Today I’m going to help your French pronunciation. And because this new HOW TO series focuses on one thing per video, we’re going to concentrate on one letter only: the consonant R. I’m guessing it’s your favorite French letter, isn’t it? Many of you have asked for it so here it is.

I also need to tell you that if you like this video, I have recently launched my latest French Online Course to teach you How to Pronounce French consistently and confidently, step by step. In this course called Perfect Pronunciation, we cover every possible sound: vowels, consonants, nasals, digraphs, trigraphs, liaisons, apostrophes, end of words. Click here for more info and ways to join the course.

How to Pronounce the French ” R “

People get stuck on this letter. They either disregard it, often because they feel slightly embarrassed to try, or they over pronounce it because they try too hard. The French R is not the harsh sound that you think. You do not need to sound like you’re clearing your throat and about to spit on the sidewalk. Many years ago one of my students compared it to the English H. I had never thought it yet I instantly agreed with him! Clever student!

Let’s have a look with the color red. Do you know how to say red in French? Rouge. Listen to how I say it in the video above, does it sound more like an English H or like a throat cleaner???

Now let’s have a look at the technique

It’s done in the back of your mouth, at the beginning of your throat. Make the base of your tongue thicker, so that there isn’t too much space at the entrance of your throat.

Another tip to really feel where the R is happening, is to push your tongue against your lower teeth.

If you need extra help to definitely place your tongue down at the bottom of your mouth, you can also use a pen to push your tongue down. Ok so:

1- Extra thick base of the tongue
2- Tongue is stuck to the bottom of your mouth and
3- You can use a pen, to begin with, to really get a feel for it

I want you to notice how subtle it is and that’s it’s definitely closer to an English H than to the harsh R you may have been practicing so far. Same applies when the R is placed in the middle of a word.

Here are some more words for you to practice

delighted = ravi(e)

to be = être

restaurant (2 rs in there!) = restaurant

grands- parents = grandparents

Ok here’s the sentence are you ready?

I am delighted to be in a restaurant with my grandparents = Je suis ravie d’être au restaurant avec mes grand-parents

Good news, this is a video, you can go back, you can pause, you can play with all these words, as much as you want!

Relax

Now! Just relax. Even if it’s not perfect, people will understand you. Truly, they will. Chances are, the harder you try, the goofier it sounds. Plus you’ll be stopping half way through your sentence, repeating your word many times, and it’s when you do that that people don’t understand you and also can get impatient. Just say your sentence in one go it will sound a lot clearer than if you stop at every word, I promise!

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