I'm a french native speaker and I never realized the sound "eu" made your diaphragm move ! You have a very good pronunciation, also your explanations show you have given it a lot of thought and thus can explain it I think better than the natives can. I could never !
Same in German, many languages and also French try to avoid the glottal stop in most cases, German does the opposite - the glottal stop is a natural part of the pronunciation. Many foreign speakers pronounce everything correctly except the glottal stop, which sounds very strange. However, I never saw this being taught in schools. Also true in the opposite direction - none of my English teachers ever mentioned that one important thing for not sounding German is to never do the glottal stop. Also in pronunciation notation is the glottal stop often omitted.
@@Hedgehogz856 American English speakers are often very hard on accents but they tend to give British and French more of a 'pass' than they do Spanish or Indian.
It's so great that squirrel in French is one of the most difficult works for English speakers while the English word squirrel is one of the hardest words for non-English speakers to pronounce!
..as I sit here, native Italian speaker, repeating French pronunciation, doing my absolute best.. My son walks in “Mom? Are you ok? Are you choking?” 🫣
A propos of the devilish "R." My grandmother was a native French speaker as a girl. Quebecoise, but raised in New England with Parisian nuns for teachers. By the time I knew her, she spoke French rarely, most often--a few times a year--with a woman who lived a few blocks from my parents and was an old friend of hers. (Parenthetically, I learned my pronunciation from them, sitting on the floor as a youngster with them talking). She would always complain, after several hours of talking with Birdie, that her throat was sore. Excellent instruction. My (American) high school and (Belgian) college French teachers would applaud.
I’m a native French-speaker from Switzerland and also a certified french language teacher (FLE). You’re French is absolutely mind-blowing ! Your prononciation is close to perfect (99% native like). Can’t wait to show your video to my students, so inspirational !
I've studied phonetics, and here is my tip for "u": try saying eeeeee and as you're saying it, round/ purse your lips. In phonetics, French u is considered the "rounded" version of "i," and eu is the rounded version of e.
this works! It became easier for me to pronounce this correctly when I learned Haitian Creole, which generally does not differentiate between the French "i" (eeeee) and the French "u"
I’ll probably get lambasted for admitting this but I’m on a 500+ day streak on Duolingo and am realizing now how limited it is, particularly with phonetics and phonemes. Thanks for being one of the “next” steps in my concerted effort to learn French!
Firstly, congratulations on the streak. It means that for over 500 days, you have done some French study. And doing study everyday is key. The problem is you're not getting enough French. You will get vastly more French watching a 15 minute French podcast, than 15 minutes Duolingo study. (15 minutes = 2000 words more or less). The problem is that you will probably not understand someone talking in French for 15 minutes unless it's at your level (this can be extremely discouraging). I would recommend - Continue Duolingo (as it will help with motivation). Then 15 to 30 minutes of French comprehensible input (google and youtube search this term) every day. Slowly, you will begin to hear the patterns in the language and understand more and more. It is estimated by 1000 hours (1500 hours) you will be fairly fluent. (not native). Bear in mind, this will take 3 years at 1 hour per day. However, as your French improves, you will become more comfortable with more difficult input (eg Netflix series etc) and can easily replace your English tv watching with French. Lastly, if I am going to watch a show in English anyway (not part of my French study), I often watch it in French and put on English subtitles. I don't include this in my study time, but I am still getting input.
I learned Spanish traditionally in high school and college but stopped maintaining proficiency so I joined Babbel as a way to recall from memory. Because somewhere back there in my brain I do remember some things in Spanish. However, I can definitely tell you these language apps will never be able to replace traditional learning. Once I have time to take it more seriously, I plan to purchase a Spanish Textbook and workbook to augment my self study. Some day I'll pay for a tutor as well or take a community college course. Luckily I live really near a community college campus. But yeah... These language apps won't magically make us fluent. They fail to teach real grammar and syntax and so many other elements of language learning
I just started and on a 10 day streak but I intuitively knew I would need more materials. It's a damn good app that makes things into a game and keeps you motivated though. I've already learned 500 words and a lot of useful grammar and rules. I also got +babbel and a list of some movies to watch after. These apps so far only gets you to b2 level, Upper intermediate, highest level is c2 advanced. No one app can get you to c2 and that's understandable. Even tho I just started I've been practicing speaking in the car at friends house etc and translating the thoughts in my head when possible to try to think in french. I'm at like 20k exp in ten days been real committed. I'll even say basic sentences to my friends and family that don't speak French or just walking around the house. Practice practice practice
After I speak to them in french. I'll translate it for them. I'm going to canada soon and I want to be able to use what I've learned and make the neural networks stronger. Speaking without the app around really reinforces things because you don't have anything but what you thought you learned and you'll quickly know what needs work
Very funny, Im French Canadian and this is the first time I watch a video of an English speaker trying to teach French to others. In Canada, for the French people, to learning English is a must, but for English speacker, learning French is a good to have. When an american speacks to me in French I m so surprised (most American just want to speackonly in English), it shows me that he/she open to learn from different culture and I have a respect for those people. When you are over 5 Y.O. learning another language becomes harder and harder. Nice video,
I am a native and I realised how hard French is difficult to pronounce for non native speakers. I discovered your channel, and I can upgrade my English. Thank you❤
Hopefully it will help everyone who needs help. For those who try to learn and speak French do not forget that you don't have to sound perfect or to speak perfect French. Accents are not a bad thing. Mistakes are not a big deal. I am French and I do not care AT ALL if foreigners have an accent or make mistakes or misuse a word or don't know everything about my language. It is absolutely fine. Most French will actually be suprised by your level. We do not expect you to speak like a native speaker. So just breathe and feel free to be you. Most French speakers do not even master their own language.
I agree - learning pronunciation from a non native speaker makes a lot of sense. Your tip about the shape of the mouth is great. I had not thought of it before, but you are so correct. Even trying to speak English with a closed mouth makes the sounds so different.
Your English/American descriptions of how to move your mouth for French is so incredibly helpful! (And btw you still smile a lot even with the French shape of your mouth! You’re so cute!)
This is one of the best french pronunciation lesson I've watched in youtube. I've watched a lot of french lessons from native french speakers in youtube and i must say your french pronunciation is as good as a native french speaker. Iam a south Indian trying to learn french, and i felt learning it from an American is a really strange but a beautiful experience at the same time. I really appreciate the effort you've put in making this video. Thanks a lot Roya for being a part in my french learning journey❤
Your suggestions are so valid. The sounds you pronounce are really French ones, I really wish anyone trying to learn French to watch this video and browse through your channel as well!
Wow! I’ve worked for two French firms and spent a good deal of time in France. Girl you can do a French accent that is amazingly real! Great job teaching pronunciation which is critical to having French folks understand you.
Yes, please, please make more of these videos! I'm a 40 year old adult trying to learn, and your video helped so much! This might sound weird, but I'm also from Western Washington, and it's encouraging and comforting coming from someone fluent in our neck of the woods...our accent, culture, humor, etc.
OMG, I've needed this video for so long! I'm a native English speaker from the Seattle area and have been studying French on and off for almost twenty years now (since 9th grade) and I KNOW my pronunciation is terrible (your short video on speaking French in France for the first time... this is me, lol), but I just never had any of these lessons on how to actually make the sounds. Please make more of these! Also, I love all your videos! I just stumbled on your channel today and binge watched everything!
I’m a native french speaker from Canada and I get ask all the time how to pronounce this and that by anglophones and most of the time my answer is “it’s just something you know because you know”. You’re right, when you grow up speaking a language it is sometimes harder to really explain it to others.
Hi Roya, would you do a video recounting your journey towards becoming fluent in French (and passing the DELF B2 test). When did you start studying French, how long did that take you, did you take group or individual classes, what tools did you use, how many hours did you spend per day studying and what helped you master each area of the language (reading, writing, listening comprehension). And how did you master “everyday French” vs textbook French.
Thanks for the suggestion! I’d be happy to go through my process. I’m wondering what elements to include that would be most helpful for people - I’m happy to tell the full story but I’ll need to think on it a bit
This is quite amusing the watch as a native French-speaking Quebecois. Although all of your explanations and exercises are spot-on, they result in a rather European accent (similar to trying to learn the Queen's English). It's a perfectly functional and beautiful sounding pronunciation of the French language, but uncommon for the metropolitan Quebecois speaker. I think that it would be fun to see you make a Montreal dialect edition to this very useful video. My best trick to pass on to you would be that while Euro-French is pronounced with a pouty, pursed lip shape and throaty, guttural vocalisations; Quebecois is more of a smirking, sneering, dominance smile where we tend to speak like we have food stash in one of our cheeks. Here, the nasal sounds are almost cartoonishly exaggerated (the "enfin!" sounding similar to like a crow or seagull cry). Our dialect is also more affected by our close proximity to Anglophones, meaning that the pursed lips are far less pronounced
I discovered you a few days ago. I'm a French speaker. Until watching this video, I actually thought it was the opposite way: you're a French that speaks English. That's how much your french sounds native!
My favorite part about learning French in college were these sounds. My prof would point to them on the wall with a stick and the whole class would be making these noises in unison and it was amazing! As an American with a passion for the French language I feel like I have just found a friend! I am a little rusty but I'm still good enough I am back to practicing and I subscribed to you! I used to teach these sounds to kids too!
One of my French cousins told me during one visit that my grammar and pronunciation were good now, so he wanted me to concentrate on my accent. As a joke, I started imitating Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau, which I thought was very exaggerated. When I was done, he said, "Exactly! Now, you sound like a French person!" 🤭😂 Except that I can't do it without imitating Peter Sellers.
Wow super accent !! Et merci beaucoup pour vos vidéos. En tant que francophone, on parle si naturellement qu'on ne se rend pas compte de toutes les spécificités de notre articulation. Je découvre pleins de choses grâce à vous, encore bravo !! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
You are so angelic, Roua! Angelic face, voice and good will. This was excellent! Such talent! You do have THE best pronunciation, as close as I have ever heard to native in an American. Yes please, do an entire series! Save French ears! 😅 Thank you for sharing your gifts!
FYI, her intonation is sometimes slightly off, though much better than most non natives. (Her vowels are perfect). A good idea in any language is to listen to nursery rhymes, which do give babies a sense of rhythm, and to listen to a lot of native speakers and potentially shadow speak. The rhythm in French is much more regular, one syllable = one beat most of the time, you could almost try speaking with a metronome The last syllable gets stressed unless you want to stress the word
You gave such a great explanation . I have learned other languages and your knowledge of tongue positioning and use of the entire mouth or back of the throat shows you’re a trustable source. I love all your content. You really do think in this language. Bravo!
I have jaw problems which make it awkward for me to speak my native English, and while it was a struggle and kind of hurt a little, this really helped improve my French pronunciation! Thanks for making this video!
This is very helpful. I've been mostly using Duo Lingo along with a few podcasts but hearing some of the explanations and seeing the visuals was beneficial. I had figured out the r sound but looking forward to using the tips on the L sound. I feel like vowels and vowel combinations are difficult to get right so I'd definitely welcome more vowel tips. I'd love to see e, è, é differences.
I am very happy to have found your video. I was born in Montreal, QC but raised in Ontario. I am in my sixties and am now living in Quebec. Your tips on how to shape your mouth is one of the most valuable tools needed for pronunciation.
I found a French teacher at a gathering place for immigrants trying to learn English. My Parisian teacher was formally educated as a physician before deciding to teach French. She was so stern that I dreaded going to weekly lessons. I was going to Paris only for a two week vacation. The most useful things I learned were to greet everyone before requesting information or service. Always say, “Bon jour, madam," (or afternoon or evening as appropriate). Then say "Je voudrais" (I would like) then point to what you want. Make sure you say, "Merci." after you get what you wanted. And learn how to ask, "Where is…" If your stay is longer keep watching these videos.
That is fantastic Roya. Extremely helpful. French pronunciation is so difficult to get right. Here is a summary (hope you don’t mind) (Use smaller mouth than English) ======================= U - Monkey sound + ew - (so gross) Nasal - eg Pa(IN) - Basketball buzzer R - (hawk up a loogie) Exaggerated practice L - Tongue further back than English (top tongue middle roof) LL - Y sound
As someone with a South African accent learning to speak French as a hobby, this was a very interesting video, and I will definitely concentrate on my mouth shape in future. I do a lot of Duolingo and I feel I can read French quite well now, but I know my accent is appalling. One word that always trips me up is "le". My husband is further behind in the French course but his accent is better and he's always telling me that I'm getting it wrong when I try to say "le". I also find it hard to hear the difference between la and le! Thanks for all your entertaining shorts too 😍
As a pronunciation geek, I love this. Im from the UK, but surprisingly I've never really had any exposure to French because I studied German at school and college, learnt Spanish in Mexico, I live in Poland (I'm not fluent in Polish but I'm actively learning) and I know basic Serbian. I'm also an English teacher, and your point about learning from a non-native is absolutely correct in terms of the having to consciously learn aspect. For example, grammatical cases in Polish are a brain explosion for me just as irregular English spelling is for a native Pole. Having a non-native who has learnt Polish explain cases me is often more beneficial because they can describe their own specific learning process, like your monkey example. I do the same on random occasions when someone asks me how I learnt to roll my Rs in Spanish and Polish!
This was very helpful and I agree that coming from a non-native speaker made it better. The letter R is a big struggle for me. I can say it in some words but not others. Words with a G or C right before the R seem the hardest. The tip of my tongue keeps wanting to get involved! I’ll keep trying. I plan on visiting Paris next Spring.
You touched on the toughies... I taught French, English and German in grammar school, and had classes of newcomers I had to teach French to (I went to French schools until I was 16, so my pronunciation is native) ... Every day in French class, we'd practice "in, en, on, en" .... I tried starting with the aaahhh sound, with an open mouth, and then moving the back of the tongue up to start the "ng" sound... But it was a lot of work... they mastered the R (just as you pointed out) but with difficulty, too, especially since many (Eastern Europeans, Africans from various countries, etc...) had already trained their mouths for a different R, mostly the alveolar R, my Nigerian student had that almost-British mastery of the vanished r... ... But it is so important... rhetorical speakers will sometimes vocalize that R a lot for emphasis. But there is that all important scratchy R that is needed to express disappointment or frustration and sounds like you have a hair stuck in your throat and you want to get rid of it... You do a great job, though, and I may send my former students a link... Funny aside: écureuil is also tough in German as it has the two palatal fricatives "ch".. Eichhörnchen
I'm an American, and I learned French in Tahiti, so I roll my R's! Everything else is consistent though. I really appreciated these breakdowns!! I had never noticed some of them specifically, this was great.
Damn you do it all! Comedy, cultural differences, language instruction! 10/10 This was very helpful to me as I've been trying to learn French as I piggyback on my wife's work trips to Paris.
I always see comments under your shirts of natives saying how amazing you French sounds (and non natives) so THANK YOU for these tips! It actually does help coming from a native English speaker! I like learning from both native and non native (and honorary native like yourself lol)
Ive tried to learn French when i was living in atl. The R made me so discouraged that i just focused on my Spanish. I applaud those who study the language because it's challenging
These are difficult letters for English speakers. I am a native Dutch speaker and we have all the exact same sounds you taught in French in Dutch as well (except the nasal ones). What is most difficult for Dutch speakers in French is s/ss/ch sounds. For example, trying not to pronouce national like nachonal.
Same, I am a native Dutch speaker but have lived for many years in the UK. It's the pursing of the lips that is the most helpful to not sound Dutch or English.
You're 100% right about native speakers and there's also the ability to deliver a message, pass it down to learners, which is not something native speakers necessarily have (actually they rarely do unless they're teachers). Of course that applies to native speakers from all english-speaking countries as well. I've heard so many inaccuracies before but have always decided to politely stay silent in order to... not offend the native speaker.
My hubby’s dad had the natural ability to pick up languages; he never lost the ability that children have to pick up languages. His favorite second language was French; he was a French professor in Washington state. He lived in France for 15 years, during the 60s and 70s. My hubby says that the French people thought his dad was a local, he was so fluent. He actually claimed to have thought in French too half the time 😊. He spoke like 7 languages. But my hubby’s mom hated France; she said during the 60s and 70s there was NO public restrooms for women. So she could never travel far from their apartment 😂
The mouth shape explains it. When my sister returned from an extended trip to France she told me that she could tell what language someone speaks from their facial muscles. She then proceeded to prove it by looking around the crowded public area we were standing in. Then she walked up to two men and asked them for directions in French. They replied in French. She thanked them and we were on our way.
About the letter U, in your example with the word "huit", it should be noted that not all francophones pronounce it this way. For the french speaking Belgians, "huit" IS pronounced in a similar way to "wheat" in english.
Thank you so much for sharing this advice and guidance with us!!!!! It was totally helpful having help from someone who understands the huge difference compared to American English!!!! And yess I would greatly appreciate more videos on whatever you'd like to teach!
Excellent advice! Your short videos speaking English in the form of conversational French are the most helpful language videos I have seen. Could you please expand on them in longer videos with further explanation? Thanks!
In french Canadian we also speak with a wider and more open mouth than the french in France! I’ve noticed this a long time ago when imitating my french friend ahah
Hi Roya! I came across you on Tiktok! I do appreciate your work. It helps a lot! Thank you so much! I'm learning French because I start to host a homestay with most French speakers. I'm from Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam so if you come here, I'm happy to show you around and we have a garden with farm in the homestay that you can experience the local farmer's life! Hope to see u in the future. Keep up the good work!
It's funny how social media works because I first watched you on Instagram, loved the content and then your channel appears to me on youtube! Thank goodness because you are fantastic! As a brazilian, I have no problems doing nasal sounds but brazilian portuguese makes me speak with the mouth wide open as well as English. So making the mouth kinda close, like more narrow, is challenging but it makes the pronunciation way better. Thanks for your tips!
What a great understanding you have of French! Your pronunciation is nearly perfect to be honest! Also, you are completely right about the fact you are better at delivering a learning message when you are not the native speaker of x language, but yourself a learning speaker to someone learning the same language than you. As a native French speaker, I think everything you said within such a short amount of video time is correct. Mastering French can be intimidating as it's a difficult language even for us, but that's even more amazing when people overcome the fear of learning French.
Thank you! I need this. I love all your skits. I'm Canadian and worked in the US (& visited France for a couple of weeks) and really enjoy your clever and well-constructed videos giving info about life in France. Zey are funny and informatif! Merci! BTW, this is JUST my personal preference, but I'd rather you wouldnt post videos responding to STUPID, HURTFUL comments that idiots post. I find it hard not to respond to foolish comments & sometimes insulting comments people make to me on the interweb, so I understand why you'd want to.
Super helpful! I am studying Romanian, Spanish (Spain), and Italian and I’d never considered my American mouth shape in making the sounds necessary for other languages. I found myself shrinking the openness of my mouth with certain Spanish words (as well as a sort of smashing of certain consonants…hard to describe as well as you did). I intend to learn French as well and found your tips very useful. Merci!
About the /l/ sound I believe what the lady describes is a palatalized /l/ as opposed to the velarized /l/ in American English, which is also pretty common linguistically. In fact you can make /t/ /d/ /p/ /b/ /m/ /n/ all with similar tongue shape to the so called French /l/ easily
Hello Roya , your short videos are really fun to watch , your french teaching is really good in fact I didn’t know that the eu sound was a problem sound for the non native english speakers . And you’re right about the french spoken with lips almost closed . Some learners of french say that we hardly move our lips , while english is spoken with lips wide open , they are " relâchées " and therefore you got to make sure your teeth and tongue are perfectly clean 😂😅 In fact Roya I thought you were bilingual from french and american parents . Bravo ! ❤
Learning from a native speaker of any language means they might inadvertently/unintentionally utilize slang to teach you. This can be beneficial when learning the informalities of the language for the purpose of day-to-day conversations, it is equally crucial to learn the formal side of your language(s).
Hello! I am just starting French as a native English speaker with a background in Spanish. I love your shorts but this video was EXTREMELY helpful. I really hope you make more videos like this ❤
I'm a french native speaker and I never realized the sound "eu" made your diaphragm move ! You have a very good pronunciation, also your explanations show you have given it a lot of thought and thus can explain it I think better than the natives can. I could never !
Thank you so much! I really appreciate this feedback 🫶
Same, agreed 100%!!!
Based on your stuck up attitude you are probably French Canadian.
Same in German, many languages and also French try to avoid the glottal stop in most cases, German does the opposite - the glottal stop is a natural part of the pronunciation. Many foreign speakers pronounce everything correctly except the glottal stop, which sounds very strange. However, I never saw this being taught in schools. Also true in the opposite direction - none of my English teachers ever mentioned that one important thing for not sounding German is to never do the glottal stop.
Also in pronunciation notation is the glottal stop often omitted.
@@royaventurera Are you Persian?
Damn, I'm French and watched a lot of your short videos, I've always thought you were a french native faking the American accent! Congrats
Wow what a compliment! Thank you so much 🫶🫶
You can tell she's native US and not french tho...
@@milantehrandubai did you even read the comment
Derpy @@milantehrandubai
@@elliotarundella7581 Did you even understand his reply though?
Not only do you have excellent French pronunciation, your English with the French accent is absolutely beautiful.
Thank you sm ☺️
Why is English with a French accent applauded, but French with an English accent is frowned upon?
@@MK-hh1voEnglish speakers are fine with accents while the French are known for being rude about it
@@Hedgehogz856 American English speakers are often very hard on accents but they tend to give British and French more of a 'pass' than they do Spanish or Indian.
@@jtidema the British already speak English bro, and we make fun of the French too
It's so great that squirrel in French is one of the most difficult works for English speakers while the English word squirrel is one of the hardest words for non-English speakers to pronounce!
..as I sit here, native Italian speaker, repeating French pronunciation, doing my absolute best..
My son walks in
“Mom? Are you ok? Are you choking?”
🫣
lol I died
😂
Hahaha mamma mia che bella barzelletta
A propos of the devilish "R." My grandmother was a native French speaker as a girl. Quebecoise, but raised in New England with Parisian nuns for teachers. By the time I knew her, she spoke French rarely, most often--a few times a year--with a woman who lived a few blocks from my parents and was an old friend of hers. (Parenthetically, I learned my pronunciation from them, sitting on the floor as a youngster with them talking). She would always complain, after several hours of talking with Birdie, that her throat was sore.
Excellent instruction. My (American) high school and (Belgian) college French teachers would applaud.
😅
I’m a native French-speaker from Switzerland and also a certified french language teacher (FLE).
You’re French is absolutely mind-blowing ! Your prononciation is close to perfect (99% native like). Can’t wait to show your video to my students, so inspirational !
Of course, if you are a French speaker from Switzerland, her prononciation must sound perfect to your 🇨🇭 ears (just kidding).
@@EG-ry1dz There are some differences between French as spoken in _Romandie_ and in the _Hexagone_ , for instance _brin/brun_ or _pâtes/pattes_
By comparing every French sound to English, you're even helping native French speakers to get better with their English accent. Thanks a lot!
I've studied phonetics, and here is my tip for "u": try saying eeeeee and as you're saying it, round/ purse your lips. In phonetics, French u is considered the "rounded" version of "i," and eu is the rounded version of e.
Exactly. Looking at a vowel chart they are the rounded/unrounded equivalents.
this works! It became easier for me to pronounce this correctly when I learned Haitian Creole, which generally does not differentiate between the French "i" (eeeee) and the French "u"
J’ai aussi étudié la phonétique, la phonologie et l’orthoépie, et je suis de votre avis.
Le a de pâte et le un de brun sont en train de disparaître du français hexagonal.
Le R, en revanche, ne fait pas de différence qu’il soit apical ou uvulaire, et il tend à s’ amuïr en hexagonal.
Honestly the best explanation of french phonetic.
Thank you! That means a lot 🫶
I've been trying to learn French off and on since middle school. This was THE most helpful lesson I've ever had. PLEASE do more!
Wait, as a French I literally thought you were a native because of how good your French is !!
I am French and I have to say that your French is excellent. I enjoy you funny videos that are spot on.
I’ll probably get lambasted for admitting this but I’m on a 500+ day streak on Duolingo and am realizing now how limited it is, particularly with phonetics and phonemes. Thanks for being one of the “next” steps in my concerted effort to learn French!
Duo is very good as a supplement..you still need to do your own practice/research though
Firstly, congratulations on the streak. It means that for over 500 days, you have done some French study. And doing study everyday is key. The problem is you're not getting enough French.
You will get vastly more French watching a 15 minute French podcast, than 15 minutes Duolingo study. (15 minutes = 2000 words more or less).
The problem is that you will probably not understand someone talking in French for 15 minutes unless it's at your level (this can be extremely discouraging).
I would recommend - Continue Duolingo (as it will help with motivation). Then 15 to 30 minutes of French comprehensible input (google and youtube search this term) every day.
Slowly, you will begin to hear the patterns in the language and understand more and more.
It is estimated by 1000 hours (1500 hours) you will be fairly fluent. (not native). Bear in mind, this will take 3 years at 1 hour per day. However, as your French improves, you will become more comfortable with more difficult input (eg Netflix series etc) and can easily replace your English tv watching with French.
Lastly, if I am going to watch a show in English anyway (not part of my French study), I often watch it in French and put on English subtitles. I don't include this in my study time, but I am still getting input.
I learned Spanish traditionally in high school and college but stopped maintaining proficiency so I joined Babbel as a way to recall from memory. Because somewhere back there in my brain I do remember some things in Spanish. However, I can definitely tell you these language apps will never be able to replace traditional learning. Once I have time to take it more seriously, I plan to purchase a Spanish Textbook and workbook to augment my self study. Some day I'll pay for a tutor as well or take a community college course. Luckily I live really near a community college campus. But yeah... These language apps won't magically make us fluent. They fail to teach real grammar and syntax and so many other elements of language learning
I just started and on a 10 day streak but I intuitively knew I would need more materials. It's a damn good app that makes things into a game and keeps you motivated though. I've already learned 500 words and a lot of useful grammar and rules. I also got +babbel and a list of some movies to watch after. These apps so far only gets you to b2 level, Upper intermediate, highest level is c2 advanced. No one app can get you to c2 and that's understandable. Even tho I just started I've been practicing speaking in the car at friends house etc and translating the thoughts in my head when possible to try to think in french. I'm at like 20k exp in ten days been real committed. I'll even say basic sentences to my friends and family that don't speak French or just walking around the house. Practice practice practice
After I speak to them in french. I'll translate it for them. I'm going to canada soon and I want to be able to use what I've learned and make the neural networks stronger. Speaking without the app around really reinforces things because you don't have anything but what you thought you learned and you'll quickly know what needs work
I speak French with a heavy Irish accent and this is very helpful in adjusting pronunciation
Very funny, Im French Canadian and this is the first time I watch a video of an English speaker trying to teach French to others. In Canada, for the French people, to learning English is a must, but for English speacker, learning French is a good to have. When an american speacks to me in French I m so surprised (most American just want to speackonly in English), it shows me that he/she open to learn from different culture and I have a respect for those people. When you are over 5 Y.O. learning another language becomes harder and harder.
Nice video,
I am a native and I realised how hard French is difficult to pronounce for non native speakers. I discovered your channel, and I can upgrade my English. Thank you❤
Hopefully it will help everyone who needs help. For those who try to learn and speak French do not forget that you don't have to sound perfect or to speak perfect French. Accents are not a bad thing. Mistakes are not a big deal. I am French and I do not care AT ALL if foreigners have an accent or make mistakes or misuse a word or don't know everything about my language. It is absolutely fine. Most French will actually be suprised by your level. We do not expect you to speak like a native speaker. So just breathe and feel free to be you. Most French speakers do not even master their own language.
Yes! This is absolutely a great reminder too and applies to all languages 🫶
❤ merci
Please put some more of these educational videos. Much appreciate your courses...😊
Thanks for the feedback! I’m definitely working on making more of them. Please let me know if you have any specific requests 😊
I agree - learning pronunciation from a non native speaker makes a lot of sense. Your tip about the shape of the mouth is great. I had not thought of it before, but you are so correct. Even trying to speak English with a closed mouth makes the sounds so different.
If you can say "l'association des serruriers de Rueil-Malmaison" three times in succession, you've truly arrived.
I just tried now. I haven’t arrived
kessé ça rueil-malmaison?
@@roe_kUn patelin d’Ile-de-France
I love the word serrurier, it’s one of those I can’t help rolling around in my mouth whenever I see it.
J'imagine que le Rueil se prononce un truc du genre "R-oeil" ?
Your English/American descriptions of how to move your mouth for French is so incredibly helpful! (And btw you still smile a lot even with the French shape of your mouth! You’re so cute!)
Your explanations are superb without using linguistic terms. This was fun to watch even as someone not actively learning french
I'm a French native speaker 20 yo and your advice about mouth shape is so intelligent and true I never even thought about it!
This is one of the best french pronunciation lesson I've watched in youtube. I've watched a lot of french lessons from native french speakers in youtube and i must say your french pronunciation is as good as a native french speaker. Iam a south Indian trying to learn french, and i felt learning it from an American is a really strange but a beautiful experience at the same time. I really appreciate the effort you've put in making this video. Thanks a lot Roya for being a part in my french learning journey❤
Your suggestions are so valid. The sounds you pronounce are really French ones, I really wish anyone trying to learn French to watch this video and browse through your channel as well!
Wow! I’ve worked for two French firms and spent a good deal of time in France. Girl you can do a French accent that is amazingly real! Great job teaching pronunciation which is critical to having French folks understand you.
Yes, please, please make more of these videos! I'm a 40 year old adult trying to learn, and your video helped so much! This might sound weird, but I'm also from Western Washington, and it's encouraging and comforting coming from someone fluent in our neck of the woods...our accent, culture, humor, etc.
Ayo! Ditto, or pretty damn close. 44ish/french/oregon
Good luck!
Enchanté
So glad to hear it’s helpful! PNW French speakers united 🤝
37. East side WA/ northcentral ID.
OMG, I've needed this video for so long! I'm a native English speaker from the Seattle area and have been studying French on and off for almost twenty years now (since 9th grade) and I KNOW my pronunciation is terrible (your short video on speaking French in France for the first time... this is me, lol), but I just never had any of these lessons on how to actually make the sounds. Please make more of these! Also, I love all your videos! I just stumbled on your channel today and binge watched everything!
Thank you sooo much! I’m glad to hear how helpful this is and that you like my channel. Sounds like we have a lot in common too😊
I’m a native french speaker from Canada and I get ask all the time how to pronounce this and that by anglophones and most of the time my answer is “it’s just something you know because you know”. You’re right, when you grow up speaking a language it is sometimes harder to really explain it to others.
Hi Roya, would you do a video recounting your journey towards becoming fluent in French (and passing the DELF B2 test). When did you start studying French, how long did that take you, did you take group or individual classes, what tools did you use, how many hours did you spend per day studying and what helped you master each area of the language (reading, writing, listening comprehension). And how did you master “everyday French” vs textbook French.
Thanks for the suggestion! I’d be happy to go through my process. I’m wondering what elements to include that would be most helpful for people - I’m happy to tell the full story but I’ll need to think on it a bit
I never even realized I was changing my mouth shape when I change languages. Cool.
This is quite amusing the watch as a native French-speaking Quebecois. Although all of your explanations and exercises are spot-on, they result in a rather European accent (similar to trying to learn the Queen's English). It's a perfectly functional and beautiful sounding pronunciation of the French language, but uncommon for the metropolitan Quebecois speaker.
I think that it would be fun to see you make a Montreal dialect edition to this very useful video.
My best trick to pass on to you would be that while Euro-French is pronounced with a pouty, pursed lip shape and throaty, guttural vocalisations; Quebecois is more of a smirking, sneering, dominance smile where we tend to speak like we have food stash in one of our cheeks. Here, the nasal sounds are almost cartoonishly exaggerated (the "enfin!" sounding similar to like a crow or seagull cry). Our dialect is also more affected by our close proximity to Anglophones, meaning that the pursed lips are far less pronounced
Les Français méridionaux disent que les parisiens parlent «pointu», justement.
I discovered you a few days ago.
I'm a French speaker.
Until watching this video, I actually thought it was the opposite way: you're a French that speaks English.
That's how much your french sounds native!
My favorite part about learning French in college were these sounds. My prof would point to them on the wall with a stick and the whole class would be making these noises in unison and it was amazing! As an American with a passion for the French language I feel like I have just found a friend! I am a little rusty but I'm still good enough I am back to practicing and I subscribed to you! I used to teach these sounds to kids too!
One of my French cousins told me during one visit that my grammar and pronunciation were good now, so he wanted me to concentrate on my accent. As a joke, I started imitating Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau, which I thought was very exaggerated. When I was done, he said, "Exactly! Now, you sound like a French person!" 🤭😂 Except that I can't do it without imitating Peter Sellers.
Wow super accent !! Et merci beaucoup pour vos vidéos. En tant que francophone, on parle si naturellement qu'on ne se rend pas compte de toutes les spécificités de notre articulation. Je découvre pleins de choses grâce à vous, encore bravo !! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
You are so angelic, Roua! Angelic face, voice and good will. This was excellent! Such talent! You do have THE best pronunciation, as close as I have ever heard to native in an American. Yes please, do an entire series! Save French ears! 😅
Thank you for sharing your gifts!
I wish I had these lessons when studying French in school! Super!
Also another suggestion: a video on how to improve intonation when speaking french? Even a quick 60 second short would be amazing, tysm ❤
Great idea!
FYI, her intonation is sometimes slightly off, though much better than most non natives. (Her vowels are perfect).
A good idea in any language is to listen to nursery rhymes, which do give babies a sense of rhythm, and to listen to a lot of native speakers and potentially shadow speak.
The rhythm in French is much more regular, one syllable = one beat most of the time, you could almost try speaking with a metronome
The last syllable gets stressed unless you want to stress the word
I didn't have any specific interest in learning French but I love your videos! I watched the whole thing! So fascinating!! ❤
You gave such a great explanation . I have learned other languages and your knowledge of tongue positioning and use of the entire mouth or back of the throat shows you’re a trustable source. I love all your content. You really do think in this language. Bravo!
Currently learning French. This video was very helpful. Thank you.
Your huit (8) pronunciation is PERFECT!
I have jaw problems which make it awkward for me to speak my native English, and while it was a struggle and kind of hurt a little, this really helped improve my French pronunciation! Thanks for making this video!
This is very helpful. I've been mostly using Duo Lingo along with a few podcasts but hearing some of the explanations and seeing the visuals was beneficial. I had figured out the r sound but looking forward to using the tips on the L sound. I feel like vowels and vowel combinations are difficult to get right so I'd definitely welcome more vowel tips.
I'd love to see e, è, é differences.
I am very happy to have found your video.
I was born in Montreal, QC but raised in Ontario. I am in my sixties and am now living in Quebec.
Your tips on how to shape your mouth is one of the most valuable tools needed for pronunciation.
I like the Quebecois accent
This was excellent. I took French in school for years - from eighth grade up through college but I never get to use it. This was a great refresher!
This was so helpful! Not just in speaking but understanding French. I am going to Paris in Sept and have been struggling to learn basics
I found a French teacher at a gathering place for immigrants trying to learn English. My Parisian teacher was formally educated as a physician before deciding to teach French. She was so stern that I dreaded going to weekly lessons. I was going to Paris only for a two week vacation. The most useful things I learned were to greet everyone before requesting information or service. Always say, “Bon jour, madam," (or afternoon or evening as appropriate). Then say "Je voudrais" (I would like) then point to what you want. Make sure you say, "Merci." after you get what you wanted. And learn how to ask, "Where is…" If your stay is longer keep watching these videos.
That is fantastic Roya. Extremely helpful.
French pronunciation is so difficult to get right.
Here is a summary (hope you don’t mind)
(Use smaller mouth than English)
=======================
U - Monkey sound + ew - (so gross)
Nasal - eg Pa(IN) - Basketball buzzer
R - (hawk up a loogie) Exaggerated practice
L - Tongue further back than English (top tongue middle roof)
LL - Y sound
You are amazing. I’m trying to learn European Portuguese and you seem to speak the language so effortlessly.
You’re so sweet! It may sound effortless but I promise it was many years and classes and travels in the making! You’ll get there 🫶
As someone with a South African accent learning to speak French as a hobby, this was a very interesting video, and I will definitely concentrate on my mouth shape in future. I do a lot of Duolingo and I feel I can read French quite well now, but I know my accent is appalling. One word that always trips me up is "le". My husband is further behind in the French course but his accent is better and he's always telling me that I'm getting it wrong when I try to say "le". I also find it hard to hear the difference between la and le! Thanks for all your entertaining shorts too 😍
As a pronunciation geek, I love this. Im from the UK, but surprisingly I've never really had any exposure to French because I studied German at school and college, learnt Spanish in Mexico, I live in Poland (I'm not fluent in Polish but I'm actively learning) and I know basic Serbian. I'm also an English teacher, and your point about learning from a non-native is absolutely correct in terms of the having to consciously learn aspect. For example, grammatical cases in Polish are a brain explosion for me just as irregular English spelling is for a native Pole. Having a non-native who has learnt Polish explain cases me is often more beneficial because they can describe their own specific learning process, like your monkey example. I do the same on random occasions when someone asks me how I learnt to roll my Rs in Spanish and Polish!
I absolutely love pronunication. Nuns are lovely people.
This was very helpful and I agree that coming from a non-native speaker made it better. The letter R is a big struggle for me. I can say it in some words but not others. Words with a G or C right before the R seem the hardest. The tip of my tongue keeps wanting to get involved! I’ll keep trying. I plan on visiting Paris next Spring.
You touched on the toughies... I taught French, English and German in grammar school, and had classes of newcomers I had to teach French to (I went to French schools until I was 16, so my pronunciation is native) ... Every day in French class, we'd practice "in, en, on, en" .... I tried starting with the aaahhh sound, with an open mouth, and then moving the back of the tongue up to start the "ng" sound... But it was a lot of work... they mastered the R (just as you pointed out) but with difficulty, too, especially since many (Eastern Europeans, Africans from various countries, etc...) had already trained their mouths for a different R, mostly the alveolar R, my Nigerian student had that almost-British mastery of the vanished r... ... But it is so important... rhetorical speakers will sometimes vocalize that R a lot for emphasis. But there is that all important scratchy R that is needed to express disappointment or frustration and sounds like you have a hair stuck in your throat and you want to get rid of it...
You do a great job, though, and I may send my former students a link...
Funny aside: écureuil is also tough in German as it has the two palatal fricatives "ch".. Eichhörnchen
I started to learn french like three months ago and this video helped me a lot thank you so much roya😊
I'm an American, and I learned French in Tahiti, so I roll my R's! Everything else is consistent though. I really appreciated these breakdowns!! I had never noticed some of them specifically, this was great.
Damn you do it all! Comedy, cultural differences, language instruction! 10/10
This was very helpful to me as I've been trying to learn French as I piggyback on my wife's work trips to Paris.
I'm french and your pronunciation is AMAZING !!!! Wonderfull
This has been hands down the best video I’ve watched breaking down French pronunciation. Thank you!
Je vois que la vie nantaise t'as permis d'avoir un accent français parfait ;)
Une belle surprise de te croiser sur UA-cam !
I always see comments under your shirts of natives saying how amazing you French sounds (and non natives) so THANK YOU for these tips! It actually does help coming from a native English speaker! I like learning from both native and non native (and honorary native like yourself lol)
Ive tried to learn French when i was living in atl. The R made me so discouraged that i just focused on my Spanish. I applaud those who study the language because it's challenging
Lol! And I can’t roll an “R” to save my life! Scraping my “R”s is much easier for me!
These are difficult letters for English speakers. I am a native Dutch speaker and we have all the exact same sounds you taught in French in Dutch as well (except the nasal ones). What is most difficult for Dutch speakers in French is s/ss/ch sounds. For example, trying not to pronouce national like nachonal.
Same, I am a native Dutch speaker but have lived for many years in the UK. It's the pursing of the lips that is the most helpful to not sound Dutch or English.
After a day of French speaking the mouth muscles even hurt 😊
After a day of French speaking the mouth muscles even hurt 😊
You're 100% right about native speakers and there's also the ability to deliver a message, pass it down to learners, which is not something native speakers necessarily have (actually they rarely do unless they're teachers). Of course that applies to native speakers from all english-speaking countries as well. I've heard so many inaccuracies before but have always decided to politely stay silent in order to... not offend the native speaker.
This was really helpful, thank you!!!! 😍
My hubby’s dad had the natural ability to pick up languages; he never lost the ability that children have to pick up languages. His favorite second language was French; he was a French professor in Washington state. He lived in France for 15 years, during the 60s and 70s. My hubby says that the French people thought his dad was a local, he was so fluent. He actually claimed to have thought in French too half the time 😊. He spoke like 7 languages. But my hubby’s mom hated France; she said during the 60s and 70s there was NO public restrooms for women. So she could never travel far from their apartment 😂
The mouth shape explains it. When my sister returned from an extended trip to France she told me that she could tell what language someone speaks from their facial muscles. She then proceeded to prove it by looking around the crowded public area we were standing in. Then she walked up to two men and asked them for directions in French. They replied in French. She thanked them and we were on our way.
what a wonderfull hack on the EU sound!! merciii
About the letter U, in your example with the word "huit", it should be noted that not all francophones pronounce it this way. For the french speaking Belgians, "huit" IS pronounced in a similar way to "wheat" in english.
Thank you so much for sharing this advice and guidance with us!!!!! It was totally helpful having help from someone who understands the huge difference compared to American English!!!! And yess I would greatly appreciate more videos on whatever you'd like to teach!
Excellent advice!
Your short videos speaking English in the form of conversational French are the most helpful language videos I have seen. Could you please expand on them in longer videos with further explanation?
Thanks!
In french Canadian we also speak with a wider and more open mouth than the french in France! I’ve noticed this a long time ago when imitating my french friend ahah
such a good teacher!
Hi Roya! I came across you on Tiktok! I do appreciate your work. It helps a lot! Thank you so much! I'm learning French because I start to host a homestay with most French speakers. I'm from Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam so if you come here, I'm happy to show you around and we have a garden with farm in the homestay that you can experience the local farmer's life! Hope to see u in the future. Keep up the good work!
It's funny how social media works because I first watched you on Instagram, loved the content and then your channel appears to me on youtube! Thank goodness because you are fantastic! As a brazilian, I have no problems doing nasal sounds but brazilian portuguese makes me speak with the mouth wide open as well as English. So making the mouth kinda close, like more narrow, is challenging but it makes the pronunciation way better. Thanks for your tips!
What a great understanding you have of French! Your pronunciation is nearly perfect to be honest!
Also, you are completely right about the fact you are better at delivering a learning message when you are not the native speaker of x language, but yourself a learning speaker to someone learning the same language than you. As a native French speaker, I think everything you said within such a short amount of video time is correct. Mastering French can be intimidating as it's a difficult language even for us, but that's even more amazing when people overcome the fear of learning French.
Amazing to hear something I reached to my students all the time!!!!❤❤❤
I've just started learning French. This is very helpful, thank you
Happy to hear that!
Think of la bouche when speaking French. Merrci fantastic! 🇺🇸🇫🇷🇺🇸🇫🇷
I must say this camera is superb, so crisp
This was so incredibly helpful! Thank you!
Thank you! I need this. I love all your skits. I'm Canadian and worked in the US (& visited France for a couple of weeks) and really enjoy your clever and well-constructed videos giving info about life in France. Zey are funny and informatif! Merci! BTW, this is JUST my personal preference, but I'd rather you wouldnt post videos responding to STUPID, HURTFUL comments that idiots post. I find it hard not to respond to foolish comments & sometimes insulting comments people make to me on the interweb, so I understand why you'd want to.
Super helpful! I am studying Romanian, Spanish (Spain), and Italian and I’d never considered my American mouth shape in making the sounds necessary for other languages. I found myself shrinking the openness of my mouth with certain Spanish words (as well as a sort of smashing of certain consonants…hard to describe as well as you did). I intend to learn French as well and found your tips very useful. Merci!
You’re so good at it !! Tellement adorable
Your prononciation is indeed very good, and your explanation even better, good job 👏
super helpful video for pronunciation
This is so helpful, thank you 🙏♥️ ~ Mandy
Beautiful video 😻 Merci!
About the /l/ sound I believe what the lady describes is a palatalized /l/ as opposed to the velarized /l/ in American English, which is also pretty common linguistically. In fact you can make /t/ /d/ /p/ /b/ /m/ /n/ all with similar tongue shape to the so called French /l/ easily
I applaud you for getting this. I am a native English speaker, with 30yrs in french. You are spot on. Brava!
Hello Roya , your short videos are really fun to watch , your french teaching is really good in fact I didn’t know that the eu sound was a problem sound for the non native english speakers . And you’re right about the french spoken with lips almost closed . Some learners of french say that we hardly move our lips , while english is spoken with lips wide open , they are " relâchées " and therefore you got to make sure your teeth and tongue are perfectly clean 😂😅 In fact Roya I thought you were bilingual from french and american parents . Bravo ! ❤
Learning from a native speaker of any language means they might inadvertently/unintentionally utilize slang to teach you.
This can be beneficial when learning the informalities of the language for the purpose of day-to-day conversations, it is equally crucial to learn the formal side of your language(s).
Excellent tips and explanations! Merci beaucoup!
Thanks. This was very helpful!
So glad ❤
Basketball buzzer sound😂😂😂 nailed it!
This is so useful!
Hello! I am just starting French as a native English speaker with a background in Spanish. I love your shorts but this video was EXTREMELY helpful. I really hope you make more videos like this ❤
I'm going to remember particularly the EU + IL(L) sound. That was a good explanation about blending the eu and y sounds.
I was wondering if “squirrel” was going to be addressed. This short video helped my understanding of spoken French a great deal!