Unlocking the “Mystery”

- Vowels pronounced differently - Consonants often NOT pronounced - French “r”

- No stress on any syllables - Vowels are “one sound” - Mouth opens after consonants “pay” vs. “paie” “doe” vs. “dos” “ball” vs. “balle” “Patrick est l’ami de Nathalie.”

bonj our s alut p remier

ver t salu t grand part combat ballon Now you try:

avec cher chef royal parc mer mer golf sel Your turn:

gris grand tigre

a, e, i, o, u ( and sometimes y - pronounced like i ) Same vowels as in English, but pronounced differently. Also, vowels have a clipped sound – mouth doesn’t move

a = ah (between the a in hat & the a in father) (as in meet) (as in boat) (like the o in roll – between o & u as in nut) (sort of like the u in music, w/out the “y”) i = ee ô = oh o = * œh u = * ew

So how would you pronounce… ? madame timide note dôme mah – dah – m tee – mee – d nœh – t (nuh-t) doh – m

How would you pronounce… ? cube banane musique Rome kew – b bah – nah – n mew – zee – k rœh – m (ruh-m)

e Pronounced “euh” as in put Pronounced “ay” as in play Pronounced “eh” as in pet é è

petit Pronounced “peuh-tee”

grand / gran d e NOT pronounced, but it makes the consonant before it pronounced

je le ne de me te se All pronounced “euh” at the end

peu deux généreux Same “euh” sound

école Pronounced “ay-kuhl” é pronounced “ ay ”

très après Pronounced “treh” Pronounced “ah-preh” è pronounced “ eh ”

parler Vous parlez buffet All pronounced “ay” These are generally at the end of words

boulevard vous bonjour Pronounced “ooh” as in “Boo!” route groupe joue Your turn:

“on” – “oh N ” with a nasal “aw N ” with a nasal “uh N /ah N ” with a nasal “en” “an” – “un” “in” -

onze bon mon “oh N ”

enchanté enfant ans “aw N ”

lundi intelligent important “uh N /ah N ” Sort of like English negative “uh-uh”

So how would you pronounce… ? danse balcon légende symbole daw N – s bahl – koh N lay – zhaw N – d suh M – buh – l

moi toi trois Pronounced “wah” “mwah” “twah” “trwah”

jaune beaucoup faux All pronounced “oh”

chaise Aïcha Pronounced “shez” Pronounced “Ah-ee-shah” Another example of the trema: Noël

A challenge! See if you can sound out the following words. Write down phonetically how they sound. diplôme dee – ploh –m

robe ruh – b

pantalon paw N – tah – loh N

bracelet brah – suh – lay

crocodile kruh – kuh – dee – l

éléphant ay – lay – faw N

rat rah

vautour voh – too – r

bois bwah

maison meh – zoh N

fraise freh – z

enfant aw N – faw N

bureau bew – roh

eau oh

fleur fluh – r

professeur pruh – feh – suh – r

ss = “s” sound s = “z” sound as in poisson as in poison

profs élèves

cathédrale théâtre thé

quart quantité liquide

homme heure herbe

garage jardin genre

chat chien chambre

cent décembre cinéma

café comment combien

ça garçon français T h e c e d i l l a m a k e s t h e “ c ” s o f t !

poisson pwah – soh N Challenge! See if you can sound out the following words. Write down phonetically how they sound.

poison pwah – zoh N

oiseau wah – zoh

boisson bwah – soh N

heure euh – r

athlète aht – leh – t

thé tay

panthère pah N – teh – r

chat shah

chien shee – yuh N

magique mah – zhee – k

liquide lee – kee – d