of them are similar to each other.
Why guttural R does not seem actually pronounced (Eg. "hommard" or "car",...) when listen to some dictionary and video?
Bonjour !
Thank you for your comment !
English speakers must not think of this letter as an R. Indeed, the French R is nothing like the English R or the Spanish R. The French R is also called guttural R because it is pronounced in the throat. It is made in the back of the mouth, with the back of the tongue elevating to make the r sound.
In French, your tongue stays flat between your lower teeth and the "r" comes from the throat.
Hope this is clear !
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
Can you have a video just for the "R" sound, with several different examples? I've been told that there's a hard "R" and soft one in the French language, is that correct? Also "R" was the only letter where you didn't show the cross section where it originates in the mouth, that's what I found most useful!
Although the pronunciation of the "R" in French is difficult for many and does require practice pretending to gargle is a good way to practice., (I used to go to bed at night gargling the 'R") I think that at the same time you can go too far and exaggerate it. The problem I have is that it appears that how to pronounce the "R" depends on the position of the letter. We know that if it is at the end of the word it is not pronounced. But what about a word such as "regarder". There are three "Rs". The last is not pronounced. What about the first and second r. When I try to pronounce then with a slight gargle sound my pronunciation of the word still does not appear to be the same as French speakers. So what am I doing wrong?
Bonjour Jenna !
Don't give up ! You have to be patient and to practice a lot !
I'm sure you will succeed !
Bonne journée et à bientôt!
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
Hi FrenchPod101.com!
I can't seem to roll my tongue to make that R....I've have tried and my friend has tried to teach me but I always end up sounding stupid! :disappointed:
Not sure how to relax my tongue - quite annoying actually!
But the videos and audio lessons are great by the way!
Jenna